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Audio Faculty interviews Sunday@CMU Radio

Anna Snyder – Women Working for Peace

Anna Snyder
Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies, Menno Simons College
Interview Date: January 22, 2012

In this interview, Anna shares with David Balzer – host of Sunday@CMU Radio, her experience of working with Cambodian Refugees on the Thailand/Cambodia Border.  Women are playing a vital role in the difficult work of  conflict resolution.  Anna’s research is the focus of a course in the Canadian School of Peacebuilding, summer 2012.

[audio:http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/20120122AnnaSnyder.mp3|titles=20120122AnnaSnyder]
Play/Download Here

Menno Simons College is a college of CMU located in downtown Winnipeg. For more information, click here.

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General News

Menno Simons College Celebrates Accomplishments of 66 CRS and IDS Graduates

On June 9, 2011, Menno Simons College celebrated the achievements of 66 Class of 2011winter and spring graduates in Conflict Resolution Studies (CRS) and International Development Studies (IDS). The Menno Simons College (MSC) celebration was held in UWinnipeg’s Convocation Hall, following the morning convocation services.

MSC 2011 graduate Jared Wheeler, BA 3-Yr, CRS/IDS Double Major, and Dr. Ray Vander Zaag, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of International Development Studies

Menno Simons College is the downtown campus of Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) and is located at and affiliated with The University of Winnipeg.

“We gather to acknowledge years of hard work, laughter, and friendship at this celebration of light and hope,” says Dean of Menno Simons College Dr. Richard McCutcheon. “We are proud of our graduates and we want to welcome them into our Menno Simons College alumni group. We look forward to following their careers in peace and justice work, international development, and conflict resolution.”

In the tradition of MSC past graduations, students and families shared a luncheon meal followed by a graduation program. Among the year’s graduates were seven MSC students with majors in CRS or IDS who in total earned nine medals at UWinnipeg’s morning convocation.

The MSC program opened with a heartfelt invocation by Dr. John Derksen, Associate Professor, Conflict Resolution Studies, and opening remarks by CMU President Gerald Gerbrandt, who expressed his confidence in the Class of 2011 having “a passion for issues of justice and mercy, and skills to make a difference in the world.”

Guest speaker Lois Coleman Neufeld, Executive Director, Mediation Services, remarked, “I believe you have learned the basics of leadership through your courses, and have the skills of leaders.” She highlighted having a profound respect “for the other” as being of great importance, along with the qualities of passion and compassion. “Take the best of what you have learned and use it for others,” she advised the graduates.

Sharing student reflections were graduates (Roberta) Bobbie Whiteman, 4-yr. IDS and Human Rights graduate, and medal winner Zoë Gross, 4-yr. CRS graduate, majoring in Women’s Studies.
Whiteman expressed her appreciation for MSC tuition and travel awards that helped the single mom complete her education. Gross commented, “What is special about MSC is that even if you don’t enter with a concern for conflict resolution and justice, you leave with passion and hope for a (better) world.”

Academic Advisor Gina Loewen, Associate VP Ruth Taronno, and Dean McCutcheon. presented the 2011 Graduating Class.

Graduate Jared Wheeler (3-Yr., CRS/IDS Double Major) originally expected to take one course at MSC as an option. Says Wheeler: “I was hooked on the program right from the introductory course. MSC offered such a welcoming environment. And happily, that first course led me on to International Development Studies. It opened to me the thinking that we could change the world. It is possible.”

In addition to MSC’s graduation class of 66 students, CMU earlier this spring graduated 78 students at its southwest Winnipeg Shaftesbury campus, for a total of 114 graduates. An additional 64 Outtatown students completed international programs, returning from sites in South Africa and Guatemala.

Menno Simons College is one of the world’s largest centres for peace and justice studies. The College provides education flowing from Anabaptist Mennonite understandings of faith, peace, and justice while engaging other religious traditions and intellectual perspectives. MSC fosters a learning community that prepares students from diverse backgrounds for participation and leadership in local and global communities. Considered a pioneer in International Development Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, MSC offers a wide range of courses and experienced faculty in these areas, along with practicum opportunities and supporting scholarships.

Canadian Mennonite University offers undergraduate degree programs and two graduate degree programs. CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury campus, downtown MSC campus, and in its Outtatown international program. A member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) , CMU operates a number of schools and institutes, including the Canadian School of Peacebuilding.

For MSC information, contact:
Ruth Taronno: r.taronno@uwinnipeg.ca ; tel. 204.953.3846
http://mscollege.ca

For information on MSC award-winning students, contact:
Gina Loewen, Academic Advisor: g.loewen@uwnninipeg.ca
Menno Simons College Tel. 204.953.3848

For CMU information, contact:
Nadine Kampen, CMU Communications & Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca ; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621

Categories
General News News Releases

MSC students recognized for Making a Difference

Two Menno Simons College (MSC) students have been recognized for their part in making the world a better place. During International Development Week, which had as its theme “I am Making a Difference,” the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC) named eight youth as Young Global Citizens, including MSC’s Tyler Morden of Morden, MB and Zoe Gross from Barisford, MB.

“We’re very pleased to see these students being recognized for their efforts by MCIC for giving their time and energy in ways that promote international cooperation,” says MSC Dean Richard McCutcheon.

In recognizing these students, MCIC conducted video interviews in which Morden and Gross reflected on how they are contributing in positive ways in their communities and abroad.

Tyler Morden
Tyler Morden

Morden, who works for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM), believes that international work is important, even if it is in one’s own city and country.

“I am making a difference through the work I do supporting newcomer children and youth with their settlement in Winnipeg,” says Morden in his video interview. “There are a lot of challenges and barriers that face [the children and youth that I work with]; anything from language barriers to learning our laws and customs, and the work that I do is to help children and youth learn these things so they can be active members of our community.”

For Gross, spending eight months in Kenya working with a national women’s organization helped her learn that women’s concerns in Kenya are similar to concerns of women in Canada.

“We need to work together and support one another in these endeavours,” says Gross.

Zoe Gross

Gross believes that international development is important because the world is so interconnected, and many don’t recognize this.
“One of the things that people don’t realize about international development… is that the issues are really intimately connected.  Just because you are working in the inner city of Winnipeg doesn’t mean those issues are any different than the slums or ghettos of Nairobi, for example,” Gross says.

Along with Morden and Gross, MCIV recognized six other Manitobans for the work that they are doing, helping to demonstrate how everyone has the potential to contribute.

To view MCIC videos of MSC students, visit:
http://mcic.ca/makingadifference/video/tyler-morden
http://mcic.ca/makingadifference/video/zoe-gross/

MSC provides education flowing from Anabaptist Mennonite understandings of faith, peace, and justice while engaging other religious traditions and intellectual perspectives. A College of CMU, and affiliated with UWinnipeg, MSC fosters a learning community that prepares students from diverse backgrounds for participation and leadership in local and global communities. Considered a pioneer in International Development Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, MSC offers a wide range of courses and experienced faculty in these areas that are unparalleled in Canada. Programs at MSC also include practicum opportunities and supporting scholarships.

CMU is a Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, offering undergraduate degrees as well as two graduate degree programs. CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury campus, MSC campus, and in the Outtatown program.  A member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), CMU operates a number of schools and institutes, including The School of Writing at CMU and the Canadian School of Peacebuilding.

For MSC information, contact:
Ruth Taronno:  r.taronno@uwinnipeg.ca; tel. 204.953.3846
www.cmu.ca www.mscollege.ca

For CMU information, contact:
Nadine Kampen CMU Communications & Marketing Director
nkampen@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2
www.cmu.ca

Categories
General News News Releases

Menno Simons College Celebrates 20th Anniversary

A respected leader in peace and conflict resolution and international development studies worldwide, CMU’s Menno Simons College (MSC) began its 3rd decade with expressions of gratitude and confidence at its 20th Anniversary Celebration.  This special event was held November 12, 2010 at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg.

Providing education flowing from Anabaptist Mennonite understandings of faith, peace, and justice while engaging other religious traditions and intellectual perspectives, MSC prepares students from diverse backgrounds for participation and leadership in local and global communities.

“The future is literally in our hands,” said Menno Simons College Dean Richard McCutcheon.  “I hold an image of a world in which resources and education are channelled for the benefit of all people, where political and social action is guided by the principles of nonviolence and restorative justice.  I believe we all have a role to play in holding an image of a better future. Menno Simons College can be a vessel for nurturing our images and helping to bring them to fruition.”

The 20th anniversary event began with a welcome reception at the West End Cultural Centre, with lively music provided by Papa Mombo.  The program, hosted by MSC Associate Vice-President Ruth Taronno, focused on the College’s journey and impact.

“We are very excited about reaching this milestone,” said Taronno.  “We have received excellent support and built solid relationships with many community organizations over the last 20 years. We appreciate this opportunity to reconnect with friends and alumni as we celebrate the unique culture and community of Menno Simons College!”

MSC was pleased to welcome 10 sponsor representatives to the event: IRCOM, MCIC, NEEDS Centre, MCC, LITE, John Howard Society, Mediation Services, Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council Inc., Choices Youth Program, and Project Peacemakers.

During the program, speakers reflected on their own experiences at MSC and how these continue to shape their lives.

“In one of my first spring classes, there was a student from South Africa, a student from North Africa, a student from Palestine, a student from Latin America and our Professor was from Bangladesh,” reflected 4th year Honours student Naomi Happychuk. “It really gave me a new understanding of interconnectedness, which I think is a core value here at Menno Simons College.”
The program included a concert by Canadian performers Keith and Renee. Keith Macpherson, a former student and Renee Lamoureux performed songs related to conflict resolution and international development. Through the Free the Children Foundation, they have travelled and performed for two summers in Kenya, Africa, and Dubai and have also performed in 150 schools across Canada, speaking to youth about positive change. They shared songs, images, video, and personal stories of how these experiences changed their lives.

In addition to a retrospective slide show on MSC’s first 20 years, the event included a future-oriented display – architectural plans illustrating major renovations scheduled for Spring 2012. Through a significant legacy gift from the David and Katherine Friesen Family Foundation, MSC purchased a 16,500-square-foot facility at 520 Portage Avenue.  Renovations to this space will create new and improved classrooms, student facilities, faculty and administrative offices, and spaces for meeting and dialogue.

For further information and reflections, refer to MSC Currents, Winter 2010.

Web posting January 28, 2011

Categories
Student Projects Video

MSC 20th Anniversary video

Student reporters – Judson Rempel and Laura Tait,  from CMU’s Media Workshop course, collaborated to capture the 20th anniversary celebrations of Menno Simons College.

A respected leader in peace and conflict resolution and international development studies worldwide, CMU’s Menno Simons College (MSC) began its 3rd decade with expressions of gratitude and confidence at its 20th Anniversary Celebration.  This special event was held November 12, 2010 at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg.

The event began with a welcome reception at the West End Cultural Centre, with lively music provided by Papa Mambo.  The program, hosted by MSC Associate Vice-President Ruth Taronno, focused on the College’s journey and impact.

Providing education flowing from Anabaptist Mennonite understandings of faith, peace, and justice while engaging other religious traditions and intellectual perspectives, MSC prepares students from diverse backgrounds for participation and leadership in local and global communities.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTDHdG4Mf9E[/youtube]

Categories
Events

Menno Simons College & UWinnipeg’S Global College Co-Host International Peace & Justice Conference Oct 1-2, 2010

Inaugural Gandhi Peace Award will be awarded to Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
For release September 30, 2010

The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA)’s 8th Annual Conference gets underway this October 1 and 2 in Winnipeg, with Menno Simons College and UWinnipeg’s Global College serving as co-hosts for this important international conference.

“Our goal for Menno Simons College (MSC) is to establish the College as a centre recognized internationally for its work in the areas of peace and conflict studies and international development , and to establish significant partnerships and projects with national and international institutions and agencies,” says CMU Vice President (Academic) Earl Davey. “After eighteen months of anticipation, the 2010 PJSA conference now taking place brings evidence that the College is doing precisely what it intended to do by co-hosting this exceptional event.”

The conference will be held on the campus of The University of Winnipeg as well as using facilities of Canadian Mennonite University’s Menno Simons College and Shaftesbury campuses. Opening ceremonies and plenary panel, with Betty Reardon and Ovide Mercredi and moderated by Earl Davey, will be held at Thunderbird House October 1 at 9:00 am.

The remaining plenary sessions featuring Cynthia Enloe, Carolyn Nordstrom, Sherene Razack, Sandra Whitworth, Catherine Morris, and Marilou McPhedran will happen at UWinnipeg’s Convocation Hall, with sessions and workshops spread throughout classrooms at both MSC and UWinnipeg.

On Saturday at 11:15 am, the inaugural Gandhi Peace Award will be awarded to Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Palestinian medical doctor born and raised in a refugee camp, who is the author of I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey and a strong advocate of peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The award will be handed out on behalf of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre of Canada by Premier Greg Selinger as part of the conference.

The Conference theme is “Building Bridges, Crossing Borders: Gender, Identity, and Security in the Search for Peace.” Late registrants are welcome, and may pay a day rate ($25 regular admission, or $15 student/low income). The conference schedule is available online at the PJSA website: www.peacejusticestudies.org

The conference’s closing banquet, being held in CMU’s Great Hall on Saturday evening, is sold out. However, late registrants may attend the awards ceremony, which is a key part of the conference proceedings and will feature music by Jazz for Humanity and brief talks by Cynthia Enloe, George Lakey, Caitlin Eliasson, and Ovide Mercredi, each of whom is receiving a major award from the PJSA. The awards ceremony commences in the CMU gymnasium on Saturday at 8:00 pm.

A non-profit organization formed in 2001, the Peace and Justice Studies Association serves as a professional association for scholars in the field of peace and conflict resolution studies, and it is the North-American affiliate of the International Peace Research Association <http://www.ipraweb.org> . PJSA is dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change.

Menno Simons College, a College of Canadian Mennonite University and affiliated with UWinnipeg, is considered one of the largest peace and justice centres in the world. MSC offers course work and practicum experience in International Development Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, providing students with practical and meaningful ways to address world issues. In addition, MSC houses Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies. CMU offers a sister program to MSC’s program at its Shaftesbury campus, called Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies.

Global College is a multi-disciplinary forum for Canadian and international students. The Global College brings students and community members into contact with faculty, visiting scholars, local leaders, and notable speakers from around the world. Through The University of Winnipeg, Global College offers a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree in Human Rights and Global Studies.

For conference information, contact:
PJSA 2010 Conference Administrator Caitlin Eliasson – pjsainfo@uwinnipeg.ca
Dean of Menno Simons College Richard McCutcheon – rmccutcheon@cmu.ca

Media contact:
CMU Communications & Marketing Director Nadine Kampen – nkampen@cmu.ca

Categories
Events

International Peace & Justice Conference Welcomes Peacebuilders To Winnipeg Oct 1-2, 2010

For release September 22, 2010

The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA), an organization headquartered in the United States and affiliated with the International Peace Research Association, will hold its 8th Annual Conference this October 1 and 2, with Menno Simons College and UWinnipeg’s Global College serving as hosts for this important international conference. This year’s conference, with its anticipated 350 participants, focuses on the theme, “Building Bridges, Crossing Borders: Gender, Identity, and Security in the Search for Peace.”

The conference will be held on the campuses of the University of Winnipeg and Canadian Mennonite University, with opening ceremonies held at Thunderbird House on Friday morning.

“This will represent the PJSA’s first international gathering, as we strive to develop a truly North American association to address the many shared challenges before us, and we are extremely pleased to convene this annual conference in Winnipeg,” says PJSA Executive Director Randall Amster. “The notion of ‘crossing borders’ is particularly poignant in these times, given the present struggles over immigration in the U.S. and the hemispheric nature of the issues at hand.”

“We firmly believe that by coming together to explore just and peaceful strategies for achieving security and honoring identity, we can help foster a climate in which our differences are seen as strengths, and the crises we face become opportunities for mutual engagement and innovation,” Amster adds.

Eight lecturers will share their perspectives and views on the theme topic.

PJSA executive and conference organizers are pleased to welcome well known and highly respected lecturer and professor Cynthia Enloe as one of its keynote speakers. Author of 12 books, Enloe has taught and studied around the world in countries such as Guyana, Japan, Malaysia, and Sweden. Racial, class, ethnic, and national identities and pressures shaping ideas about femininities and masculinities have been common threads throughout her studies and writings.

Enloe’s presentation will centre on what happens in women’s lives when wars are concluded, and what post-war time challenges face women from diverse parts of the world.

Says Amster: “We are very pleased to announce that Cynthia Enloe will be presented with the Howard Zinn Lifetime Achievement in Peace Studies Award at the PJSA conference.”

Also featured as a keynote speaker will be Chief Ovide Mercredi, who is Chief of the Misipawistik First Nation, Grand Chief of the Swampy Cree Tribal Council, and National Spokesperson for Treaties 1 through 11. A dynamic and thought-provoking speaker, Mercredi draws on experience gained in his roles as lawyer, negotiator, author, lecturer in Native Studies, and activist on behalf of First Nations in Canada. Mercredi, recipient of this year’s PJSA Social Courage Award, will be addressing the opening session of the conference being held at Thunderbird House on Friday morning.

Others presenting at the PJSA conference include: Marilou McPhedran, an international human rights lawyer; Catherine Morris, a leader in the field of conflict resolution in academic, community, non-profit, public, and private sectors; Carolyn Nordstrom, an anthropologist and author of several books on war and the shadow economies of war; Sherene Razack, a professor of gender and race issues at OISE in Toronto; Betty A. Reardon, the founding Director Emeritus of the International Institute on Peace Education, and a professor and activist for women’s rights; and Sandra Whitworth, a professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies and author of a central UN report on Women, Peace and Security.

Conference co- hosts, Menno Simons College and Global College, are excited to have such world-renowned speakers and leaders in their respective fields coming to the Winnipeg conference.

A non-profit organization formed in 2001, the Peace and Justice Studies Association serves as a professional association for scholars in the field of peace and conflict resolution studies, and it is the North-American affiliate of the International Peace Research Association <http://www.ipraweb.org> . PJSA is dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change.

“Conference planning has been an exciting process and a very meaningful one for Menno Simons College,” notes dean of the College, Rick McCutcheon. “We are very pleased and honoured to have this opportunity to welcome PJSA to Canada and most particularly to Winnipeg, where we can draw on the synergies of our significant peace and justice programs and organizations.”

Menno Simons College, a College of Canadian Mennonite University and affiliated with UWinnipeg, is considered one of the largest peace and justice centres in the world. MSC offers course work and practicum
experience in International Development Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, providing students with practical and meaningful ways to address world issues. In addition, MSC houses Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies. CMU offers a sister program to MSC’s program at its Shaftesbury campus, called Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies.

Global College is a multi-disciplinary forum for Canadian and international students. The Global College brings students and community members into contact with faculty, visiting scholars, local leaders, and notable speakers from around the world. Through The University of Winnipeg, Global College offers a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree in Human Rights and Global Studies.

For conference information, contact:

PJSA 2010 Conference Administrator
Caitlin Eliasson
pjsainfo@uwinnipeg.ca

Dean of Menno Simons College
Richard McCutcheon
rmccutcheon@cmu.ca

Media contact:
CMU Communications & Marketing Director
Nadine Kampen
nkampen@cmu.ca

Biographies: PJSA Distinguished Plenary Speakers 2010

Cynthia Enloe’s career has included Fulbrights in Malaysia and Guyana, and guest professorships in Japan, Britain and Canada, as well as lecturing in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Korea, Turkey and at universities around the U.S. Her books and articles have been translated into Spanish, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, and German. She has written for Ms. Magazine and has appeared on National Public Radio and the BBC. At Clark, Professor Enloe has been selected “Outstanding Teacher” three times and named University Senior Faculty Fellow for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship. In 2009, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of London’s School of Oriental and Asian Studies. Enloe’s twelve books include Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics (2000), Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives (2004), and Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link (2007). Her newest book is Nimo’s War, Emma’s War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War (forthcoming from University of California Press, spring, 2010). In years past, Enloe’s feminist teaching and research has focused on the interplay of women’s politics in the national and international arenas, with special attention to how women’s labor is made cheap in globalized factories (especially sneaker factories) and how women’s emotional and physical labor has been used to support governments’ war-waging policies—and how many women have tried to resist both of those efforts. Racial, class, ethnic, and national identities and pressures shaping ideas about femininities and masculinities have been common threads throughout her studies.

Marilou McPhedran is an international human rights lawyer, who was appointed principal (dean) of Global College in June 2008, having resigned as the Chief Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to return to the University of Winnipeg. Born and raised in Neepawa, Manitoba, called to the Bar of Ontario, Dr. McPhedran was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1985 in recognition of her co-leadership in the successful campaign for stronger equality protections in the Canadian constitution. She cofounded several internationally recognized non-profit systemic change organizations, such as LEAF – the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, which has conducted constitutional equality test cases and interventions for 25 years. She is a pioneer in research and advocacy to counter human rights violations through systemic reform – in law, medicine, education and government. She founded the International Women’s Rights Project, located at the University of Victoria Centre for Global Studies – based on two of her intergenerational models: “evidence based advocacy” and “lived rights”. As chief executive officer of a federal center of excellence, she directed staff and programs including a cyber research network; she has chaired two public inquiries into the sexual abuse of patients; and she has co-investigated and co-authored a number of research projects on systemic reform and human rights, including: the ten country pilot study to assess impact of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). As principal of Global College, she coordinates the University of Winnipeg contributions to the new joint Masters degree in Peace and Conflict Studies with University of Manitoba, directs the Institute for International Women’s Rights and the Global Citizenship Program with high school affiliates, lectures and conducts research on international human rights, and has launched a campaign to build the Global Learning Commons. As a volunteer, she is on the Board of the Winnipeg Women’s Health Clinic and is the Vice-President of the Canadian International Council – Winnipeg Branch.

Chief Ovide Mercredi is a Cree, a lawyer, a negotiator, an author, a lecturer in Native Studies, and an activist on behalf of First Nations in Canada. He was born into a traditional trapping hunting and fishing lifestyle in Grand Rapids, Manitoba in 1946. He is currently serving as Chief of the Misipawistik First Nation, Grand Chief of the Swampy Cree Tribal Council, and is also National Spokesperson for Treaties 1 through 11. Chief Mercredi is perhaps best known for his deep involvement in constitutional law reform issues, and Aboriginal and Treaty rights negotiations. He acted as a key adviser in First Nations’ opposition to the Meech Lake Accord, and in 1989 was elected Manitoba Vice-Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He was first elected National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in 1991, and served two terms until 1997. He also led the First Nations negotiations in the Charlottetown Accord. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. In 2006 he was invested with the Order of Manitoba; the province’s highest honour. He was nominated for the Gandhi Peace Prize and has received honourary degrees from Bishop’s University, St. Mary’s University, and Lethbridge University. He has published a collection of his speeches in a book entitled In The Rapids – Navigating the Future of First Nations, and has contributed articles to two other recent books. He is also the subject of two Canadian documentary films. Chief Mercredi has spoken at hundreds of venues, from small community gatherings to universities and colleges throughout North America and internationally about his experiences.

Catherine Morris has been a leader in the field of conflict resolution since 1983, both in Canada and internationally. Working in academic, community, nonprofit, public, and private sectors, she has played key roles in numerous organizations and initiatives. Ms. Morris is the founder of Peacemakers Trust, a Canadian non-profit organization for education and research in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. As an adjunct professor, she teaches graduate level courses in conflict resolution, negotiation and international human rights at the University of Victoria where she designed and founded a multidisciplinary graduate program in dispute resolution. An Associate and former Executive Director of the university’s Institute for Dispute Resolution, she worked in several leadership roles from 1992-1998. As well at the University of Victoria, Ms. Morris is an Associate of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI). She also regularly teaches at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand and, in the past, has taught at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and guest lectured at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She is presently Faculty Associate for the Program in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Arthur V. Mauro Centre at the University of Manitoba. Ms. Morris has been involved in design, planning, administration and presentation of workshops for senior public officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations, academics and professionals in several countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Bolivia, and Rwanda. Her research and writing has resulted in publications and papers on mediator ethics and qualifications, conflict and culture, ADR in legal education, the role of religion in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, peacebuilding in Cambodia, human rights education, and reconciliation. Hosted by Peacemakers Trust, her website-based bibliography, Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding: A Selected Bibliography has been used by tens of thousands of people in more than one hundred countries on all continents. Ms. Morris’ current interests include possibilities for reconciliation and justice after genocide and massive human rights violations. As a practicing lawyer with Lampion Pacific Law Corporation and a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association and the British Columbia Mediator Roster (Civil), she is widely experienced in conflict assessment, mediation, fact-finding and adjudication.

A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1997, Carolyn Nordstrom is an anthropologist at home in lecture hall and war zone alike. She studies wars, the illegal drug trade, gender relationships, and war profiteering. Her research has made her an eyewitness and scholar of worldwide urban and rural battlefields as well as of the shadowy worlds of diamond, drug, and arms smuggling. In addition to her teaching and lecturing, she has written dozens of articles, and several books including Global Outlaws: Crime, Money, and Power in the Contemporary World; Shadows of War: Violence, Power, and International Profiteering in the 21st Century; A Different Kind of War Story; Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Stories of Violence and Survival, and The Paths to Domination, Resistance, and Terror. “I have studied the ways in which people gain the necessities to wage war and create peace, and how people pay for these services,” she once said. “Drugs, precious gems, human labor and sex are routinely used in international black markets to purchase everything from guns and computer-based weapons systems to antibiotics and food. The integrity of my ethnographic research and the safety of those among whom I work have rested on having to delete basic data, which erases the extra-legal from public discourse. I want to develop a form of creative non-fiction that explores the lives of real people working in this complex, extra-legal network without revealing their locations.”

Sherene Razack is professor, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her research and teaching interests lie in the area of race and gender issues in the law. Her courses include: ‘Race, Space and Citizenship;’ Race and Knowledge Production’ and ‘Racial Violence and the Law.’ Her most recent book is entitled Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims From Western Law and Politics (University of Toronto Press, 2008). She has also published Dark Threats & White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping and the New Imperialism (University of Toronto Press, 2004), an edited collection Race, Space and the Law: Unmapping A White Settler Society Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002), Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000) and Canadian Feminism and the Law: The Women’s Legal and Education Fund and the Pursuit of Equality (Toronto: Second Story Press, 1991). Razack has been described as “one of the most influential thinkers in Cultural Studies in Canada.”

Betty A. Reardon is the Founding Director Emeritus of the International Institute on Peace Education, an annual intensive residential experience in peace education. Since 1982 the IIPE has been held at universities and peace education centers in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Central America. For this work she received a special Honorable Mention Award from UNESCO in 2001. Among her other initiatives in the international peace education movement, she initiated and served as the first Academic Coordinator of the Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education. Having taught as a visiting professor at a number of universities in the U.S. and abroad, she has 46 years of experience in international peace education and 33 years in the international movement for the human rights of women. She has served as a consultant to several UN agencies and national and international education organizations. Her widely published work in the theory and development of peace and human rights education, and in gender and peace issues, recognized in the awarding of the 2008 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Peace Studies from the Peace and Justice Studies Association, is archived in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo Libraries. She is the recipient of the 2009 Sean McBride Peace Prize awarded by the International Peace Bureau, the oldest of the many nongovernmental peace organizations, founded in 1891.

Sandra Whitworth is Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. Sandra did her Ph.D. at Carleton University in Political Science (1991), and her first book, Feminism and International Relations (Palgrave Macmillan) was published in 1994. That book was translated into Japanese and was published by Fujiwara Shoten Press in 2000. Her most recent book was published in 2004 (Lynne Rienner) and is entitled Men, Militarism and UN Peacekeeping: A Gendered Analysis. She also adapted Joshua Goldstein’s textbook International Relations for use in Canadian university and college classrooms. She has written various articles and book chapters on issues such as gender in Canadian foreign policy and human rights and was invited (with co-author Dyan Mazurana) to produce the 2002 United Nations Secretary-General Study Women, Peace and Security. That study won one of the American Library Association’s ‘Notable Government Documents Awards’ for 2002. Sandra teaches courses at York in Global Politics, Gender and International Relations, and graduate courses in International Relations Theory. She is serving currently as the home base editor for International Feminist Journal of Politics. Sandra is an enthusiastic (though not particularly skilled) hockey player and thinks the world could be a better place if everybody played the guitar, read David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and listened to live music whenever they have a chance.

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Audio Faculty interviews Sunday@CMU Radio

Ruth Taronno – Inspiring students at MSC

Ruth Taronno
Director of Practicum Program & Associate VP, Menno Simons College
Interview Date: September 6th, 2009

In this interview, David Balzer – host of Sunday@CMU Radio, speaks with Ruth about inspiring students to step out of their comfort zones.

[audio:http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/090906RuthTaronno.mp3|titles=090906RuthTaronno]
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