The Yoder Dialogues, established in 1999 by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, are named in honor of John Howard Yoder, professor of theology at Notre Dame from 1968 until his death in 1997.
They were established through a gift to the Kroc Institute from Mrs. Anne Marie Yoder, widow of Professor Yoder, and with ongoing support from the Yoder family.
Yoder’s teaching and scholarship profoundly influenced theological discussions about war, social justice, and the relationship between church and state. He was a founding fellow of the Kroc Institute, where he initiated courses on war, law and ethics, and nonviolence. His books include The Priestly Kingdom, What Would You Do? and The Politics of Jesus.
Each year, the Kroc Institute invites a leading thinker, writer, scholar, and/or peace advocate to deliver a lecture related to nonviolence, religion, and peace. Following the lecture, audience members join in informal dialogue and discussion with the speaker and with each other.
Yoder lecturers through the years:
- Jean Zaru (2011), Palestinian Quaker, peace activist, and author of Occupied with Nonviolence, “A Journey of Transformation: Nonviolent Resistance to Structures of Domination”
- Charles Villa Vicencio (2010), Visiting Professor, Conflict Resolution Program, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town, South Africa, “The International Criminal Court in Africa: Judicial Imperialism or Legal Complementarity?”
- Nicholas Wolterstorff (2009), Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology and Fellow of Berkeley College at Yale University; Senior Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia, “Why Does Justice Matter?"
- Donald B. Kraybill (2008), Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow, Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, “Forgiveness & Apology: The Amish, Yoder and Peacebuilding”
- David Smock (2007), Vice President, Director of the Religion and Peacemaking Program and Director of the Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, United States Institute of Peace, “When Religion Makes Peace, not War”
- Avishai Margalit (2006), Schulman Professor of Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and founding member of Peace Now, “The Kiss of Betrayal: From Family to ‘Friendship in Faith’”
- Rajmohan Gandhi (2004), visiting professor at the University of Illinois and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, “The War on Terrorism and the Gandhian Ethic”
- Miroslav Volf (2004), Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale Divinity School, “Memory and Reconciliation”
- Judith M. Brown (2003), Beit Professor of Commonwealth History, University of Oxford & Professorial Fellow, Balliol College, “Gandhi’s Non-Violence: The Political Dilemmas of a Religious Vision”
- Stanley Hauerwas (2001), Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Divinity School, Duke University, “John Howard Yoder and the Catholic Tradition”
- Walter Wink (2000), lecturer, workshop leader, and author of When the Powers Fall: Reconciliation in the Healing of Nations, “Nonviolence for the Violent”
- Jim Wallis (1999), Editor-in-Chief, Sojourners, “Can a Christian Do Enough to Oppose Genocide While Remaining Nonviolent?”
