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Alumni Profiles – Christy Anderson (CMU ’11)

Christy Anderson graduated in 2011 with a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Communications and Media from CMU.

Anderson, whose heritage is half First Nations, completed her practicum during the summer of 2011 at the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) under the Executive Director of APTN West, Naomi Clarke.

Anderson views her opportunity to work under Clarke as an incredible experience to pursue her passion for broadcast journalism and to learn more about the Aboriginal community.

“I’m excited to immerse myself in the Aboriginal community and to get the work experience that’s geared towards my interests and my degree.”

Anderson feels well prepared by her practicum work and by the support she has received from her program advisor and instructor at CMU, David Balzer, for the next steps in her life.

“My experience at CMU has empowered me. I feel like I can make a difference in the world,” Anderson says.

According to Balzer, “The chance to work with a national broadcaster provided an exceptional opportunity, and they clearly saw current capacity and potential for the future in her during the process,” he says.

Following her practicum, Christy enrolled in a graduate degree program at the University of Manitoba in the Native Studies Department.

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Articles Student Profiles

Student Profiles – Frances Paletta

Mature student Frances Paletta came to CMU in 2005 to study Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS), years after having attended Red River Community College, where she graduated, and The University of Winnipeg, after establishing herself as a successful businesswoman in the hospitality industry.

Paletta says she had put aside her aspirations of completing another degree when the family business workload became too demanding. Then, in 2004, the family sold one of the businesses in which she was heavily involved. “This afforded me the opportunity to enroll in CMU’s PACTS program,” says Paletta. “My desire was – and still is – to play a greater role in service within the church and broader community.”

She studied part time to maintain an active administrative role in the family business, serving as secretary-treasurer since January 2011, and to manage her mother’s homecare. Paletta has completed her PACTS coursework and hopes to finish her practicum and graduate in 2012.

“CMU has provided me with tools to promote peaceful ways of communication that include respect, justice, and mercy, and has helped me solidify my commitment to ways of peace,” Paletta shares. “I’ve also been given a fresh way to look at conflict. Now I see conflict as an opportunity for overcoming, for growth, and for well-being.

“The program has been instrumental both in how I live my life and how I carry out my business affairs,” she continues. “I already use the tools I’ve learned very actively in my current position. In the future, as my involvement in the family business changes, I hope I will be able to use this knowledge to bring about peaceful solutions where there is strife.”

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Alumni Profiles Articles

Alumni Profiles – Bethany Paetkau (CMU ’11)

IDS grad planting urban gardens

If there’s one thing Bethany Paetkau learned at CMU, it’s that people are at heart of the solution to every major issue affecting the world. With that in mind, she’s taking on the issue of food security.

Paetkau, who graduated from CMU with a four-year BA in International Development Studies in April 2011, became employed after graduation with A Rocha, a Christian environmental organization that runs ecological conservation projects around the world. Paetkau spent her summer teaching low-income Winnipeggers how to plant urban gardens and how to cook and preserve the fresh produce.

It may seem like a low-key response to a global food crisis (food prices around the world increased by 25 per cent in 2010), but it fits with Paetkau’s grassroots, people-focused philosophy of development.

“We’re asking the question: How do we live sustainably? And one piece of that is to garden,” she says.

Working together with inner city residents and St. Margaret’s Anglican Church, Paetkau and her co-workers grew kale, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, green beans, dill, chives, strawberries, and other nutritious vegetables in public garden plots and next to the homes of people who volunteered their yards.

Small-scale, sustainable agriculture has been one of Paetkau’s interests ever since she took a class on creation care at CMU. Paetkau likes the fact that projects such as the urban garden empower people by giving them access to better, healthier food.

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Alumni Profiles Articles

Alumni Profiles – Alexandria Eikelboom (CMU ’11)

For alumna Alexandria Eikelboom (CMU ’11), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Biblical and Theological Studies, Psychology Major, is only one step in her scholastic journey. Her next step takes her to Oxford University in the United Kingdom in fall 2011, where she will study for a Master of Arts in Theology degree.

Eikelboom grew up in the Netherlands, an hour North of Amsterdam, and has dual German and Canadian citizenship, making her a truly international student.

Eikelboom is excited for the vast resources that will be at her fingertips at Oxford.

“One of the nice things about a school like Oxford is that it’s so big and old that the resources available are huge – with the books, the people, and the history.”

Her one-year Master’s program will involve a great deal of independent study but also working alongside faculty. She feels that CMU has equipped her to work well independently and thus to succeed in graduate school.

“At CMU, the faculty to student ratio is good. It helps people to prepare for graduate school… People have pushed me to grow and do new things.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to study God in the academic world,” she says.

Eikelboom plans on pursuing a PhD after she completes her degree at Oxford.

Text by Rachel Bergen (CMU ’11)

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Scholar Students at CMU

In June 2011, nine female graduate students from Iran took a summer course on Christian Understanding of Peace and Justice at CMU. The students were in Winnipeg for an academic conference bringing together Mennonite scholars from North America and Shi’a Muslim scholars from Iran.

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The student scholars, who participated in the 2011 interfaith conference as observers, remained afterwards for a special five-day course, held June 6 – 10, presented by Irma Fast Dueck, associate professor of Practical Theology, Sheila Klassen-Wiebe, associate professor of New Testament, and other faculty members.

“The inclusion of Iranian women at the conference, and the opportunity afterwards for study, was exciting for us,” says Fast Dueck, who along with Klassen-Wiebe developed academic and personal friendships with CMU’s academic guests.

Among those taking the CMU course was Maryam Esmaeili, who teaches history of Islam and the interpretation of the Quran at the al-Zahra University, an Islamic university for women in Qom that has 15,000 full-time and correspondence students. She believes interfaith conversations and interactions can improve relationships between Muslims and Christians.

“If I don’t speak with you, my judgment about you might be wrong,” she said. “When we sit around the table and talk, my judgment about you is correct because I understand you and you understand me.”* (*excerpt from CMU/MCC news release)  The course work led to reflection and opportunities for meaningful dialogue on similarities and differences in faith traditions and cultures.

“We hope to continue this important process of listening and learning from one another at future conferences,” says Klassen-Wiebe, who expressed her appreciation for the rich daily prayer life of the student scholars.

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Alumni Profiles – Shota Yoda (CMU ’11)

Shota Yoda (CMU ’11, BA, PACTS Major)

Japan-native Shota Yoda came to CMU in early 2008 with a desire to study peacebuilding from a biblical perspective; after graduating from CMU in 2011, he begins graduate studies with an ignited passion and a clear sense of direction and purpose.

“My studies at CMU enabled me to look at pursuing peace and justice as compatible with God’s vision of the gospel of his kingdom,” says Yoda, who graduated in April with a four-year Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS), after first becoming interested through a peace and conflict-related course that he took at Langara College, Vancouver.

“CMU also helped me discover my passion for working with peace and justice issues in Asia-Pacific,” says Yoda.

Further, CMU inspired Yoda, who completed his PACTS practicum in Guatemala, to continue learning; as of fall 2011 he is a student in the new joint Master’s program in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba and The University of Winnipeg.

“My interest in this program is peacebuilding through the church in Asian contexts,” says Yoda. “It also offers the opportunity to learn about human rights issues, which are very pressing in Asia.”

After completing his Master’s degree, Yoda plans to bring his passion, knowledge, and experience back to Japan, where he hopes to partner with organizations in addressing the many complex issues of peace and justice, such as poverty, violence, human rights, oppression, human trafficking, child labour, and arms trade.

“I share the burden to use what I am given to contribute to efforts to stop violence and establish safe and loving communities together with people in my region,” he says. “My future long-term goal is to establish a ministry that bridges Japan and other countries to work together to tackle the issues of peace, justice, and conflict, and to build communities based on the gospel Jesus Christ preached.”

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Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Rebecca Reesor (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryIaMGY6ibE&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

This video features Rebecca Reesor (CMU ’11) at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a CMU graduation weekend event at which class members share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance. The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty, and staff.

Rebecca Reesor, piano
Scarbo fromGaspard de la Nuit, Maurice Ravel
Bachelor of Music, Concentrations: Performance, Music Ministry

Video Production: Laura Tait, CMU Communications & Media Student (2011)

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Articles Graduates 2011

Alumni Profiles – Christy Anderson (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP3HBReDMMc&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

This video features Christy Anderson at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance. The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty, and staff.

Christy Anderson
Bachelor of Arts, 4 year, Major: Communications and Media

Video Production: Laura Tait, Communications & Media Student (2011)

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Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Alexandria Eikelboom (CMU ’11)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MetBmrJGMY&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

This video features Alexandria Eikelboom at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance.  The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty and staff.

Alexandria Eikelboom
Bachelor of Arts, Honours, 4 year, Majors: Biblical and Theological Studies, Psychology

Video Production: Laura Tait, Communications & Media Student (2011)

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Articles Graduates 2011 Video

Alumni Profiles – Chelsea Froese (CMU ’11)

This video features Chelsea Froese at In Gratitude, April 16, 2011, a graduation weekend event that celebrates CMU graduates by inviting class members to share their experiences through spoken word or musical performance.  The event brings together family members, graduates, students, faculty, and staff.

Chelsea Froese, mezzo-soprano with Henriette Schellenberg, piano
Una Voce Poco Fa from The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini
Bachelor of Music, Concentration: Comprehensive

Video Production: Laura Tait, Communications & Media Student (2011)