FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Fueled by double digit growth over the last two decades, northwest Arkansas has grown into a metropolis of nearly 400,000. The cultural diversity of the region has grown as well, as larger numbers of Muslims, Catholics, Jews and other ethnic groups move to the Ozarks.

To foster discussions about diverse religions and cultures, the University Arkansas has launched a new initiative, “Difficult Dialogues: Promoting Religious Pluralism and Academic Freedom at the University of Arkansas.” Lester Kurtz, professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, will deliver the inaugural lecture for the program, “Globalizing Gandhi: His Relevance for War and Violence” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Fayetteville Public Library in Fayetteville and at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus.

Kurtz teaches peace and conflict studies, comparative sociology of religion, and both Western and non-Western social theory. Previously the director of religious studies at Texas, he holds a master’s degree in religion from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, co-editor of Nonviolent Social Movements and The Web of Violence, and the author of numerous books and articles, including Gods in the Global Village, The Politics of Heresy and The Nuclear Cage.

He is currently working on a book about Gandhi’s legacy and on a documentary film, “Peaceful Warriors,” narrated by Martin Sheen. He has lectured in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America and is the past chair of the Peace Studies Association as well as the Peace and War Section of the American Sociological Association, which recently awarded him its Robin Williams Distinguished Career Award.

“Gandhi emerges as a charismatic nonviolent leader out of the violence of the 20^th century,” said Kurtz. “His legacies play a major role in challenging the world system of European colonialism and establish the groundwork for a new kind of social movement that challenges systems of domination throughout the world.”

“We are pleased to have a speaker of Dr. Kurtz's caliber at the Fayetteville Public Library as the first speaker in the Difficult Dialogues series," said Louise Schaper, executive director. “We can think of no better gathering place than the public library to bring community members from various backgrounds together to learn from one another.”

Mahatma Gandhi, who was deeply religious, urged people to fight violence and civil injustice through courageously and deliberately breaking the law in acts of civil disobedience. In India, he is called “Father of the Nation” for his leadership in freeing the nation from British rule.

Difficult Dialogues is a two-year initiative funded by the Ford Foundation and the University of Arkansas designed to cultivate dialogues about diversity among students and members of the community by bringing in speakers, offering workshops and holding community outreach events. The focus during the first year will be religious pluralism and civil society, and in the second year, tolerance and intolerance. Faculty in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences wrote the proposal that won a planning grant from the foundation.

“We intend to build a foundation for future dialogues,” said Charles Adams, associate dean of Fulbright College. “We want to encourage our students as well as our friends in the surrounding cities to discuss how various religions and cultures are different - and how they are alike. Such dialogue is essential to building both a civil and a civilized society.”

Northwest Arkansas has a growing Catholic community and is home to the second largest Jewish community in Arkansas, and is believed to have the largest Marshall Island population in the U.S.