How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
The Symposium Against Indifference kicked off its 2023-2024 calendar on October 10 with a presentation by Dr. Jillian Peterson, co-author of The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic.
Dr. Peterson is the co-founder and director of The Violence Project, a non-profit research center that is dedicated to finding data-driven solutions to reducing violence. Her book uses data from groundbreaking research on mass shooters, including first-person accounts from the perpetrators themselves to chart new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the social contagion of violence. The book offers solutions we can do at the individual level, in our communities and as a country, to put an end to these tragedies that have defined our modern era.
The Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County and the Ashland Center for Nonviolence were proud co-sponsors of Dr. Peterson’s recent lecture at Ashland University as part of the Symposium Against Indifference.
Learn more about The Violence Project or order the book here.
The Symposium Against Indifference: Perspectives on the Mental Health Crisis
Dr. Peterson’s talk was the first in a year-long symposium of guest speakers to Ashland University who will present on an array of topics related to America’s mental health crisis.
On October 26 at 7 p.m. in the Trustees Room of the AU Upper Convocation Center, Jennifer Cheavens, Ph.D., will present “Making Hope Happen: Implications for Mental Health and Wellness.”
Dr. Cheavens is a professor and director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU). Her research explores whether or not you can intentionally cultivate hope in individuals. Dr. Cheavens will review the data linking hope to valued outcomes as well as offering possibilities for how to make hope happen.
Later this fall, a panel of contributors to the book, Narrative and Grief:
Autoethnographies of Loss will offer excerpts from the book and a discussion about grief and loss on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Ronk Lecture Hall of the Schar College of Education.
In the spring, the symposium welcomes Benjamin Storey, Ph.D., to Ashland’s campus for a discussion on “Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment.”
We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change—even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. Benjamin Storey argues that the philosophy we have inherited, despite pretending to let us live as we please, produces remarkably homogenous and unhappy lives. He makes the case that finding true contentment requires rethinking our most basic assumptions about happiness. (From Princeton University Press)
This session will be held on Friday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. in the Ronk Lecture Hall, Schar College of Education.
The Symposium will conclude with a screening of the film, What I Want You to Know, a documentary produced by two combat veterans that explores the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan both on those who fought and civilians on the ground. The film asks these important questions: What price was paid by those who fought and by civilians caught up in the fighting? Do they think their sacrifices were worth it? How do combat veterans feel about the war and what burdens do they carry? A Zoom call with the veterans and producers of the film will follow the screening.
Learn more about the Symposium Against Indifference and download the brochure for more details.