NEWPORT, R.I. - The founder of a music education program benefiting former child soldiers and other children affected by the war in northern Uganda will give a public lecture Tuesday, June 3 as part of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy's ongoing "Courage to Speak" lecture series.

Vanessa Contopulos, a board-certified music therapist and Rotary World Peace Fellow for 2008-2009, will present "Giving Voice to Trauma: The Power of Music and Art Therapy for Children Affected by War" at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Young Building ballroom. She is completing her master's degree in peace studies and conflict resolution at the University of Bradford in England.

Contopulos founded her music education program, Peace Through Music Uganda, in 2005. Most recently, she co-founded Healing Arts Exchange International, a non-profit organization that promotes a cultural exchange of creative ideas on how music and other healing arts can be used as a tool for personal expression, empowerment, healing, and bridging community ties.

The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 21 years, the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government have been waging a war that has left nearly 2 million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The Lord's Resistance Army abducts young children to train them as soldiers to fight in the war.

Through song, video and her stories of working with former child soldiers of northern Uganda, Contopulos will explore the power of creativity to foster healing and peace in the lives of children and their communities.

The "Courage to Speak" lecture series highlights how women who are striving to make a difference in solving human crises throughout the globe are actively solving these problems and educating the rest of us. "Courage to Speak" is made possible through major funding support from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Seating for Contopulos' lecture is limited and reservations are suggested. For more information, or to reserve a seat, contact the Pell Center at Ext. 2927 or pellcenter@salve.edu.