Special Lectures

C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureship

The C. Henry Smith Peace Lectureship is awarded each year to a faculty member from a Mennonite college, who prepares a lecture that promotes peace traditions and is given at Mennonite universities and churches.

Minorities in Mexico: Mennonites and the 21st Century State

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - 7:30 PM

Dr. Rebecca Janzen, assistant professor of Spanish, as the 2015-16 C. Henry Smith scholar. A committee composed of representatives from Bluffton and Goshen College—where Smith also taught in the early 20th century—selects a scholar to prepare and present a peace lecture on the campuses and in churches. Janzen’s topic will be “Minorities in Mexico: Mennonites and the 21st-Century State."

This lecture will discuss Mexican perceptions of Low German-speaking Mennonites. It examines the ways these conservative Mennonites are represented in Mexican popular culture throughout the 20th and early 21st century. It argues that by better understanding how Mexicans understand Mennonites we can think about ways to build bridges between this religious minority and broader society. These lessons would be useful in the context of Southern Ontario.

Remote video URL

Teaching Peace in the Face of Danger

Tuesday, November 12, 2014 - 7:30 pm

Ziauddin Yousafzai shared from his experiences as a teacher in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. As the father of Malala, the co-recipient of the 2014 Peace Nobel Prize, he knows the impact of violence and oppression. The event also included a panel moderated by PACS Director, Lowell Ewert that included Ahmad Shah, President of the Global Peace Council Pakistan.

The event was Sponsored by Global Peace Council of Canada - a participant in the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement, Peace and Conflict Studies at Conrad Grebel University College, and the University of Waterloo.

Remote video URL

John Paul Lederach - Dispatches from the Burning Ground: Compassionate Presence and Faith-based Peacebuilding

Saturday, April 12, 2014 - 7:00 pm

Official Webpage

John Paul Lederach, widely known for his work on conflict transformation, spoke on his latest work, which reflects on compassion. He explores the question: how do you accompany, alleviate suffering and create space for the creative emergence of the person again after tremendous loss?

John Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. He is the author of 22 books, including The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Lederach received an honorary doctorate from Conrad Grebel University College on April 13.

Remote video URL

Limits to Force: Why Contemporary Wars Are Rarely Won - With Ernie Regehr

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A public lecture and reception for 2013 Arts Alumni Achievement Award recipient, Ernie Regehr.

Part 1: Is it actually true that contemporary wars are rarely won? That we are "fighting to lose?" A survey of wars fought over the past 25 years, and how they end.

Part 2: A discussion of the limited utility of military force in response to the kinds of political, economic, and social conflicts that are at the root of contemporary armed conflict.

Part 3: Exploring the implications for national and international security policies, as well as military capabilities and deployments, in the interests of constructing stable national and international security environments.

Remote video URL