CMU Media Archive – Page 52 – Archived News from Canadian Mennonite University

Events

CMU Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Spring Concerts

Post author By CMU
Post date February 2, 2011

Choral music lovers and supporters of Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) are invited to celebrate CMU’s 10th anniversary at two spring concerts being held to commemorate the occasion.

Westminster United Church, one of Winnipeg’s heritage buildings, will host a concert on Saturday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. The second concert will be held in Gretna, MB, at Mennonite Collegiate Institute’s (MCI) Buhler Hall, on Sunday, March 27, at 3:00 p.m.

“Since this is our 10th anniversary, we felt that we would do something special for both constituencies,” says Dylan Tarnowsky, Development Associate at CMU and event lead for the Westminster concert.

Both events, based on the theme “Hope, faith, life, love,” will feature four CMU choral ensembles—the 40-voice CMU Singers, the 20-voice CMU Chamber Choir, the 50-voice CMU Women’s Chorus, and the 30-voice CMU Men’s Chorus—as well as various solo instrumentalists.

“The concerts will highlight CMU’s choral tradition, not only of the last 10 years, but also the longstanding traditions of both Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) and Concord College/Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC),” says Rudy Schellenberg, Associate Professor of Music and co-conductor of CMU’s choirs.

“Invigorating choral partnerships provided strong links between CMBC and Concord College/MBBC long before CMU was imagined, and helped paved the way for CMU,” adds Cheryl Pauls, Associate Professor of Piano and Music Theory. “The choral art continues to bring diverse voices together and to thrive in the CMU era.”

In honour of the anniversary, renowned Ontario composer Jeff Enns was commissioned to write a special celebratory piece for the CMU Singers and Chamber Choir to perform together. The piece, “What Does the Lord Require of You?,” is based on a Micah 6.8-themed text penned by California Mennonite writer/poet Jean Janzen.

The Westminster concert is a ticketed event; $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for students. Tickets are available at CMU’s reception desks, at the door, and online at www.cmu.ca/choralconcert.

“I’m looking forward to hearing our choirs sing in that magnificent space,” Tarnowsky says of the Westminster concert. “The acoustics are supposed to be incredible. This will be a ‘night on the town’ for Winnipeggers who love choral music to come and experience CMU through song.”

There is no admission charge for the MCI concert; however, there will be an opportunity to contribute to the work of CMU. This concert will also include some additional programming to include personal reflections and multimedia presentations related to the 10th anniversary, as well as refreshments.

“The MCI event is a time to bring CMU to Southern Manitoba, to reaffirm our connection with our supporters in this region of the province, and to celebrate how much we’ve achieved together in 10 years,” says Tarnowsky. “I think the event will be a wonderful blend of personal reflection, special music, and insight into all the innovations that CMU brings to the higher education ‘table’ in Manitoba.”

Schellenberg says a highlight of both concerts will be hearing and participating in a great variety of outstanding choral music, both new and familiar. “Singing together, whether in the congregation or the choir, is a profound participatory experience,” he says. “It unites us in a common purpose and faith in God that few other expressions can.”

For more information about CMU’s 10th anniversary spring concerts, please go to www.cmu.ca/choralconcert or call 487-3300 x607.

Tags 10th Anniversary, chamber choir, cmu singers

Audio

JJ Thiessen Lectures audio – Dr. Belden Lane

Post author By CMU
Post date February 1, 2011

J.J. Thiessen Lecture Series
October 19-20, 2010 From Desert Christians to Mountain Refugees: Fierce Landscapes and Counter-Cultural Spirituality
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Belden Lane, Saint Louis University

Lecture 1: October 19, 2010 11:00 AM
Places on the Edge: The Power of Desert/Mountain Terrain in Christian Thought
Download here

Lecture 2: October 19, 2010 7:30 PM
The Counter-Cultural Spirituality of the Desert Fathers for Today
Download here

Leture 3: October 20, 2010 11:00 AM
Fire in the Desert: Learning from the Desert Mothers
Download here

Lecture Topic: In the history of Christian spirituality, desert and mountain terrain has often been the source (and refuge) of counter-cultural movements. The Desert Christians in the fourth century went into the desert beyond the Nile, reacting after Constantine to the church’s support of a prosperity theology, gospel of success, and militarism. In sixteenth-century Switzerland, Anabaptists hid in barns and fled to caves in the Jura Mountains, questioning the magisterial Reformation in similar ways. These lectures will explore some ways in which the appeal of fierce landscapes in the Christian life is closely related to its prophetic witness to the dynamism of faith on the margins.

Tags audio, Belden Lane, Lectures

Audio

Winter Lectures audio – Dr. Romand Coles

Post author By CMU
Post date February 1, 2011

Winter Lectures Series
January 25-26, 2011 Resonance, Receptivity and Radical Reformation
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Romand Coles, McAllister Chair in Community, Culture, & Environment at Northern Arizona University.

Lecture 1: January 25, 2011, 11:00 AM
The Wild Peace (not) of John Howard Yoder
[audio: http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/audio/110125romandcoles1web.mp3]

Lecture 2: January 25, 7:30 PM
Mirror Neurons, Receptive Resonance,and Radical Democracy
[audio: http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/audio/110125romandcoles2web.mp3]

Lecture 3: January 26, 11:00 AM
Radical Education Reform: Resonance and Engaged Pedagogical Practice
[audio: http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/audio/110125romandcoles3web.mp3]

Dr. Romand Coles Biography: Romand Coles is the Frances B. McAllister Endowed Chair and Director of the Program for Community, Culture, and Environment at Northern Arizona University. After teaching political theory for twenty years at Duke University, driven by Adorno’s claim that ‘to want utopia is to want substance in cognition’, Coles ventured to NAU in a last-ditch effort to learn how to think in relation to many of the specific challenges, opportunities, and peoples in his new home on the Colorado Plateau. He is the author of many books and articles at the intersection of political theory, philosophy, theology, and political practice. Among his works are, Self/Power/Other: Political Theory and Dialogical Ethics; Rethinking Generosity: Critical Theory and the Politics of Caritas; Beyond Gated Politics: Reflections for the Possibility of Democracy; and (with Stanley Hauerwas) Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations between a Radical Democrat and a Christian.

Tags audio, Lectures, romand coles

Events

Refreshing Winds with Brian McLaren as keynote speaker

Post author By CMU
Post date January 24, 2011
1 Comment on Refreshing Winds with Brian McLaren as keynote speaker

Refreshing Winds at Canadian Mennonite University

Brian McLaren, one of evangelical Christianity’s most popular and provocative voices, will be the keynote speaker at Canadian Mennonite University’s biennial music and worship conference this year.

The title “Here in this Place,” reflects the conference’s focus on worship within the context of place and culture.

“‘This place’ is many places, and any place on our planet, wherever people are open to being surprised by God’s presence. And wherever that place is, we are called to live our faith mindful of the culture in which we are located,” explains Abe Bergen, chair of the conference organizing committee.

“We were looking for someone who could help us think about our place in time, our place in the world in which we live, and we thought McLaren would be helpful,” says Irma Fast Dueck, who is also on the planning committee. “He’s done a lot of thinking on contemporary culture. He’s paying attention to a shifting worldview.”

McLaren is a hugely popular and at times controversial thinker, speaker and writer on the subjects of Christianity, culture and the emergent church. In 2005 Time magazine ranked McLaren among the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. Church leaders across Canada and the U.S. are reading McLaren’s latest book, A New Kind of Christianity (2009). In it McLaren discusses the ways in which he believes Christianity needs to change. McLaren’s previous books include A New Kind of Christian (2001) and A Generous Orthodoxy (2004).

CMU president Gerald Gerbrandt says he’s excited to hear what McLaren has to say. “I am very much looking forward to the conversation with Brian McLaren. His stimulating style has the potential to generate productive dialogue among followers of Jesus as they serve his mission,” says Gerbrandt.

A conference on worship and music would not be complete without the contributions of those skilled in the musical and visual arts. Steve Bell—a Juno-award-winning singer and songwriter who writes music for the purpose of worship within the context of his community at Saint Benedict’s Table in Winnipeg—will be performing and, together with McLaren, leading worship during plenary sessions.

Other gifted musicians, theologians and artists will also be contributing to the conference by leading worship, teaching workshops and creating works of visual art. Among them is Doug Gay from Scotland, along with Christine Longhurst, Allan Rudy Froese, Marilyn Houser Hamm, Jon Ted Wynne, along with CMU faculty members.

The plenary sessions will take place in a “tabernacle,” a portable tent of worship that travelled with the Israelites through the wilderness, and stories of the Israelite journey will be reflected on throughout the sessions. Participants will also have an opportunity to visually engage the Refreshing Winds theme of “Here in this Place” through an art exhibition organized by Ray Dirks in the Mennonite Heritage Gallery.

The conference begins on Thursday evening, February 3 and wraps on Saturday, February 5 with a communion service. Participants can register at www.cmu.ca. For more information contact Diane Hiebert at dhiebert@cmu.ca.

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is a Christian university offering undergraduate degrees in the arts and sciences, business, communications and media, peace and conflict resolution studies, music, music therapy, theology, and church ministries, as well as graduate degrees in Theological Studies and Christian ministry. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CMU has over 1,700 students at its Shaftesbury Campus in Southwest Winnipeg, at Menno Simons College in downtown Winnipeg, and enrolled through its Outtatown discipleship program. CMU is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

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

Tags conference, Refreshing Winds

News Releases

New Bachelor of Business Admin Co-op Degree

Post author By CMU
Post date January 18, 2011

CMU logo

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is gearing up to add a new bachelor’s degree to its roster of recognized undergraduate degrees in the arts, music, and music therapy, along with its graduate degrees in theology and Christian ministry. The new Bachelor of Business Administration Co-op (BBA Co-op) will be accepting students for the fall 2011 semester.

“The BBA Co-op seeks to develop in students the ability to become effective business and organizational leaders,” says Gordon Matties, Dean of Humanities & Sciences. “The program grounds all students in the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the workplace, and provides them with ample opportunity to reflect constructively and critically in the process of shaping worldview and character in preparation for entering the marketplace of business and organizational leadership.”

The four-year BBA features a co-op component option, which will involve six terms of work placement in addition to eight academic terms. Students will be able to complete the degree, including the work terms, in five years.

“Through delivery of a co-op program with six work terms, CMU will be offering a distinctive and unique business program in Manitoba,” says Matties, who assisted with the program’s development and recommendation to CMU Senate.

“What is unique is the amount of co-op experience students will get,” adds Craig Martin, Assistant Professor of Business and Organizational Administration. CMU’s BBA Co-op will offer a higher work experience component than other business programs in the province.

“This gives students more time in an experiential learning context as well as a greater opportunity to gain work experience and to earn money to pay for their education,” says Matties.

The program is designed to help students think critically and communicate effectively as they draw on knowledge from a variety of fields and learn within small classes and with caring and accessible professors. Students will also respond to tough ethical decisions common in the marketplace as they explore ways to make the world a fairer, more just, place. Thus, the BBA Co-op program, offered within a Christian academic community, will provide both solid business training and integrate a focus on character formation, wisdom and conviction as students engage their world. “These commitments are relatively unique to the program,” says Martin, who was responsible for developing the BBA program structure and content. “We will be going beyond traditional courses in business ethics and legal regulation.”

The program will be headed by Martin, who also serves as program advisor to CMU’s existing three-year B.A. in Business and Organizational Administration

The addition of the BBA Co-op will also make it possible for CMU to offer a four-year B.A. in Business and Organization Administration, providing students with a non-co-op option for both the three- and four-year programs.

Matties adds that the three year and four year B.A. programs are especially appropriate for students who wish to do a business degree that includes a significantly higher component of liberal arts courses than the BBA program.

Matties says the seeds of the program go back to before the founding of CMU in 2000. “CMU supporters in the business community have been encouraging us for years to move in this direction,” he says. “We are now in a position to move to the next step in program development.”

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

Tags Business Admin

Lectures

Winter Lectures Series with Romand Coles

Post author By CMU
Post date January 17, 2011

For release January 12, 2011

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) students, staff, and faculty as well as members of the community will convene for CMU’s tenth-annual Winter Lectures Series, featuring guest lecturer Romand (Rom) Coles on the topic of political studies, January 25-26, 2011.

The CMU Winter Lectures, held annually each January and open to the public at no cost, seeks to highlight the arts, sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary studies at CMU and to foster dialogue between these disciplines and the Christian faith.

“The Winter Lectures are always one of the highlights of the school year for me,” says Chris Huebner, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy and Chair of the Special Lectures Committee. “I especially enjoy the way the lectures strive to connect with some aspect of our common work at CMU while bringing that work into contact with new questions and conversation partners.

“We are extremely fortunate to have had such a distinguished roster of ‘Winter Lecturers’ over the years,” adds Huebner.

Guest lecturer Romand Coles, the Frances B. McAllister Endowed Chair and Director of Community, Culture, and Environment at Northern Arizona University (NAU), will present on “Resonance, Receptivity, and Radical Reformation.”

Coles came to NAU in July 2008 after teaching political theory for 20 years at North Carolina’s Duke University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, an M.A. in Political Science from Western Washington University (WWU), and a B.S. in Social Impact Assessment/Human Ecology from WWU’s Huxley College of Environmental Studies. Coles’ most recent publications include Beyond Gated Politics: Reflections for the Possibility of Democracy (2005) and (with Stanley Hauerwas) Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations between a Radical Democrat and a Christian (2007).

Coles will explore the themes of radical democracy, theology, philosophy, pedagogy, and grassroots community action as they relate to politics in his three lectures: “The Wild Peace (not) of John Howard Yoder” will delve into Yoder’s path-breaking work on non-violence; “Mirror Neurons, Receptive Resonance, and Radical Democracy” will focus on the perspective of neurobiological work and recent developments in the study of mirror neurons; and in “Radical Education Reform: Resonance and Engaged Pedagogical Practice,” Coles will present several examples of engaged pedagogical practices, drawing on his recent work in Northern Arizona.

“I’m excited about Romand coming here,” says Paul Dyck, Associate Professor of English and member of the Special Lectures Committee. “He is coming at things from outside the church, but at the same time, he is very interested in Christian thought and practice, so he is a particularly helpful dialogue partner for us.

“The Winter Lectures provide an opportunity for a broad range of speakers and topics, all engaged with the Christian gospel, but often in surprising ways,” Dyck continues. “This is what being a Christian university is all about, because lectures like this help the church to more deeply engage its task of being a gospel people.”

The Winter Lectures will be held at CMU’s Laudamus Auditorium at 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., with Coles’ first lecture taking place at 11:00 a.m. on January 25.

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

Tags Lectures, romand coles

General News News Releases

CMU Press Publishes Favoured among Women

Post author By CMU
Post date January 6, 2011

A vibrant and unusual re-creation of one woman’s life.
For release January 6, 2011

CMU PRESS is pleased to announce the launch of its second novel, Favoured among Women, by Hedy Leonora Martens. The book will be launched at 8:00 pm, January 11th at McNally Robinson.

Favoured among Women is a biographical novel that tells the story of Greta Enns, who survived the traumatic events in Leninist and Stalinist Russia in the early 20th century while experiencing all the more ordinary joys and struggles of a child, young woman, wife and mother in close-knit Mennonite community.

The novel is the product of years of painstaking historical research and exhaustive interviews conducted with the protagonist, Greta Enns, and other members of the family. The result is a rich tapestry, bringing together historical commentary, original poetry, quotes from journals and letters, and Martens’ own personal reflections to tell a moving family history in a completely original way.
Hedy Martens is a marriage and family counsellor living in Winnipeg. The idea for her first novel began to take shape in 1983 when, upon hearing the dramatic stories told by her husband’s relatives about their experiences as Mennonites in Russia, it was suggested to her that these were stories that needed to be recorded and preserved for future generations.

This is CMU Press’s second novel, following the publication of Dora Dueck’s This Hidden Thing in May 2010.

FAVOURED AMONG WOMEN can be purchased at the CMU Bookstore 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg. Contact cmubookstore@cmu.ca; telephone 204.487.3300. The cost is $25.00. It can also be purchased through the Mennonite Publishing Network; visit http://www.mpn.net for details.

CMU PRESS is an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University. Books from CMU Press address and inform interests and issues vital to the university, its constituency, and society. Areas of specialization include Mennonite studies, and works that are church-oriented or theologically engaged.

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is a Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, offering undergraduate degrees in arts and science, business and organizational administration, communications and media, peace and conflict resolution studies, music and music therapy, theology, and church ministries, as well as graduate degrees in Theological Studies and Christian ministry. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CMU is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

For CMU PRESS information, contact:
Annalee Giesbrecht, CMU PRESS Project Manager
cmupress@cmu.ca
204.487.3300

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

Tags CMU Press

Audio Faculty interviews Sunday@CMU Radio

Gordon Matties – Holy Land Tour Reflections 2010

Post author By CMU
Post date January 1, 2011

[audio: http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/audio/100214GordonMatties2.mp3]
“About meeting Jesus in the Holy Land”

This interview aired originally in February 2010 on the Sunday@CMU radio program, just prior to Gordon’s sixth tour to the Holy Land. See the tour blog http://cmustudytour.blogspot.com. Gordon’s next Study Tour will take place in April-May 2012 (exact dates TBA).

Dr. Gordon Matties is Professor of Biblical Studies & Theology.

Gordon grew up in Abbotsford, B.C. He studied at Briercrest Bible Institute; the University of British Columbia; Regent College in Vancouver; and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D.

Gordon and his wife Lorraine have two children. The family attends River East Mennonite Brethren Church, where Gordon serves on the Faith and Fellowship Commission. He is also a member of the Editorial Council of the Believers Church Bible Commentary.

Contact: gmatties@cmu.ca

Tags audio, faculty interviews, Gordon Matties, Holy Land Tour

Audio Faculty interviews Sunday@CMU Radio

Gordon Matties – Holy Land Study Tour and the Meaning of Stones

Post author By CMU
Post date January 1, 2011

[audio: http://www.cmu.ca/media_archive/audio/100207gordonmatties1.mp3]
“Ancient stones, living stones: The Holy Land in perspective”

This interview aired originally in February 2010, just prior to Gordon’s sixth tour to the Holy Land. See the tour blog http://cmustudytour.blogspot.com. Gordon’s next Study Tour will take place in April-May 2012 (exact dates TBA).

Dr. Gordon Matties is Professor of Biblical Studies & Theology.

Contact: gmatties@cmu.ca