A Sampling of Scholarship

In addition to classroom teaching, faculty and other academic personnel at Grebel accomplish a wide range of scholarship and service in the academy, church, and community. Here is just a sampling:

JENNIFER BALL is engaged in a 3-year collaborative research project entitled, “Inclusive inquiries of production and consumption conundrums for emerging policies to improve food systems in Ontario,” funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

ALICIA BATTEN is working on a commentary on the New Testament Letter of James that includes discussion of its history of interpretation. She is preparing a paper on early Anabaptist reception of James for a conference in Berlin in August 2017 as well as a paper on interpreting the Gospel of Mark through the lens of class for a conference in Boston in November 2017.

JEREMY BERGEN is working on a long-term project on Christian martyrs and the unity of the church. This Spring he will deliver the presidential address to the Canadian Theological Society, and a keynote presentation at a conference on Anabaptist Theology at Trinity Western University.

MARLENE EPP published a booklet titled Refugees in Canada: a Brief History for the Canadian Historical Association’s series, Immigration and Ethnicity in Canada/Immigration et ethnicité au Canada. She was named Dean until June 2018.

LOWELL EWERT presented a paper at Ohio State University in March 2017 on the history of the PACS program, as well as discussing new horizons for peace studies. He continues to develop broader frameworks for how to view peace studies through a research initiative organized around the theme of “peace is everyone’s business.”

NATHAN FUNK is doing research and writing on the role of sacred sites in intergroup conflict and peacebuilding, as well as the importance of local cultural resources in the design of peace education materials.

LAURA GRAY participated in a panel of three adjudicators for graduate student presentations at the New York State-St. Lawrence chapter meeting of the American Musicological Society in April 2017, at the University of Toronto.

LAUREEN HARDER-GISSING is uncovering Ontario Mennonite First World War stories for a new archives exhibit, “Sites of Nonresistance.” She is also exploring the relationship between Mennonite women and genealogy for a paper for a conference, Crossing the Line: Women of Anabaptist Traditions Encounter Borders and Boundaries, at Eastern Mennonite University in June 2017.

PAUL HEIDEBRECHT presented “What can social entrepreneurs learn from peacebuilders?” at an Ashoka University Exchange Community Lunch in Miami, Florida in March and a podcast, “The strange and wonderful intersection between startup organizations and peace studies,” for Disruptive Conversations (January 9, 2017). He also published “Whole of government, revisited?” in The Hill Times (October 3, 2016).

KENNETH HULL was appointed editor of the forthcoming hymn book supplement for the Anglican Church of Canada. He also conducted Spiritus Ensemble in a performance of Bach’s B-minor Mass in May 2017 in Waterloo.

JANE KUEPFER presented at Chartwell Westmount, Village of Winston Park, at the Shantz Mennonite Wellness Conference, and participated in the Schlegel-UW RIA Culture Change day. Her research is exploring the spiritual resources of first-wave baby boomers as they envision their later years.

REINA NEUFELDT presented a paper at the Kroc Institute’s Peace Research Education Seminar titled “Accounting for the Bricks: Rethinking Peacebuilding Meta-Ethics,” at the University of Notre Dame in February. She also hosted a webinar, titled “You Did What??? Exploring Peacebuilding Evaluation Ethics,” hosted by DM&E for Peace (available online.)

TROY OSBORNE published “Remembering the Reformation” in the Canadian Mennonite, January 30, 2017, and reviewed James Lowry’s Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, Volume 1710-1711 in the January 2017 issue of the Mennonite Quarterly Review. He was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure effective July 1, 2017.

CAROL PENNER published an article, “Violence against Women in the Mennonite Brethren Church: Abuse Policies are Not Enough” in Direction, Fall 2016. She will present a paper titled “Mennonite Women Doing Theology: A Methodological Reflection on Twenty-five Years of Conferences” at the Humanitas Anabaptist Centre at Trinity Western University in June.

DEREK SUDERMAN will present “The Beginning of Lament in the Psalms” at the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies in May before leaving for a research trip to the École Biblique in Jerusalem for most of June.

MAISIE SUM was invited to speak about the impact of global forces on the music of the sub-Saharan diaspora in Morocco (Gnawa) at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music Graduate Colloquium Series. She also worked on new research concerned with music, health and wellbeing from a cross-cultural perspective.

MARK VUORINEN was the guest conductor of the Mennonite Schools Council Choral Festival in April 2017 in Leamington, and conducted a performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis on Good Friday in Kitchener. In May, he delivered a paper at The Arvo Pärt Project: Sounding the Sacred, hosted in New York City by St. Vladimir’s Seminary and Fordham University.