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Upcoming lecture to explore the animal kingdom in Canadian Mennonite history

Dr. Royden Loewen to deliver 2015 John and Margaret Friesen Lecture at CMU

The 2015 edition of the John and Margaret Friesen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) will explore how Mennonites have imagined the animal kingdom over the last 150 years.

Dr. Royden Loewen, Chair in Mennonite Studies and Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg, will give a lecture titled, “‘Come Watch This Spider’: Animals, Mennonites, and the Modern World,” at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 17 in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.).

ComeWatchThisSpiderThe lecture will focus on the ethical dimensions of animal-human relations among Canadian Mennonites. Often overlooked, their rich literary traditions are filled with references to inter-species relationships. Their diaries, memoirs, and novels suggest a relationship that changed significantly over time.

“There is simply a deeper respect that humans had for animals in the pre-industrial times of the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” Loewen says. “It’s not that humans were not dominant over animals… but that dominance was expressed in a different way.”

That fundamental respect during pre-industrial times was followed by an objectification and commodification of the animal during the mid to late 20th century as Mennonites embraced the ‘modern’ world.

By the turn of the 20th century, some writers from the edges of Mennonite society began to confront the very idea of animal subjugation.

Loewen hopes that those who attend the lecture are challenged to recover a basic respect that people once had for animals.

He also hopes that by learning about animals in the history of Canadian Mennonites, a greater understanding of the nature of the modern world can be achieved.

Ultimately, to study animal-human relations is to study human history more fully.

“A generation ago, Mennonite historians began writing ordinary people into the narrative – not just bishops and (other leaders),” Loewen says. “We did that to write a more inclusive history, so in the name of a more just and inclusive history, we also need to understand the creatures of the earth.”

Dr. Paul Doerksen, Associate Professor of Theology and Anabaptist Studies at CMU, says Loewen’s reputation as a world-class scholar made him an obvious choice to deliver the 2015 John and Margaret Friesen Lecture.

“Nobody’s better at social history than Roy,” Doerksen says, adding that as a Mennonite university, it is important for CMU to host Mennonite scholars of Loewen’s calibre.

“We have to have people like Roy here to help us learn and see issues in new ways,” Doerksen says.

In his capacity at the University of Winnipeg, Loewen is the editor of the Journal of Mennonite Studies and also serves as series editor of the “Ethnicity and Culture History Series” at University of Manitoba Press.

Loewen has authored or co-authored seven books covering a variety of aspects of Mennonite history. Over the years, he has been a research fellow and visiting scholar at academic institutions around the world.

He and his wife, Mary Anne, currently live in Steinbach, MB, where they are members of Steinbach Mennonite Church. They have three adult children: Rebecca, Meg, and Sasha. Loewen and his son operate a small grain farm near Steinbach.

The John and Margaret Friesen Lectures in Anabaptist/Mennonite Studies are co-sponsored by CMU, the Mennonite Heritage Centre, and the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies.

At the lecture, selected works by Manitoba artist Lynda Toews will be on display. These works are from “A Place in the Kingdom: Paintings and Stories Celebrating Farm Animals,” an exhibit the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery is hosting from March 13, 2015 to June 20, 2015.

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry. CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Discussion at CMU to explore the possibility of an urban reserve at Kapyong Barracks

What would it mean to turn the Kapyong Barracks into an urban reserve?

That’s the key question Canadian Mennonite University’s next Face2Face community discussion will explore. Titled, “On Being Good Neighbours: An Urban Reserve at Kapyong?,” the event takes place on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 PM in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

face2face_mar5_15Participants in the discussion include Chief Glenn Hudson, Chief of the Peguis First Nation; Jamie Wilson, Commissioner for the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba; and Leah Gazan, Faculty/Special Projects Coordinator at University of Winnipeg and President of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.

David Balzer, Assistant Professor of Communications and Media at CMU, will moderate the event, which is being organized with the participation of Steve Heinrichs, Director of Indigenous Relations for Mennonite Church Canada.

Together, the participants will explore opportunities and practical challenges of an urban reserve at Kapyong Barracks.

The discussion will include treaty details, site vision, exploring possibilities, the current stumbling blocks, the concerns that some have raised, and a look at what it might mean to be good neighbours in this place.

Balzer believes this is an important conversation for CMU to host because the Kapyong Barracks are located less than three kilometres away from the university. Nearly everyone at the university drives past the barracks every day.

“It’s a visual reminder of the question, ‘How do we best use this land?’” Balzer says.

He adds that over the past few years, CMU has become increasingly interested in what it means to be good neighbours to Canada’s First Nations community.

“We’re trying to understand how to have a conversation around our history as a country, as a province, and as a city,” Balzer says.

Formerly a Canadian Forces base, Kapyong Barracks was vacated in 2004. The Department of National Defence declared the 159-acre site, located on Kenaston Boulevard, surplus.

The Canadian government and four Manitoba First Nations are currently involved in a dispute regarding control of the land. According to a CBC report from January 2014, the First Nations argue that under a treaty land entitlement process, they are allowed to negotiate for federal property that has been declared surplus.

Gazan says she doesn’t understand why the land isn’t given to the First Nations.

“Nobody questions it when IKEA goes up, nobody questions the strip malls going up, there’s no big community debate when we see new restaurants coming up, so why is this an issue?” she says.

Gazan adds that she is looking forward to delving into the topic on March 5.

“Any time you have people willing to come together to discuss these difficult issues, it’s positive,” she says.

Steve Heinrichs agrees.

“My hope is that we would be able to have a conversation about what some indigenous people are envisioning for that space—a conversation that would demystify and speak into some of the misconceptions about what an urban reserve is,” he says.

Started in 2013, Face2Face is a series of conversations organized by CMU, designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

“On Being Good Neighbours: An Urban Reserve at Kapyong?” is the last of four Face2Face events CMU is hosting during the 2014-15 school year. For details, please visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.

About CMU

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry. CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit: www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Upcoming lecture to explore and critique modern interpretations of just war theory

Rev. Dr. David Widdicombe to speak at Canadian Mennonite University

An Anglican priest will explore just war theory in an upcoming lecture at Canadian Mennonite University.

Rev. Dr. David Widdicombe, Rector of Saint Margaret’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg, will give a presentation titled, “To Sow the Wind: An Argument Against the War on Terror and Other Bad Ideas,” at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 26 in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.).

To Sow The Wind PosterPresented by CMU’s Biblical and Theological Studies Department, the lecture will explore a particular way of looking at war—specifically, the war on terror.

“What I hope people go away with is additional intellectual resources for thinking about what the government ought to do in the circumstances we presently find ourselves in,” Widdicombe says. “I’m not suggesting that I have the answers, but what I’m suggesting is that we need to be thoughtful about the kinds of questions we’re asking.”

Widdicombe says that just war theory has received a lot of attention in recent times, but the results have been mixed. It is no longer a tradition of thought designed to outline how force is to be used in the restraint of evil.

Instead, under the pressure of a variety of factors including humanitarian interventionism, theories that democracies do not fight wars against each other, Western exceptionalism, and supposed states of emergency, the tradition has lost its profound Augustinian political scepticism and moral realism.

Widdicombe’s lecture will ask whether the restraint of force wasn’t always a better, foundational idea than the pursuit of justice in the just war tradition—a tradition that once thought of war as tragically endemic and sometimes justified, but never simply unambiguously just.

“Behind all this is my assumption that Christians, whether pacifist or not, have a stake in governments getting this right rather than getting this wrong,” Widdicombe says.

Dr. Karl Koop, Professor of History and Theology, and Coordinator of CMU’s Biblical and Theological Studies Program, invited Widdicombe to present the lecture after hearing him speak about just war theory this past summer.

“Christian pacifists sometimes place Christians, who are not pacifist, into a just war theory box and then assume that their position may not be sound, nor well thought through, nor theologically tenable,” Koop says. “Dr. Widdicombe’s position is of a different sort. He is seeking to be a faithful Christian and recognizes the complexities of conflict. While not holding a pacifist position, he is not enamoured with just war reasoning either, at least not the way in which it is applied in the contemporary context.”

Koop adds that he is looking forward to hearing what Widdicombe has to say at CMU, a university that lists “Educating for Peace and Justice” as one of its four core commitments.

“We may differ with Dr. Widdicombe’s point of view, but he is the kind of conversation partner that we need beside us as we together think through what it means to be faithful in a year of war and conflict—and 100 years after the big war that was supposed to end all wars,” Koop says.

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CMU Discussion Series Explores Young Adults and the Church

Exploring assumptions goal of third Face2Face event of 2015-14 school year

Many young Canadians have stepped away from institutionalized religion, a trend that has been growing for the past 25 years. An upcoming event at Canadian Mennonite University will explore why.

face2facefeb1015CMU’s Face2Face community discussion series continues on Tuesday, February 10 with “You Lost Me: The Church and Young Adults.” The event takes place in Marpeck Commons (2299 Grant Ave.) on CMU’s campus. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. The event starts at 7:00 PM.

Face2Face is a series of conversations with CMU faculty, designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

Irma Fast Dueck, Associate Professor of Practical Theology, and Peter Epp, a student in CMU’s Graduate School of Theology and Ministry, will co-host the discussion.

The diverse panel of young adults contributing to the conversation includes Kirsten Hamm-Epp and Lukas Thiessen, who are alumni of CMU, as well as Danielle Morton and Mike Wiebe, who are currently students at the university.

Dueck was inspired to create the event after encountering an increasing number of students who are Christians, but who either don’t belong to a church or are not baptized.

“They’re very committed Christians, interested in social justice, prayer, and everything, but they’re nominally involved in church,” Dueck says.

Epp’s interest in the topic stems in part from his experience teaching Mennonite Studies at the high school level. He witnessed his students getting passionate about the topic as they learned more about it.

At the same time, they didn’t argue with Epp when he suggested that statistically speaking, it’s very likely they would leave the church as young adults.

“I think that contrast with students can get really interesting,” says Epp, adding that his interest in the topic also comes from having close relationships with a handful of friends who have left the church as young adults.

Questions the panelists will explore include: Is the church not listening, or do young adults no longer care? Has the church lost touch with the issues about which young adults are most passionate? How significant is the church’s worship to the participation and involvement of young adults? Do young adults feel any responsibility in keeping the legacy of the church going? What does it mean for the church to be “faithful” in this time and place?

The goal of the event is to explore the assumptions young people have about the church, as well as the assumptions people in the church have about young people.

“I’m just hoping to wade into the complexity of the questions and dispel some of the stereotypes we have around this issue,” Dueck says.

Epp agrees.

“My hope is that people in the church would walk away with a deeper understanding of the complexity of the situation, so that they can better address it,” he says. “On the flipside of that, I hope young adults might be able to step back and consider their own engagement with the church in potentially new ways.”

“You Lost Me: The Church and Young Adults” is the third of four Face2Face events CMU is hosting during the 2014-15 school year. For details, please visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry. CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury Campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit: www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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CMU welcomes inaugural Scientist in Residence to campus

Research scientist Dr. Henry Janzen interested in fostering hope at events

Canadian Mennonite University is pleased to announce it will host Dr. Henry Janzen as its first-ever Scientist-in-Residence.

Janzen, a research scientist in soil biochemistry at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, will be on campus February 2-6 to share his insights, observations, experience, and personal reflections in a number of speaking events open to the public.

CMU is looking forward to hosting Janzen, says Dr. Tim Rogalsky, Chair of the Science and Faith Advisory Committee, which is responsible for organizing Janzen’s visit.

“He is a respected scholar in soil science, he’s a deep thinker, he’s a Christian, he’s a great storyteller, and he’s concerned about the state of the world,” says Rogalsky, Associate Professor of Mathematics at CMU. “It’s going to be great to have him here for the week.”

Janzen’s confirmed speaking engagements are as follows:

  • A student forum titled, “Footprints on a Greening Planet,” on Monday, February 2 from 11:30 AM to 12 PM in the CMU Chapel. This event will look at how humans can live more gently and creatively on the land of their grandchildren, and how people of faith can foster hope, in the face of many troubles on a rapidly-transforming planet.
  • A chapel on Tuesday, February 3 in which Janzen will share his faith story, titled, “How Can I Know the Way?” In this presentation, he will focus on the anguished exhilaration of seeking clarity from the muddiness of admitted ignorance, both in science and in matters of the spirit. The event begins at 11:30 AM in the CMU Chapel.
  • A public lecture on Wednesday, February 4 at 7 PM in Marpeck Commons. In the lecture, titled “Following Carbon Flows Through Life and Times,” Janzen will provide an overview of the carbon cycle and the way its flows connect all species in a planet-wide continuum. He will then explore some questions that emerge: questions relevant to all of us, enfolding interwoven strands of science, of ethics, and ultimately, of hope.

Janzen says that he is looking forward to interacting in an academic community that is also a community of faith.

“What’s important to me is not only what I might bring to CMU,” Janzen says. “I suspect the one who learns the most may be me.”

He adds that there is typically a lot of doom and pessimism involved when ecological challenges such as climate change, food security, and biodiversity conservation, are discussed. He will be looking for ways, during this visit, to jointly foster hope.

“This is one of the reasons I’m interested in looking at these questions in the community of CMU,” Janzen says. “I suspect there may be answers lurking there that will help us together forge a way forward that is ultimately hopeful.

The challenges that have been identified by science will not be resolved by science and technology alone, he adds.

“The way forward, I think, will be guided also by the artists – musicians, poets, essayists, and writers,” Janzen says. “It’s not to leave these problems to the technologists. We may also want to change the way we live, and maybe artists can help direct us there.”

A scientist for the past 30 years, Janzen studies how farming and other human practices affect prairie ecosystems, with emphasis on the carbon and nitrogen flows within them.

In recent years, his interests have expanded to also explore other socio-ecological issues, such as growing more food, preserving biodiversity, conserving soils, using energy wisely, seeking beauty, and fostering social harmony.

Janzen and his wife, Sandra, live on a small farm near Lethbridge. They have three adult children and attend Coaldale Mennonite Church.

For more information, visit www.cmu.ca/sir.

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry. CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury Campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit: www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Menno Simons College Presents Dr. Anil Gupta on Learning From Grassroots Innovators

2014 David Hopper Lecture sponsored by the International Development Research Centre

The topic “Empathetic Innovations for Inclusive Development: Can we learn from Grassroots Innovators?” will be addressed by Dr. Anil Gupta, senior professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

The lecture is scheduled for October 30, 2014 at 7:30 PM in the University of Winnipeg’s Convocation Hall. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 7:00 PM.

Dr. Anil Gupta is a professor at IIM, the top management and policy research institute in Asia and the Pacific region.
He is the founder of SRISTI, an internationally know NGO working for farmers’ innovation and creativity. Gupta’s development work led to the creation of the National Innovation Foundation, which he currently leads as Executive Vice President. He serves on numerous high-ranking advisory committees and policy groups in India and abroad on development, environment, science and education, ethics, and governance.

Dr. Gupta is an engaging public speaker and his work as an academic and activist is recognized by the Padma-shree Award, the highest civil honour conferred by the President of India.

About the Hopper Lecture

The Hopper Lecture Series is sponsored by the International Development Research Centre, in honour of its first president, David Hopper. The David Hopper Lecture 2014 is coordinated by Menno Simons College and the University of Guelph.

About Menno Simons College

Menno Simons College (MSC), a part of Canadian Mennonite University and affiliated with the University of Winnipeg, has been offering programs in International Development Studies (IDS) and Conflict Resolution Studies (CRS) since 1989. MSC fosters a vibrant undergraduate learning community in its newly renovated facility at 520 Portage Avenue. It offers 3-year and 4-year majors and a minor in IDS and CRS, an honours program in IDS, and an extensive practicum program. MSC has over 1,000 students and hundreds of alumni working in the development and conflict resolution sectors in Manitoba, Canada, and internationally.

For additional information, please contact:

Joel Marion
Menno Simons College
204.953.3844
jo.marion@uwinnipeg.ca

 

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CMU welcomes John Swinton for 2014 J.J. Thiessen Lectures

Scottish author and professor to speak on ‘Disability, Timefulness, and Gentle Discipleship’

How might the experience of profoundly disabled people impact our understandings of God, creation, and the meaning of humanness?

Dr. John Swinton will explore that question at this year’s J.J. Thiessen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) on October 14-15. Titled “Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefulness and Gentle Discipleship,” the three-part lecture series take place in the CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.) on Tuesday, October 14 at 11:00 AM and 7:30 PM, and concludes Wednesday, October 15 at 11:00 AM.

Dr. John Swinton, Professor and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland
Dr. John Swinton, Professor and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland

Swinton, Professor and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, will discuss the nature and purpose of time, and the ways in which certain forms of disability draw attention to forgotten aspects of time and timefulness.

The lectures will focus particularly on people with profound intellectual disabilities and people with cognitive disabilities such as advanced dementia. People with such life experiences perceive and live out time in ways that are quite different from the expectations of our speed driven culture.

“If we can conceptualize time differently, we begin to look at the gospel quite differently,” Swinton says.

People with profound disabilities draw attention to the significance of time and point towards the fact that true knowledge of God and faithful discipleship is slow and gentle; not bound by the assumptions of speed, worldly success, and the quickness of one’s intellect.

“One of the primary things that we learn is that by living in God’s time as opposed to the time created by our own clocks, we begin to encounter our daily practices quite differently,” Swinton says.

He adds that Christians today are “always walking ahead of Jesus.” The average Westerner walks at a pace of six miles per hour, whereas Jesus would have walked at half that speed—partly because of the heat, but partly because he understood the meaning of time. He had all the time in the world to do what God wanted him to do.

“By taking time to slow down and think about the experiences of people with dementia, we begin to discover things about God and being human that simply aren’t available (to us) when we’re walking ahead of Jesus,” Swinton says.

2014 JJT PosterSwinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the School of Divinity, Religious Studies and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He has a background in nursing and healthcare chaplaincy, and has researched and published extensively within the areas of practical theology, mental health, spirituality and human well-being, and the theology of disability.

Swinton says his lectures at CMU are for everyone. Through the lectures, he aims to call Christians together to engage in a more faithful discipleship.

He hopes that people who attend will walk away with an understanding that people with profound intellectual disabilities and people with advanced dementia are disciples with a God-given vocation.

“The lectures appear to be about disability, but they’re really about humanness and faithfulness,” Swinton says. “They’re actually about all of us.”

About CMU
A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry. CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury Campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit: www.cmu.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Urban reserves subject of next Face2Face community discussion at CMU

‘This is an opportunity to think about how we can go forward in a more respectful way,’ professor says

A First Nations leader who has promised to set up five urban reserves in Winnipeg within the next two years will speak at Canadian Mennonite University during a discussion about urban reserves.

Terry Nelson, Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, is one of the panelists at Canadian Mennonite University’s next Face2Face discussion. Hosted by Dr. Jarem Sawatsky, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at CMU, the event is titled, “On Being Good Neighbours: Urban Reserves in Winnipeg.”

The event happens Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 PM in CMU’s Great Hall (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Face2Face is a series of conversations with CMU faculty designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

Dr. Jarem Sawatsky, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies at CMU
Dr. Jarem Sawatsky, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies at CMU

Sawatsky says he likes Nelson’s idea to develop urban reserves because he sees it as an opportunity for non-First Nations Canadians to be good neighbours to First Nations Canadians.

“This is an opportunity to think about how we can go forward in a more respectful way,” Sawatsky says. “So much of the land in and around Winnipeg has been promised as treaty land at some point. First Nations people have been waiting around a long time to get their land. For us to figure out how to extend friendship to the First Nations people who were here before us seems to be a good plan.”

Joining Sawatsky and Nelson on the panel are: Dennis Meeches, Chief of Long Plain First Nation; Deanna Zantingh, a student from CMU’s Graduate School of Theology with an interest in indigenous relations; Kenton Lobe, Instructor in International Development Studies at CMU; and Jeffrey Ansloos, a Canadian born Cree PhD student of Clinical Psychology at Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA.

Sawatsky hopes that the event will build confidence in the idea of creating urban reserves.

“I think some people have questions and concerns about an urban reserve in their backyard, and some of them have nobody to ask those questions—First Nations people are not people they have a relationship with, so they don’t know how to pursue those questions,” Sawatsky says. “We’re trying to build a space where people can pursue the questions they have.”

“On Being Good Neighbours: Urban Reserves in Winnipeg” is the last of six Face2Face events CMU will host during the 2013-14 school year. For details, please visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.

About CMU

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU’s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, and graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry.

CMU has over 1,600 students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury Campus and in its Menno Simons College and Outtatown programs.

For information about CMU, visit:
www.cmu.ca

For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
kkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
Canadian Mennonite University
500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB  R3P 2N2

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Economic crisis, debt and trust key issues for discussion at next Face2Face event

Global economic crises throughout the world over the past few years, what they mean for society and what the future holds are some of the topics that Jeff Huebner will explore at Canadian Mennonite University’s next Face2Face event.

Jeff Huebner, Associate Professor of International Business
Jeff Huebner, Associate Professor of International Business

Huebner, Associate Professor of International Business at CMU, will lead a discussion titled, “The European Debt Crisis and Other Wonders Hiding in the Global Economy,” on Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 PM in CMU’s Great Hall (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend. Face2Face is a series of conversations with CMU faculty designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life.

The discussion will explore everything from the financial crisis in the United States to the Eurozone debt crisis. Discussion panelists will include two participants from a course Huebner is currently teaching, “Business in the European Union”: Norm Klippenstein, a value investor from Niverville, Man. who is taking the course for personal interest; and Wil Bohlender, an international student from Germany who will speak about the Eurozone crisis from a citizen’s perspective.

In addition to rising debt rates in Canada and what that means for society, Huebner says that one of the aspects he is interested in exploring is the issue of trust, which is a core facet of Christian faith and of Mennonite communities.

“A lot of our financial system is based on trust – not only for citizens who are investing privately, but for countries like those in the European Union who are working together to use the Euro,” he says. “When something like the Eurozone debt crisis happens, trust can be shaken to the core and the question is: What happens if that trust is going to evaporate?”

Huebner, who is leading CMU Redekop School of Business students on a two-week study tour focusing on business and politics in Europe this coming April, is looking forward to the event.

“This is going to be an interesting panel discussion,” he says. “I’m excited to hear what people have to say.”

“The European Debt Crisis and Other Wonders Hiding in the Global Economy” is the fifth of six Face2Face events CMU will host during the 2013-14 school year. For the complete Face2Face schedule, please visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.

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Discussion Led by IDS Professor to Explore Sweatshops and North American Clothing

“When Cheap Is Costly” is the third of seven Face2Face events hosted by CMU

The April collapse of the Bangladeshi clothing factory, which produced for Loblaw’s Joe Fresh label, and which killed more than 1,100 workers, raises important questions about where our clothes come from, and what conditions they are produced in.

JF1With the publicity given to garment factories, like the Loblaw contract-location in Bangladesh, how can North Americans show concern in their consumer behaviours for workers overseas?

Are we too concerned with fast fashion? Do constantly changing fashions trends encourage us to buy too many ‘cheap’ clothes that only need to last for a fashion season?

What is the ethical responsibility of business people in how they source the goods they produce, as well as how they market and advertise them

And how does social change happen for complex, diffuse problems like this?

Ray Vander Zaag, Assistant Professor of International Development Studies at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), will discuss those questions and more during CMU’s next Face2Face event exploring the intersection of faith and life.

Vander Zaag will host a conversation, titled “When Cheap Is Costly: Sweatshops and the Clothes I Buy,” on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7:00 PM in CMU’s Great Hall (500 Shaftesbury Blvd.). Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Vander Zaag says he is interested in the topic because it links to Haiti, where he worked with his church’s development agency  from 1985 to 1993. Garment factories, some with poor working conditions, are common in the Caribbean country, and are still  being promoted as a key development strategy for Haiti.

“The topic of sweatshops affects my day-to-day life here in Winnipeg, because I do think about things like how many shirts I need to have in my closet,” Vander Zaag says. “It’s also interesting linking this topic to places I’ve lived in and care about, like Haiti.”

Vander Zaag hopes his talk will lead to a nuanced discussion about the topic, because it is a complex issue with no easy answers.

“At the same time, it’s pretty clear that there are people being hurt,” he says.

A lot can be, and is being done, to work toward solutions.

“There are fair trade clothing shops in Winnipeg, there are advocacy groups working in solidarity with labourers in the global south, and Loblaw is concerned about this,” Vander Zaag says. “There are many pieces to the puzzle of a fairer global garment industry, and all these initiatives can slowly make that ocean liner move in a new direction.”

“When Cheap Is Costly: Sweatshops and the Clothes I Buy” is the third of seven Face2Face events CMU will host during the 2013-14 school year.

Face2Face events are a series of conversations with CMU faculty designed to engage the community on a wide variety of current events and issues at the intersection of faith and life. For the complete Face2Face schedule, please visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.