Screening of "On Sacred Ground"
April 20, 2023
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (ET)
Echlin Center EC 101 Kresge Lecture Hall
Read MoreA community, household or individual is described as food secure when they have consistent access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious and culturally relevant food. A central paradox of American society today is that nearly a third of American people live with food insecurity while at the same time our food system produces nearly 40% more food than is used. This level of waste has social as well as environmental implications.
The Albert Schweitzer Institute works to address this issue on campus and in our local community. It has spearheaded initiatives on campus such as food recovery from our dining facilities and the establishment of herb and vegetable gardens on the institute’s premises. In 2020, we began managing a community garden in the Town of Hamden that provides produce to the local food bank.
We offer paid student internships during the summer and academic year to run these programs and develop new initiatives that promote Schweitzerian values around food and the environment.
The institute has collaborated with other actors on campus since the fall of 2019 in a multi-year project exploring relationships between Quinnipiac University and the natural, cultural and indigenous history of the land we call home. We are reaching out to the Native peoples of the region as we explore what it means to be responsible custodians of the name Quinnipiac.
The periodic World Summits of Nobel Peace Laureates bring Quinnipiac students together with thousands of others from the international community. The summit gives participating students the opportunity to meet and listen to past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize as well as other activists who have put their lives on the line to address important issues of the day and effect change worldwide.
The most recent summit was held in Mérida, Mexico, in September of 2019. Thirty Quinnipiac students were selected to attend with students from schools and universities around the world to interact with Nobel Laureates in the cultural capital of the Yucatan while engaging in the summit’s Leading by Example youth program.
The Albert Schweitzer Institute conducts community-engaged, global living excursions to select locations around the world. Our focus on these trips is to pursue the meaning of Schweitzer’s philosophy of reverence for life by working with and living in communities that offer us new experiences and knowledge in lifestyles, environmental sustainability and world cultures.
- August: Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Quechua life
- January: Biodiversity and eco-village living in India
- March: Regenerative agriculture and sustainable living in Guatemala
- May: Eco-village living in New England
The Albert Schweitzer Institute holds consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The institute regularly organizes trips to the United Nations for conferences and other open dialogues concerning the social, political and economic issues facing various world regions today — such as sustainable development, women’s participation and welfare, and nuclear disarmament.
The Albert Schweitzer Institute hosts Quinnipiac’s Global Engagement Fellowship, a group of faculty and students who work together for community-engaged action to address challenges in food security, immigration, prisoner re-integration and other topics where global awareness can confront local reality and challenge us to act.
Quinnipiac University and the Albert Schweitzer Institute are members of the Oxford Consortium of Human Rights. The consortium offers opportunities for students to attend workshops focused on human rights at the United Nations, at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and at other sites around the world.
The Albert Schweitzer Institute has partnered with the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival in Hartford, Connecticut, to open up opportunities for students to explore their musical interests in the context of this annual celebration of Schweitzer’s musical legacy. The ASOF is the premier competition for young organ students in North America. Members of the Quinnipiac community are invited to attend the weekend of concerts associated with the festival.
Housed inside the institute, the museum is a memorial museum open to the public that allows visitors to experience highlights from Schweitzer’s life of history-making humanitarianism. The museum traces Dr. Schweitzer’s life as a young man through his later years with authentic photographs, works of art created by Schweitzer’s colleagues in Africa and artifacts from his years at Lambaréné.
The Albert Schweitzer Faculty Fellowship cultivates scholarly and creative work among the faculty at Quinnipiac, who work on projects that promote and extend Dr. Schweitzer’s values of service and human dignity.
