The Rev Jesse L. Jackson will be the keynote speaker at a Divinity School Conference next week on nuclear arms and the future of the American peace movement.

The weeklong event is Co-sponsored by the Nation Institute, an affiliate of The Nation Magazine, and the New York based Institute for Policy Studies. Through debates of timely issues such as the Star Wars defense system, the conference is designed as a "working session for the leaders of the peace movement," said Emily Sack, director of the Nation Institute.

Jackson Returns to Harvard

Jackson, who has visited Harvard a half dozen times this year and who gave a keynote address at a 5000 person rally against South African apartheid in April in the Yard, is expected to address a group of about 60 academics and activists Tuesday night on coalition building strategies.

The groups, which have leased space at the Divinity School and have no formal affiliation with Harvard, will also sponsor several workshops during this second annual convention, entitled the "Boston Round Table on Security, the War System, and Peace Mobilization."

While last year's meeting focused heavily on political strategies for the 1984 election, this year's is expected to stress the contributions of grassroots organizers and aims to "integrate the ideas of activists with people in the field." Hamilton Fish, publisher of The Nation said yesterday.

"We want to revitalize the culture of people who have alternative security models, who want to reduce investment in technology of warfare without jeapordizing national security," Fish said.

Leading Scholars

The workshops will feature other participants, including: Gar Alperovitz, president of the National Center for Economic Alternatives. Jane Sharp, and activist and fellow at Radcliffe's Bunting Institute: Kosta Tsipis, head of an MIT program on science and technology, and, representatives of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Nuclear Test Ban Debate

MIT's Tsipis will lead a discussion on the latest developments in the administration's missile program, as well as present his opposition to the failed referendum two years ago to ban all nuclear search in Cambridge.

Other leading participants in the conference will include William Arkin, director of nuclear weapons research at the Institute of Policy Studies and George Ratchjens, an MIT professor of political science.