Tag: Menno Simons College

Menno Simons College to host public lecture on interfaith peacebuilding

Post author By CMU
Post date October 4, 2017

Menno Simons College is pleased to present Dr. Jan Bender Shetler in a public lecture on interfaith relations in the city of Harar, Ethiopia, later this month.

Dr. Jan Bender Shelter — Dr. Bender Shetler of Gsohen College will speak at the University of Winnipeg on October 19.

The result of an eight-year collaborative research project between Dr. Bender Shetler and fellow academic Dawit Yehualashet, the lecture explores how Muslims and Christians have been able to maintain relatively peaceful relations in Harar over the last century, despite close and potentially volatile interaction.

“We like to examine conflict, to understand more deeply what happened and why, but spend less effort to understand peaceful relations,” says Neil Funk-Unrau, Associate Dean of Menno Simons College. “In a time of rising interreligious tensions, it is more important than ever to see how centuries of peaceful Christian-Muslim relations can be possible and sustainable.”

Over the course of the lecture, Dr. Bender Shetler, Professor of History at Goshen College in Indiana, and Chair of the History and Political Science Department, plans to show how this peace was achieved, despite the odds, why it was effective, and how these insights might be applied to our own context.

The lecture will take place at 7:00 PM on October 19, in the University of Winnipeg’s Convocation Hall.

For more information about the lecture, visit mscollege.ca/shetlerlecture or contact Neil Funk-Unrah at n.funk-unrau@uwinnipeg.ca.

Menno Simons College is a program of Canadian Mennonite University, affiliated with the University of Winnipeg.

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, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

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

Tags Inter-Faith Discussion, Jan Bender Shetler, Menno Simons College, MSC, peacebuilding

General News News Releases

CMU faculty awarded prestigious federal grants

Post author By CMU
Post date June 15, 2017

Jerry Buckland and Kirit Patel, feature photo

Two professors from Canadian Mennonite University’s Menno Simons College (MSC) are recipients of prestigious federal grant funds through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Dr. Jerry Buckland, Professor of International Development Studies, received a grant worth $263,000. Dr. Kirit Patel, Assistant Professor of International Development Studies, received $75,000.

“These successful grants are a testament to the impressive research track-records of these two professors,” said Dr. Neil Funk-Unrau, Associate Dean of the college. “For MSC, it is an affirmation of the academic community that sustains and supports the work done by our researchers.”

Buckland’s grant is for a five-year project using financial diaries to better understand the finances of vulnerable Canadians, with a view to financial empowerment.

In two phases, Buckland and his team will explore the economic, social, and regulatory implications of financial products and policies for vulnerable Canadians.

The first phase will look at the financial patterns of participants from Winnipeg and the surrounding area over an 18-month period. The second will follow participants for a further 18 months, but this time the team plans to intervene, providing financial tools for financial empowerment.

“The economy is becoming more financially challenging,” Buckland said. “There are more financial products, more decisions to be made. We’re facing more complicated choices, so we want to understand how vulnerable people work through these complicated choices and difficult challenges.”

Patel’s grant of $75,000 will go toward researching the impacts of Green Benches of State High Courts and National Green Tribunals on disadvantaged communities in Tamil Nadu, Kamataka, and Gujarat states in India.

Dr. Kirit Patel, Assistant Professor of International Development Studies

“Just as divorce cases go before the Family Court, and criminal cases go before the Criminal Courts, in India, environmental cases go before the Environmental Courts,” Patel said. “It’s an innovative idea, and we want to understand the intended and unintended impacts.”

In this initial phase, Patel will examine participation in the environmental judiciary through the lens of local NGOs, women, and the science of Environmental Impact Assessments.

“In developing countries, issues of poverty and the environment are overlapping more and more,” Patel said. “And in these cases, there are often tradeoffs between the environment and the poor.”

SSHRC mandates the training of students, whether undergraduate or graduate.

To that end, Patel and his team have hired three MSC undergraduate students as research interns.

In the fall, Buckland and his team have plans to hire senior undergraduate and graduate students to participate in data collection from the financial diaries.

Both professors are excited to receive funding from SSHRC.

“It was a long process. I would say it was a year in the making,” Buckland said. “SSHRC has a highly acclaimed process for vetting applications. That I got this the first time I applied, I was just thrilled.”

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

Tags Jerry Buckland, Kirit Patel, Menno Simons College, MSC, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, SSHRC

Video

Building the Movement that Feeds the World | Dr. Susan Walsh (video)

Post author By CMU
Post date March 11, 2016

“Building the Movement that Feeds the World: What Indigenous Farmers Have Taught Me About our Well-Intentional Helping Hands,” featuring Dr. Susan Walsh, Executive Director of USC Canada.

Dr. Susan Walsh, author of Trojan-Horse Aid, goes beyond a critical review of misguided aid to offer reflections on the relationship between indigenous knowledge and resilience theory, the hopeful future of development assistance, and the contradictions in her own hybrid role as researcher and development-practitioner.

In light of growing global concern over the worsening food crisis and interconnected climate extremes, Trojan-Horse Aid offers an important critique of development practices that undermine peasant strategies as well as suggestions for more effective approaches
for the future.

Recorded February 10, 2016 at Menno Simons College.

Tags Dr. Susan Walsh, Menno Simons College, MSC

Events News Releases

Conference to explore human right to freedom of movement

Post author By CMU
Post date February 23, 2016

Menno Simons College to host 9th Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies conference

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (Article 13) states that everyone has the right to freedom of movement within and across borders. Today unprecedented numbers of people are being denied this right. How can host states, origin states, the international community, private citizens, and civil society act to address the escalating global crises triggered by forced migration?

That’s the question that will be explored at the 9^th annual conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS), taking place May 11–14, 2016 at Menno Simons College and the University of Winnipeg.

The conference, “Freedom of Movement: Exploring a Path from Armed Conflict, Persecution, and Forced Migration to Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, and Development,” will be hosted by Menno Simons College (MSC) and chaired by Dr. Stephanie Stobbe, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies at MSC.

“We are in the fields of conflict resolution and international development at MSC and part of our mandate and goal is to look at social justice and how to assist in different humanitarian crises and situations,” says Stobbe.

Academics, researchers, students, government officials, lawyers, and lawmakers, community organizations, and practitioners will explore the topic freedom of movement through four perspectives.

A conflict resolution and peacebuilding approach will encourage discussion of the root causes of forced migration and how those issues can be addressed. How can governments, non-governmental organizations, and other actors participate in supporting freedom of movement?

A human rights perspective will explore which human rights are related to freedom of movement, how those rights can be realized, and what actors and instruments can help facilitate this movement.

Discussions of development as related to freedom of movement will look at how to improve the livelihoods of people who are on the move. How can safe, sustainable environments be created that address human needs and work toward social justice?

A focus on methodology and knowledge production will examine interdisciplinary research methodologies that look at war and armed conflict, extreme violence, human rights, and development. What are standard and new research methods being used to study freedom of movement?

Four plenary sessions will feature keynote speakers: Art DeFehr, CEO of Palliser Furniture, humanitarian, and former head of UNHCR in Somalia; Elspeth Guild, Jean Monnet Professor ad personam in Law at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London, and associate senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies; Christopher Mitchell, Emeritus Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and expert on “Track Two” interventions to address international conflicts; and Loly Rico, President of the Canadian Council for Refugees and Co-Director of the FCJ Refugee Centre. Additional plenary panels will highlight scholars and practitioners in the fields of conflict resolution, human rights, and development, including International Refugee Law Judges.

“We are looking forward to exploring collaborations between scholars, practitioners, non-governmental organizations, and governments to see how we can really address these crises and move towards peaceful relationships and peacebuilding,” says Stobbe.

Concurrent sessions, a student caucus, and exhibitions will provide participants with opportunities to explore freedom of movement through additional perspectives and mediums.

“We are pleased to have exhibitions as part of the conference for the first time,” says Stobbe. “The exhibits will provide discussion material and chances for participants to be informed about the situation and learn what some responses have been.”

Doctors Without Borders will have an emergency clinic set up to display how they work in refugee camps and in situations of humanitarian crises. They will also have a photo exhibit about their work with refugees. The Bitter Oranges exhibit will focus on the work of Drs. Reiners and G. Reckinger, and photographer C. Reckinger in Italy and the situation facing African migrant workers under the European migration policies.

The conference is open to anyone who is interested in learning about freedom of movement of refugees and forced migrants as it relates to conflict resolution and peacebuilding, human rights, development, and research and methodology. The conference has attracted international interest with participants from countries worldwide.

“We’re very excited so many people are interested in coming to this conference and contributing to the discussion about next steps. It will be very interesting to have perspectives from people all over the world,” says Stobbe. “We’re hoping that after this conference people will be able to continue the networking opportunities and connections they’ve made, and be able to collaborate and work together to address this humanitarian crisis.”

For more information about the conference, visit carfms.org/conferences/9th-annual-conference.

Follow CARFMS on Twitter @_carfms.

Join the conversation online by using the hashtag #CARFMS16.

About Menno Simons College
Menno Simons College, 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. The College has over 1,000 students and hundreds of alumni working in the development and conflict resolution sectors in Manitoba, Canada, and internationally.

For information about Menno Simons College visit www.mscollege.ca.

For additional information about the CARFMS conference, please contact:
Dr. Stephanie Stobbe
Menno Simons College
Phone: 204.953.3850
Email: s.stobbe@uwinnipeg.ca

Tags CARFMS, CRS, Human Rights, Menno Simons College, MSC, social justice, Stephanie Stobbe

Events News Releases

Menno Simons College hosts 10th annual Social Justice Fair

Post author By CMU
Post date February 4, 2016

Celebrating a decade of student-community relations

Each year, Menno Simons College’s (MSC) Social Justice Fair provides an opportunity for students and community members to connect with organizations engaged with social justice locally and globally.

Over 30 organizations will be present at this year’s fair, the 10^th annual, which takes place on Wednesday, February 10 from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM in the University of Winnipeg’s Riddell Hall.

The organizations represent work in development, human rights, newcomer support, Indigenous solidarity, youth programming, environmental sustainability, restorative justice, public health, and more.

“Every year the Social Justice Fair highlights and reinforces the impact that Menno Simons College continues to have on the wider community,” says Dr. Neil Funk-Unrau, Associate Dean of MSC.

“By showcasing the social justice and community development initiatives around us, we can highlight the incredible work done by so many of our alumni and also present so many more opportunities for our current students to go out and make a difference in their world,” he says.

In previous years, MSC alumni or students have planned the fair. This year, Caitlin Eliasson, MSC Student Services Assistant and MSC alumna, is coordinating the fair. Eliasson volunteered with the Social Justice Fair while she was a student at MSC and was a co-coordinator of the event in 2010.

“Over the decade, MSC has developed not only an event but a networking model for the potential and sustainability of student-community connections. Thinking back over the years of SJF, it’s the faces of student organizers, staff, and community participants that beam in my mind—it has been a collective effort in building relationships and awareness,” says Eliasson.

“Organizations fill volunteer needs, students find employment opportunities, alumni return as organization representatives, collaborative ideas are inspired—it does happen, often! The 10th Anniversary on February 10, 2016 is a celebration of this shared and ongoing work for social justice,” she says.

For additional information about the Social Justice Fair, please contact:
Caitlin Eliasson
Menno Simmons College
204.953.3846
c.eliasson@uwinnipeg.ca

About Menno Simons College

Menno Simons College, 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 honors program in IDS, and an extensive practicum program. The College has over 1,000 students and hundreds of alumni working in the development and conflict resolution sectors in Manitoba, Canada, and internationally.

For information about Menno Simons College visit www.mscollege.ca.

Tags Menno Simons College, MSC, social justice, Social Justice Fair

General News News Releases

MSC Honours its First Distinguished Alumnus Award Recipient

Post author By CMU
Post date July 28, 2015

Menno Simons College is pleased to award the first Distinguished Alumnus Award to Noelle DePape who graduated with a double major in Conflict Resolution Studies and International Development Studies in 2003. The award honours graduates who exemplify the goals and values of Menno Simons College (MSC) in their life and work.

A commitment to bridge building, developing partnerships, and coalition work has been foundational for DePape, whose career has focused on working with immigrants and refugees.

Noelle DePape upon receiving the first Distinguished Alumnus Award to be presented by Menno Simons College

DePape is the Director of Training and Development at the Immigrant and Refugee Committee of Manitoba (IRCOM). The organization “strives to empower newcomer families to integrate into the wider community through affordable transitional housing, programs, and services.”

IRCOM is one organization in a wider network working towards creating safe and inclusive neighbourhoods in Winnipeg’s inner city, says DePape. She manages special projects, which encompasses developing projects to support newcomer families, creating partnerships with other organizations, and securing funding.

“My passion is working in the ‘intersections’,” she says. “In order to address complex social problems with multiple barriers, I believe we need to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders and look outside the box to find innovative and collective solutions.”

IRCOM’s second major housing project is underway as a result of a strong partnership with Manitoba Housing and Community Development. IRCOM Isabel will provide safe and affordable housing for 50-60 immigrant and refugee families and will also offer services and supports as these families adjust to life in Winnipeg.

The Newcomer Education Coalition (NEC) is another partnership that excites DePape, who currently co-chairs NEC with Reuben Garang. Many refugee children and youth have experienced interrupted schooling due to years of displacement and can face challenges when beginning school in Canada. In addition to language barriers, youth are placed in classes that may not correspond to prior learning though they are age-appropriate, and often do not have access to supports they need to succeed. Many newcomer youth feel marginalized in the school system and may not complete their education.

The NEC is comprised of 25 different stakeholders including representatives from schools, community organizations, ethnocultural groups, and individual newcomers who came to Canada as refugees, all of whom want to explore different education models for newcomers.

“We’re looking at creative models and adaptations that can better support these kids so they’ll have a higher chance of success,” says DePape. “We’ve seen that when they’re getting some extra help early on and have culturally proficient mentors, volunteers, or teacher’s assistants working with them, they’re doing a lot better.”

DePape is also passionate about UMOJA, a newcomer-police advisory group that seeks to build trust between police and newcomers in the community. UMOJA is a Swahili word that translates to “unity.” Newcomers who have come from countries experiencing conflict may feel unsafe around those in uniform, explains DePape. UMOJA works to provides opportunities for law enforcement members to become more culturally proficient by learning about newcomers realities and backgrounds. The advisory group hopes to help newcomers grow to feel they can trust the police and draw on police members as community peacekeepers.

Additionally, DePape works with other community change makers and like-minded groups, to provide opportunities for newcomer, indigenous and settler communities to connect through programs like the Youth Peacebuiding Project, the annual Across Cultures event and Open Roads Transformative writing program with Rossbrook House, and through partnerships with the Ka Ni Kanichihk and the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba.

“If we want to truly create an inclusive society, we must acknowledge the unique challenges and gifts of the different communities in our city, especially our indigenous peoples, and work together for social change.”

DePape was awarded the Rotary World Peace Fellowship to pursue a Master of International Relations–Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland, Australia. She describes it as an incredible program that connected her with a global network of peacebuilders.

She highlights the importance of having communities of support that development and conflict resolution practitioners can vision and work within as they work on pursuing social justice. DePape finds motivation and strength from her co-workers and the newcomers with whom she works.

For those interested in working for positive change, DePape’s encouragement is: “Do what you feel comfortable with, then take one more step, and now you’re in the right place for beginning to change the flow of the status quo toward inclusion and justice.”

“I always encourage people to stretch a little more—stretch your mind, stretch your circles and most importantly speak against oppression, even when your voice shakes.”

Tags Distinguished Alumnus Award, Menno Simons College, MSC, Noelle DePape

Events General News News Releases

Conference at CMU leads to formation of peace and conflict studies association

Post author By CMU
Post date July 27, 2015

Emerging issues in peace and conflict studies, and the formation of a peace and conflict studies association in Canada, were the key topics covered at the first annual Canadian Peace and Conflict Studies Conference.

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) hosted the inaugural conference June 18-20.

More than 70 academics, students, and conflict resolution practitioners from across Canada gathered for a series of keynote addresses, panel discussions, and workshop sessions.

Conflict resolution academics and practitioners don’t often meet together, says Wendy Kroeker, one of the event’s organizers.

“Our vision was to bring those two groups together and talk about how we want to contribute to the Canadian and international context in what our fields can offer or assist with,” says Kroeker, who teaches Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies at CMU.

“Often we do things individually, so we were wanting a stronger voice to emerge for the national context. This conference was to initiate that space for folks around the country interested in these issues, to decide what kind of group, what kind of organization, we’d like to form going forward.”

Kroeker says that she and her fellow organizers wanted to include a variety of voices in the dialogues at the conference.

“We had a broad spectrum of people and we wanted to open up an invitational space,” Kroeker says. “We want to stretch the boundaries of the field to be accessible, provocative, and inclusive.”

The impetus for the conference was sparked in May 2014 during a meeting of academics from the field of peace and conflict studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa.

The assembled group began inquiring if creating a Canadian peace and conflict studies association would be of interest.

A steering committee was formed and the first conference was organized.

On Friday, June 18, those assembled at CMU made the decision to put together an association in Canada for peace and conflict studies.

An interim board has been put together, with Dr. Timothy Donais, Associate Professor for Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, serving as interim coordinator. The board’s first meeting is scheduled for September.

In addition to the historic agreement, the conference included a keynote address by Dr. Christopher Marshall, Professor of Restorative Justice at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. During his address, Marshall explored current trends in restorative justice theory and practice.

Dr. Jessica Senehi, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba, and Dr. Jean-François Rioux, Associate Professor in Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University, also delivered keynote addresses.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dean Peachey, Executive Director of the University of Winnipeg’s Global College, and Ruth Taronno, an International Development Studies instructor and Director of Practicum and Alumni Relations at Menno Simons College, kicked off the conference with a roundtable discussion exploring field/practicum placements in peace and conflict studies.

Anglophone and francophone academics from throughout western Canada and southern Ontario presented papers during the three-day conference, which also included a visit to the brand new Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Kroeker says she is pleased with how the conference went.

She and her fellow organizers wanted to allow for the possibility of relationship-building, and planned an academic conference that left plenty of time and space for registrants to mingle and speak with one another during breaks and mealtimes.

“Our focus was to get some cross-fertilization going, and people said we did accomplish that,” Kroeker says.

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, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over about 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

Tags Canadian Peacebuilding and Conflict Studies Conference, conflict resolution, conflict studies, Global College, Menno Simons College, MSC, peacebuilding, Wendy Kroeker

General News News Releases

CMU/MSC-affiliated research project awarded $2.6M

Post author By CMU
Post date June 9, 2015

Canadian universities and project partners awarded $2.6M in funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Government of Canada’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD).

Principal investigators are Dr. Pashupati Chaudhary from Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), Dr. Ram Rana from Anamolbiu Private Limited, and Manish N. Raizada from the University of Guelph.

Research partners include Dr. Kirit Patel, Assistant Professor of International Development Studies at Menno Simons College (MSC), a college of Canadian Mennonite University (CMU); Plant Products Company Inc.; XiteBio Technologies Inc.; iDE Canada and iDE Nepal; and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council.

The project is titled “Innovations for Terrace Farmers in Nepal and Testing of Private Sector Scaling Up Using Sustainable Agriculture Kits (SAKs) and Stall-Based Franchises (Nepal Terrace Farmers and SAKs).”

SAKs are toolkits that contain three components: seeds, low-cost agricultural technology, and instructional picture books. The kit contents vary by region and are chosen through local consultation to meet each region’s specific agroecological, socioeconomic, and nutritional needs.

Testing threshing machine The SAK project builds upon experience gained from a previous project, funded by the IDRC and DFATD and of which Patel was a principal investigator, on promoting small millets cultivation, production and consumption for enhancing food security in South Asia.

The SAK project began in August 2014 and will run for two and a half years with the focus on non-monetary or low cost “technological developments for small Nepalese farmers who are growing subsistence crops on hillsides,” says Patel.

CMU will provide support for participatory analysis of technological constraints faced by small and marginal farmers and examining the impacts new technologies introduced by the project have on women farmers.

“As a social scientist, I try to understand the agrarian context,” he says. “We see many young farmers are leaving rural areas and women are left in the household to do the farming.”

Added workload for female farmers is just one of the challenges facing Nepalese terrace farmers. Other challenges are limited land for cultivation, limited irrigation facilities, loss in soil fertility and deficiency in nutrients, water runoff from sloping land, and soil erosion.

P1030651 The project will address these challenges by: improving soil fertility, promoting climate change resilient crops, empowering and strengthening the resiliency of local innovators/farmers, using technology to assess farmers’ needs and collect feedback, and seeking ways to scale up the aforementioned technologies for inclusion in SAKs.

The project will operate using a participatory model, inviting input and knowledge from local farmers, local development organizations, entrepreneurs, and the private sector.

“The farmers have a role in the project—identifying problems and possible solutions,” says Patel. He is also seeking the participation of MSC students who would like to complete a research-oriented practicum or honours thesis in Nepal.

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, as well as graduate degrees in theology, ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over about 900 full-time equivalent students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.

For information about CMU visit www.cmu.ca.

Tags Kirit Patel, Menno Simons College, Research

Events Lectures News Releases

Menno Simons College hosts insight mediation workshop

Post author By CMU
Post date March 24, 2015

Addressing the complexity of conflict

The workshop “Practicing Insight Mediation: Helping Conflicting Parties Make Wise Decisions” will be led by Dr. Cheryl Picard, professor emeritus at Carleton University and principle of Cheryl Picard & Associates.

The workshop will take place May 6-8, 2015 at MSC and will be available for university credit or professional development.

Insight mediation is a style of conflict intervention that was developed as a result of collaboration between two Canadian scholars, Dr. Picard, Carleton University and Dr. Kenneth Melchin, Saint Paul University. They extensively studied successful mediation practice and applied ideas from Bernard Lonergan’s theory of insight to develop the insight approach to conflict resolution and mediation.

The insight approach addresses the complexity of conflict, including the role of emotion and the importance of values, through the integration of theories of social action with micro communication skills and conflict resolution strategies.

Participants in this workshop will be encouraged to re-think traditional ideas about conflict and conflict intervention as they are introduced to the idea that conflict resolution involves the production of new understandings that help conflicting parties identify and understand the threat experiences and defense responses that create and sustain conflict.

Emphasis will be placed on the development of skills to de-escalate threat narratives through the mediation dialogue as this can change problematic patterns of interaction and enable parties to find ways to either resolve their differences or to live more peacefully with them.

Dr. Picard is an educator, mediator, and conflict coach specializing in interpersonal, workplace, and community-based conflict for over 35 years. Dr. Picard brings a relational ideology to her teaching and conflict resolution practice, which means she views people as connected to each other through complex webs of relationships, patterns of interaction, and meaning-making.

For more information or to register visit www.mscollege.ca.

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

Tags Cheryl Picard, conflict resolution, Menno Simons College, MSC, workshop

Events General News News Releases

Menno Simons College Celebrates Its Graduates

Post author By CMU
Post date June 14, 2012

June 14, 2012 – On June 7, 66 students graduated having completed one of the two programs offered by CMU’s Menno Simons College (MSC) in International Development Studies (IDS) or Conflict Resolution Studies (CRS). At a special MSC celebratory event, Dr. Julie Pelletier, Chair of Indigenous Studies at The University of Winnipeg, delivered the keynote address in Convocation Hall following graduation ceremonies.

“This year, 28 new, returning, and international students received awards – among the highest number of awards given in the history of MSC – including bursaries and scholarships,” notes MSC Dean Dr. Richard McCutcheon. “Additionally, nine students received medals for achievement in a particular major or degree program.”

In addition to an inspiring address by Pelletier, the MSC Graduation Celebration included greetings by Canadian Mennonite University President Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt and by Dr. Fiona Green, UWinnipeg’s Acting Associate Dean of Arts. Invocation was given by MSC Associate Professor Dr. Ruth Rempel.

Also participating in the program were graduating students Andrea Blanchard, IDS graduate, and Joel Gonske, CRS graduate, who shared reflections on what their time at MSC has meant to them.

“It has been a privilege to be a part of a unique institution that exemplifies the principles it teaches by being caring, community-focussed, people-oriented, and respectful towards everyone,” says Blanchard, who will begin work in September 2012 on her Master of Science degree at the University of Manitoba. “Since living in India and then taking IDS, I realized I was interested in improving health worldwide by studying the intersection of social sciences and health issues that make certain groups more vulnerable to poor health. Being in the IDS program gave me some unique opportunities related to my future goals.”

After her third year of studies, Blanchard completed her MSC practicum at Mount Carmel Clinic. She then returned to India for her Honours Thesis on the benefits of empowerment of women in sex work for reducing their HIV vulnerability. “I’m really excited that I will be able to directly build on my IDS experience and my Honours Thesis research this fall.”

Says Gonske: “Graduation is a milestone, but it is also a beginning of learning to work and live to the fullest, with responsibility and commitment to impacting the world for good.”

“For me personally, Menno Simons College has been an integral part of my ongoing transition to life in Canada from life in Pakistan,” says Gonske. “With its concern for international issues, its openness to diverse worldviews, and its various counter-cultural perspectives, I found it to be welcoming of my international background and interests… The community-based approach to education is one of the fantastic and unique aspects of Menno Simons College, one which we students have experienced
both in classes and through various practicum and research opportunities.”

For McCutcheon, who is retiring from his role as Dean of Menno Simons, the graduation celebration for MSC students was particularly meaningful. “We are very excited about this year’s graduating class,” he says. “Our students are already engaging in the next step. They are aware of world issues and events, and they want to do something to make a difference.”

CMU’s 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
www.cmu.cahttp://mscollege.ca

PHOTO, l to r:
Fiona Green, Richard McCutcheon, Andrea Blanchard, Joel Gonske, Julie Pelletier, Gerald Gerbrandt

Tags Andrea Blanchard, Fiona Green, Gerald Gerbrandt, Joel Gonske, Julie Pelletier, Menno Simons College, MSC Graduation 2012