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 of recent activities and achievements:
JENNIFER BALL has signed a book contract with Palgrave Macmillan to republish her dissertation under the title Women, Development and Peacebuilding in Africa: Stories from Uganda.
ALICIA BATTEN presented a paper titled “Reading Mark through the Lens of Class” at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston in November 2017.
JEREMY BERGEN co-edited a special double issue of the The Conrad Grebel Review (Fall 2017), Global Mennonite Peacebuilding: Exploring Theology, Culture, and Practice, with Paul Heidebrecht and Reina Neufeldt, and also concluded his role as the CGR editor (8.5 years). Derek Suderman has now taken on the role.
MARLENE EPP published a review of Royden Loewen’s Horse-and-Buggy Genius: Listening to Mennonites Contest the Modern World, in the journal Histoire Sociale / Social History.
LOWELL EWERT presented a paper titled “A Soft Law Approach to Advancing Human Rights” at the 8th International Conference on Human Rights Education, held in Montreal in December 2017.
NATHAN FUNK gave a presentation titled “Restorative Justice Practices in Different Cultures” for Grebel’s Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference on February 10, 2018.
PAUL HEIDEBRECHT presented a paper, “How Do We Teach—and What Can We Learn About—the Ethics of Technology In a STEM Driven World?” at the Society of Christian Ethics 59th Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon on January 5, 2018.
KEN HULL reviewed Jonathan Dueck’s Congregational Music, Conflict and Community (Routledge, 2017), which will be featured in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Mennonite Studies.
REINA NEUFELDT presented a paper titled “Learning to Listen: Rethinking Peacebuilding’s Meta-Ethic of Positive Peace” at the International Studies Association annual convention in San Francisco on April 7, 2018.
DEREK SUDERMAN gave a workshop on “Reading the Bible as a Community of Learners and Teachers” for the Anabaptist Learning Workshop, held at Tavistock Mennonite Church on February 5, and spoke on the Psalms to an adult faith formation class at Waterloo North Mennonite Church on March 4. He was the external examiner for Meghan D. Musy’s PhD thesis defense, Hearing Voices: Exploring Psalmic Vocality as Lyric Poetry at McMaster Divinity College, March 28, 2018.
MAISIE SUM co-presented at a series entitled “Thinking Spaces” with the University of Guelph’s Music Students’ Association Annual Creative Music Symposium, organized by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation on March 9. Her presentation, “Balinese Gamelan and Community: Composition, Practice and Performance,” integrated two of IICSI’s main research areas of improvisation—Practice-Based Research and Community Health and Social Responsibility. In the second half of the presentation, the audience was invited to try the gamelan in a workshop led by artist-in-residence Dewa Suparta.
KAREN SUNABACKA presented two of her compositions, A Mother’s Prayer (1999) for solo cello and Mama’s Painting: Louis Riel’s Dream (2015) for Piano Quintet, at a Music Department Noon Hour Concert on February 28, 2018.
MARK VUORINEN conducted the Grand Philharmonic Choir’s performances of Poulenc’s Gloria, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Bach’s St. John Passion, and was also a guest conductor with the Elora Festival Singers. He will also guest conduct an upcoming concert featuring the music of Nico Muhly with the Open Ears Festival.
Grebel’s Theological Studies faculty— JEREMY BERGEN, ALICIA BATTEN, CAROL PENNER, DEREK SUDERMAN, and TROY OSBORNE—all gave plenary presentations on the theme “Where is the Word of God?” at the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s School for Ministers, hosted at Grebel, February 21-23. Archivist-Librarian LAUREEN HARDER-GISSING gave a tour of the archives.
