About "Piece of the Palace"
Photograph from the July 4, 2012 event at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, "
A Grotian Moment
' which paid homage to the July 4, 1899 "Grotius Celebration" that was an initiative of the U.S. delegation to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference.
The aim of 'Piece of the Palace' is to broaden the reach of the Peace Palace Centenary so that students and a wider public beyond The Hague are educated about the important moment. To realize that end, there are three different components to the project:
1) A student conference in The Hague on the topic of "Peace Through Law";
2) Pro Concordia Labor - a public event on the eve of the Centenary n Delft, Netherlands; and
3) Points of Light : an educational outreach component involving 30 communities throughout the world.
A guiding principle of 'Piece of the Palace' is E.M. Forster's line from Howard's End: ' Only Connect '. The project uses this important moment not only to"connect the dots" historically and conceptually (the Centenary of the Peace Palace is also the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream Speech'), but also to forge personal connections amongst persons working for the same values but separated not only by institutional and disciplinary silos, but also by physical geography.
Undergirding the project is the entrepreneurial spirit championed by Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Dickson White, and Tobias Asser. Martin Luther King's reminder about the 'fierce urgency of now' provides a key motivational resource which unleashes the human passions and energies that are behind this project.
Piece of the Palace is generously funded by the Planethood Foundation, The Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression, The Department of Philosophy and Religion and The College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences at Central Michigan University, and by contributions from private citizens in the United States. Additional support provided by the Mid-Michigan region of the American Red Cross, Touro Law Center, Skylight Pictures and Schulberg Productions.