Historical Review of Highlights

Ground Zero Minnesota
1982 -	Caused 150 programs in April of 1982, on nuclear weapons and arms control, ~ 100 more over the rest of the year at schools, churches and civic groups. We piggybacked on a national GZ the first year, but incorporated in Sept. ’83.
1983 - 86	We sponsored at least 2,000 programs, >360 during April of 1983 alone when we launched a statewide campaign on nuclear weapons and related subjects. A special aspect was starting “Candidate Forums” in all eight Minnesota Congressional Districts, a project which extended through 1988 resulting in 27 “dialogues” between MN congressmen, senators and their opponents at high schools with panels from 4 or 5 other schools typically. We have always tried to model constructive forms of education on civic topics.
1986 - 89	We continued visiting at least 50 high schools a year during this period, but our topical focus broadened considerably (environmental ed and human rights became permanent features). We hosted “Human Survival” conferences every spring which involved many students and teachers from all levels. The largest of these was held at St. Paul Central High School and involved 450 participants from around the state, 44 panels of various kinds, and a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a keynote speaker (John Vessey, a Minnesota native who joined during WW II, at age 16). We did our first major TV thing during this period also, the Peace Child production shown on WCCO, in 50 other American cities, and on Soviet national television. This project involved students at the Minneapolis Children’s Theater Company, and a counterpart school in Moscow. Healing US - Soviet relations was our focus.
1990 - 92	Our school work evolved slowly into more college level work, less high school appearances, conferences and such each year. We released our first entirely GZ produced video in January, 1992 called “Crisis for Democracy: Corruption in Government”. It sparked a substantial response (we sold about 1200 that year, a unique rarity in our generally very non-profit, all-volunteer world) and it was distributed into 20 countries in the first month and to at least 33 during 1992. Another big video, ‘Debts’ was released at the end of 1992.
1993 - 95	The “Debts” video began what would become the longest video run in Twin cities history (to be memorialized in Mpls/St.Paul magazine this February, 2001). Other major videos produced during this period were “The Causes of War”, “Personal Rapid Transit”, and “Organized Crime in the Federal Government” which was largely a compilation of stories from folks who saw our first expose on illegal domestic intelligence operations (‘Crisis’). The 3 most requested videos ever for channel 6 have been ‘Crisis’, ‘Debts’ and ‘Organized Crime’, but ‘Debts’ is the overall champion because its information is so practical, and relatively eternal in our land of endless credit cards, auto loans, college loans and mortgages.
1996 - 99	“Rethinking the World” We initiated a weekly television show on metro cable 6 which eventually resulted in 52 programs. Every one of these was seen by more people than we could ever get in a hall including audiences in Michigan, California, Connecticut, Florida, and Wisconsin in Madison and Milwaukee. A few have been around the world and have been shown hundreds of times on Twin Cities Metro Cable 6 which serves a 7 county, 1.25 million market area.
2000 -	We concentrated on producing a video on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 2000 and related efforts, like buying 40 plays in the 7 county metro area. We also produced 10,000 copies of a four page study guide, and sponsored a couple of dozen educational events around the state where both were distributed. Letters and study guides went to about 1000 churches, and about 600 were called first. Another highlight of 2000 was an International Peace Research Association (IPRA) meeting in Tampere, Finland. Our book “On the Causes of War” got into 13 more country libraries there, most at universities, and our 1999 video on the Hague Appeal for Peace (a story of youth and hope) was shown to critical acclaim in a panel on arts and peace.

International Conferences

Ground Zero has always been active in conferences. We attend 2 or 3 international conferences each year, and at least half a dozen smaller ones in the twin cities annually. We have also directly sponsored 17 conferences during our 22 year existence. This year our director is also program chair for the 30th annual meeting of a comparative civilizations group called the ISCSC. Participation in conferences informs our creation of teaching aids, like study guides or videos, and the international ones in particular are very important in helping us decide what subjects to describe as ‘of concern around the world.’ Conferences contribute to an exceptional and ever growing network of intellectual resources we can tap for subjects as they come up or are requested by teachers. Some regulars for us are:

International Society for the
Comparative Study of Civilizations (ISCSC)

This is one of our favorites that we attend faithfully every spring. It’s the only place I know where instant expertise is available about both classical civilizations and the more recent history of any spot on this earth.

International Peace Research Association (IPRA)

This group gathers about 350 scholars and some activists every two years to their biannual meeting and maintains several useful functional groups like their peace education commission (very ably moderated by Ian Harris of UW-Milwaukee).

International Studies Association (ISA)

This more traditional academic association has exploded in membership during the last 20 years. It now gathers about 2,000 at annual conferences which include many exceptional subsections like the Intelligence Studies and Peace Studies sections to which our ‘research team’ (!) belongs.

COPRED / PSA
(Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development
/ Peace Studies Association, merging in 2000-2001)

This group has been a leader in peace research, education and advocacy for 20 years but is facing hard times now due to declining membership. A merger hopes to reverse that. We wish them the very best as they evolve.

These brief characterizations are included to encourage you to consider joining or supporting any of these groups, or others closer to your personal interests. Academic associations provide a variety of critical services for intermediate educators like Ground Zero MN, not least correcting our errors. But like many volunteer organizations, they are declining in membership and strength during these times of relative prosperity and peace. When you support academic associations or journals, you support the broader network of educators and institutions working to save our world from the forces of ignorance.