Shane Claiborne, a leading figure in the New Monasticism movement and a founding member of the Simple Way intentional community in Philadelphia, will speak about life as a radical non-conformist.

Claiborne is the author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical; Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals; and most recently Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us.

For more information, contact Rev. Heather Green, hlee@uumc.org.

Location: University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe, Austin, 78705

The US-El Salvador Sister Cities Network is creating conversations about social justice, development, community organizing, the environment, and immigration on a U.S. tour. The network’s Zulma Tobar, whose family was displaced during the civil war, will be speaking, along with U.S. volunteer Carly Roach.

The network is a grass-roots organization of people living in the United States who have ongoing partnerships with small rural communities in El Salvador that began in 1986 as a citizen-based response to the U.S. intervention in El Salvador’s civil war. Today, 17 U.S. sister cities are paired with Salvadoran communities.

For more information on the Austin program, contact Jennifer Long, jlong@casamarianella.org.

Location: Friends Meeting of Austin, 3701 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Austin

Recent attention to the problem of sexual violence on college campuses raises inevitable questions about how men and women are trained to understand gender, sex, and power. While enacting and enforcing policies that can help ensure the safety of students is crucial, it is also important to deepen the discussion to confront the history and contemporary reality of institutionalized male dominance. What social norms and values create an epidemic of sexual violence?

A panel discussion on these questions will be led by Dr. Diane Rhodes, who teaches courses in social justice in the University of Texas School of Social Work and has extensive experience in domestic violence and sexual assault prevention agencies, including service as Chief Program Officer at SafePlace in Austin; and Ted Rutherford, Communications Program Director at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.

The program is sponsored by the Senior Fellows Honors Program of the Moody College of Communication and the Voices Against Violence program at the University of Texas.

Location: Belo Center for New Media, BMC 5.208, 300 W. Dean Keeton, Austin

Dr. Mads Gilbert, a specialist in emergency medicine in Norway, will speak about his books Eyes in Gaza and Night in Gaza, which chronicle the suffering from the 2009 and 2014 wars.

The event, sponsored by the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, is a fundraiser for Kinder USA, benefiting children in Palestine.  Tickets are $30 and $15 for students. The reception begins at 6 pm, with the presentation at 7 pm. More information on Facebook.

Location: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive (exit off I-35, west on Wells Branch Parkway)

The 50^th anniversary celebration of Austin’s iconic underground newspaper The Rag will kick off with an opening reception and photography exhibit featuring the work of documentary photographer Alan Pogue. The exhibit will be on display from October 1-30, Monday-Friday from 8 am-5 pm, and Saturday-Sunday from 10 am-5 pm.

Location: La Peña, 227 Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78701