Grebel was fortunate in the Fall 2018 term to welcome many visitors to the College who graciously offered lectures, musical skill, fond memories, research findings, and expertise. In addition to regular Anabaptist Learning Workshops, Conflict Management Certificate Program workshops, Noon Hour Concerts, brown bag lunches, and Faculty Forums, the Winter 2019 term will also bring exciting public lectures on topics that reflect the College’s areas of interest and specialization.
The Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies will host Dr. Irma Fast Dueck from Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. She is a practical theologian who will explore the topic of young people in the Mennonite church today, speaking on “Take me to the Waters: Baptism, Commitment, and the Church.” Her teaching and research interests frequently lead her to themes connected to the practices of the church and the theology purveyed/conveyed by those practices. Join us for a public lecture on February 7 and a youth panel on February 8. Both events start at 7:30pm and take place at Grebel.
The “Grebel Sings” initiative will end on a high note in March 2019 with a visit by Dr. Ysaÿe Barnwell, appointed as the College’s Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Visiting Scholar. Barnwell is a celebrated scholar, composer, choral clinician, vocalist, and former member of Sweet Honey in the Rock. For almost thirty years, She has led the workshop “Building a Vocal Community - Singing In the African American Tradition,” which utilizes oral tradition, an African world view and African American history, values, and cultural and vocal traditions to build communities of song among singers and non-singers alike. On March 8 at 7:30pm she will offer a public lecture on “The Power of Music to Create Inclusive Communities” in the Grebel Great Hall and on March 9, a two-hour workshop on “Building a Vocal Community: The Power of Song in Community” at Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo.
And finally, on a date to be announced in Spring 2019, Conrad Grebel’s J. Winfield Fretz Visiting Research Scholar in Mennonite Studies will present a public lecture. Dr. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen is a historian of Latin America whose research focuses on the evolving history of the low-German Mennonite diaspora in the region.
Most events are free but some require registration. Watch the Grebel website for more information closer to the event dates or to catch recordings of the lectures afterwards.
