The International Society Conference 2024

SCHEDULE

8:30 AM
Conference overview
BRUCE LAW, Executive Director, The International Society

8:35 AM
Welcome + remarks
SHANE REESE, President, Brigham Young University

8:45 AM
Introduction of conference theme
DAVID KIRKHAM, President, The International Society

9:05 AM
Keynote address
CAMILLE N. JOHNSON, Relief Society General President, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

With the growth of social media, our world has seen increased political contention and polarization. But even before the emergence of social media, President Russell M. Nelson has been warning Church members to be peacemakers. He has taught that one of the primary roles of the Church is to preach the gospel of peace. He encourages us, as members, to be peacemakers in our homes and communities. We become peacemakers by allowing God’s love to transform us. Understanding that we are children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Jesus Christ is the key to overcoming contention and making the world more peaceful.

Camille N. Johnson was sustained as the 18th Relief Society General President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2, 2022. President Johnson graduated from the University of Utah in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in English followed by a law degree in 1989. She practiced law for nearly thirty years. President Johnson served with her husband as a Mission Leader in Arequipa, Peru. She was serving as the Primary General President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time she was called as the Relief Society President. Full bio.

10:05 AM
Break

10:15 AM
Human Dignity: Two Latter-day Saint Perspectives
PAUL PERRIN, Notre Dame
BRETT SCHARFFS, BYU Law
ELIZABETH CLARK, Moderator

Paul Perrin has a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and a master’s in public health from BYU and a doctorate in global health from Johns Hopkins. He currently works at Notre Dame University as a professor of global health in the Pulte Institute for Global Development. He is very involved in many projects not only with Notre Dame, but with private donors and NGOs. His principal focus in all of his work has been on human dignity. Full bio.

Brett G. Scharffs, Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at J. Reuben Clark Law School, was appointed Director of the Law School’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies in 2016. He had served the Center as Associate Director and Regional Advisor for Asia since 2009 and the Law School as both Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum. He was appointed in 2017 to the Law School’s Rex E. Lee Chair. His teaching and scholarly interests include law and religion, legal reasoning and rhetoric, philosophy of law, and legislation and regulation. Full bio.

11:15 AM
New Roles in Human Rights Education
APRIL BOLLARD, GO-HRE
BILL BOLLARD, GO-HRE
LYN BURNINGHAM, GO-HRE
MICHAEL FRANDSEN, Church Communications Department
WILLIAM ATKIN, moderator

April Bollard is passionate about children’s safety, wellbeing, and protection of their human rights. She has enjoyed serving in leadership assignments in her community for the past 30 years. In her role as co-director for Latin America for GO-HRE, she has met with several government and education leaders from various countries throughout Mexico and Central America. She has been especially moved by spending time with children in these countries as she assesses their specific needs. Full bio.

William C. Bollard is an international attorney with extensive experience in cross-border disputes and resolutions. He is a nationally recognized trial lawyer, arbitrator and mediator who has successfully tried to verdict dozens of complex business matters in both state and federal courts. He specializes in business litigation. In 2022, Mr. Bollard was appointed as the Regional Director for Latin America for the Geneva Office of Human Rights Education. Full bio.

Dr. Lyn Burningham has been an educator for 58 years. Her career has been dedicated to reaching out to those children often left behind or forgotten. She has a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Utah State University; her doctoral research, conducted in homeless shelters, examined parent involvement in the literacy development of homeless children. She was recognized with the Professional Achievement Award from the Utah State University College of Education in 1999 and as Utah’s National Distinguished Principal in 1998. Full bio.

Michael D. Frandsen has worked in public affairs and corporate communications for more than 25 years. He joined the Communication Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2015 and currently serves in government and community relations. Michael began his career in journalism but early on served as press secretary for a U.S. senator in Washington, DC. He’s helped lead the public affairs and corporate communications efforts of several Fortune 500 companies, including CIGNA, Rio Tinto and eBay. Full bio.

12:15 pm (upstairs)
Luncheon Award Presentation: The International Society Distinguished Service Award. Remarks to follow.
Recipient: W. COLE DURHAM, JR., G20 Interfaith Forum Association / International Center for Law and Religion Studies

A separately purchased ticket is required to attend the luncheon and Cole Durham's remarks.

W. Cole Durham, Jr. is President, G20 Interfaith Forum Association and Founding Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University. Cole graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School where he was Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review and Managing Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. He is the former chair of the Comparative Law and of the Law and Religion Sections of the American Association of Law Schools, as well as immediate Past President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), Milan, Italy. He serves as co-editor of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion; co-author of Law and Religion: National, International and Comparative Perspectives (2d ed. 2019); co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Law and Religion (Brill 2016), and co-author of a 4-volume treatise, Religious Organizations and the Law. Full bio.

1:20 PM
Transition to afternoon program downstairs

1:30 pm
New Approaches to Peacemaking
ELIZABETA KITANOVIC, Conference of European Churches
RACHEL MINER, Bellwether International
CORY LEONARD, Moderator

Dr Elizabeta Kitanovic finished her studies in Orthodox Christian Theology at the Political Science Faculty at the University of Belgrade in Serbia. She graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Serbian Government. Dr Kitanovic works as a human rights advocate at the Conference of European Churches, and she heads the CEC delegation at the Council of Europe. Elizabeta teaches human rights and religious freedom at the Faculty of Protestant Theology and Religious Studies in Brussels, and she does research in the area of security, religious radicalization, and energy justice.

Rachel Miner is the founder and CEO of Bellwether International, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to building genocide-resistance through freedom of religion or belief and economic development. Bellwether works globally, including with Yazidi women and children in Iraq, the Hazara Afghan diaspora and with Boko Haram victims of all faiths in Nigeria. Past interventions include conflict-transformation, IDP-camp literacy initiatives and education programs, sexual assault recovery and trauma healing, and working directly with religious and belief leaders to shape cultural attitudes to prevent mass atrocity. Full bio.

2:20 PM
Break

2:30 pm
Global Security in the Age of AI
SHADMAN BASHIR, Utah Tech University
ERIC JENSEN, BYU Law
MEDLIR MEMA, Global Governance Institute
CELESTE BEESLEY, Moderator

Shadman Bashir is the Executive Director of the Office of International Programs at Utah Tech University, responsible for growth, expansion and legal compliance. Prior to that, he was a professor of law and global affairs, with a focus on international development/management, defense and warfare, comparative laws, governments and global issues. He's also a published author and speaker on topics including but not limited to law, religion, artificial intelligence, business, globalization, warfare and terrorism.

Eric Talbot Jensen teaches and writes in the areas of Public International Law, Criminal Law, The Law of Armed Conflict, International Criminal Law, Cyber Law and National Security Law. Professor Jensen is a co-author on a law school casebook on the Law of Armed Conflict and a student treatise on National Security Law for Aspen Publishing and a co-author on an Oxford University text analyzing application of the laws of war to the war on terror. He was a member of the group of experts that produced both the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare and the recently released Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations. Full bio.

Medlir Mema is the Head of Programme for Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance at the Global Governance Institute. He is also Professor of International Relations at the Brigham Young University Idaho in the United States. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Tokyo International University in Japan, Adjunct Faculty at Vesalius College, and a Senior Associate Researcher at the Institute for European Studies - VUB in Brussels, Belgium. From 2010 to 2011, Medlir joined the International Law Center at the Swedish National Defense College as a guest scholar. Full bio.

3:30 pm
Diplomacy and Conflict Mitigation
JAMES PATTON, President, International Center for Religion and Diplomacy

James Patton has conducted international development, conflict transformation, and social reconciliation for 25 years in dozens of countries, including such programs as: advancing citizen security with Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities in the Andes; facilitating Cambodian Buddhists’ role in post-conflict stability; developing frameworks and training religious actors in preventing extremism in north Africa; and supporting tolerance reforms in Saudi education. His governmental experience includes leading stability operations assessments for the U.S. Department of State in South Sudan and enhancing the Religion and Conflict portfolio for USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation. Full bio.

4:30 PM
Conference wrap up
BRUCE LAW, International Society Executive Director