Disney Institute World & Community Symposium Series
Disney Institute Announces World & Community Symposium Series
In an effort to raise public awareness of key social and business issues, Disney Institute has launched a 15-symposium schedule between November 1999 and December 2000 that will explore topics ranging from global conflict resolution to diversity. Disney Institute World & Community Symposium Series signals an aggressive new initiative by Disney to advance Michael Eisner's vision for elevating dialogue on pertinent issues.
Disney hopes that by focusing attention on each issue, Disney Institute will raise awareness among opinion leaders within those categories and, ultimately, help stimulate more substantive and sustained dialogue to foster positive change. In producing each conference, Disney Institute will collaborate with respected companies, academic institutions and organizations that are already promoting positive dialogue and change in their respective areas of business or interest.
Desmond Tutu highlights the first major program
Disney Institute's schedule, which officially kicked off in November with a conference on
humanoid robotics, will include five to six major programs. The first will be a Youth and
Peace Symposium, scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 7, presented in
collaboration with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and in cooperation with the
University of Central Florida. The daylong conference will culminate in a Town Hall
Meeting with Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Olara Otunnu, under
secretary general, special representative of the secretary general for children and armed
conflict. Dilia Deniza Lozano-Suarez, a 15-year-old Colombian whose peace organization has
been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize, will join other youths from war-torn
countries, area high school students, and international cultural representatives from
Epcot's World Showcase countries and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Collectively, the group will
work together through hands-on, interactive workshops to initiate an inspiring dialogue
for world peace.
Other topics headlining the 15-month schedule are Corporate Wellness, The Changing Nature of Family and the Community at the Turn of the Century, Corporate Conservation, Diversity in Sports Business and Education. All of the conferences will take place at Disney Institute's 117-acre, high-tech campus, located at Walt Disney World.
Disney goes beyond Fantasy and Entertainment
Disney Institute World & Community Symposium Series is an evolution of The Walt Disney
Company's corporate heritage that already extends well beyond fantasy and entertainment.
Disney Institute represents the company's intellectual soul and its commitment to
stimulating dialogue among a wide range of everyday people and opinion leaders, with the
hope of creating positive change to enrich lives today and in the future.
Prior to this series, Disney Institute has produced or hosted a broad range of symposiums over its three-year history. These include Strategies for Preventing Heart Disease and The Business of Prevention in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, The Future of Entertainment, Media and Our Culture in collaboration with New Yorker Magazine, The Women's Millennium with the Working Mother Magazine, and The Future of Communicating with Computers in collaboration with Discover Magazine. Among the thought-leaders, media personalities and top management executives who moderated and attended these symposiums were Diane Sawyer, Tom Peters, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Michael Eisner, Tina Brown, Charlie Rose, Carole Simpson, Marvin Minsky, and Linda Ellerbee.
Since opening its doors, Disney Institute has become best known for its popular curriculum of enrichment programs offered in five core disciplines: animation, television, photography, horticulture and culinary. These courses are offered individually or through special immersion programs, which are hosted periodically.
Disney Institute 1999-2000 World & Community Symposium Series Fact Sheet:
World & Community Symposium Series Mission
Disney Institute World & Community Symposium Series is a new 15-month initiative by
Disney Institute, established to examine the nation's critical issues through provocative
dialogue with leading experts and decision-makers.
World & Community Symposium Series Agenda
Between November 1999 and December 2000, Disney Institute will organize and host 15
symposiums and conferences examining the major social and business issues that are
currently confronting the nation. Topics that will be explored include Youth and Peace,
Corporate Wellness, The Changing Nature of Family and the Community at the Turn of the
Century, Corporate Conservation, Diversity in Sports Business, and Education.
World & Community Symposium Series Dialogue
By forming strong alliances with major organizations and associations, Disney Institute
World & Community Symposium Series will provide a national forum where experts and
thought leaders gather for constructive debate on issues that affect the nation's overall
well-being.
These collaborative organizations include the United States Institute of Peace, the Chautauqua Institution, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the University of Central Florida and the Jane Goodall Institute, among many others.
Disney Institute History
Conceptualized and created by Michael D. Eisner, chairman and chief executive officer of
the Walt Disney Company, Disney Institute World & Community Symposium Series reflects
the intellectual side of Disney, with the ultimate goal of elevating dialogue and debate
leading to new perspectives and positive initiatives about major issues.
Disney Institute, established in 1996, is a dynamic, forward-looking and stimulating community of creative inquiry, dialogue and learning. The Institute is dedicated to generating provocative debate and providing the impetus for positive societal change across the United States.
Previous symposiums have included Strategies for Preventing Heart Disease and The Business of Prevention in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, The Future of Entertainment, Media and Our Culture in collaboration with New Yorker Magazine, The Women's Millennium with the Working Mother Magazine, and The Future of Communicating with Computers in collaboration with Discover Magazine.
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-- Posted November 23, 1999