News

Kitchener resident Patty Dorsey was at a crossroads in life. After raising five children and working with mentally challenged individuals for twenty years, Dorsey needed a change in direction. At the encouragement of her husband, she returned to school as a student in Social Development Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). Dorsey felt like life was perfect. However, a year later, her husband was diagnosed with cancer and passed away within eight months.

Steve Thomas was a victim of bullying throughout his childhood and youth. Although filled with guilt from his pacifist Mennonite upbringing, Thomas was driven to fight back against his tormentors, all the while wishing for a better way.

The second-annual Conrad Grebel Peace Camp has just finished another action-packed week with more speakers, field trips and activities connecting youth to neighbourhoods across Waterloo region. This summer, which brought together young people from all over the tri-cities, involved such exciting projects as making recyclable monsters, fashioning a trash bag slip ‘n slide and helping cultivate a community garden and a mural at the Working Centre and Sunnydale Community Centre, respectively.

WATERLOO, ON --  Calling youth 11-14 to make memories that will last a life time at the second annual Conrad Grebel Peace Camp!  This week long Day Camp, starting on July 30, is action-packed with exciting new field trips and camp games that will compel youth to inspired lives, strengthen ties and make peace happen all over Waterloo region.

For everyone at Conrad Grebel University College, Convocation is always a highlight of the year. The College takes this opportunity to honour each graduating student who has been involved over the years – whether this involvement has taken the form of living in residence, joining as an associate, studying Music, Peace and Conflict Studies, or Mennonite Studies, or for some students, all of the above!

Sam Steiner, a quiet, retired Librarian and Archivist of over 30 years at Conrad Grebel University College, has a wild past as a 1968 draft dodger resisting the Vietnam war. The story of his struggle with pacifism is brought to life this weekend in the play “Gadfly: Sam Steiner Dodges the Draft”, performed at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts.

WATERLOO, ON -- Nearly fifty years ago, five visionary men with five shovels broke ground to begin building Conrad Grebel [University] College. This dream of a small Christian college for Mennonite students studying at the University of Waterloo soon expanded into an academic body offering undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Arts as well as graduate programs in Theological Studies and soon Peace and Conflict Studies. Over time, the College also grew to be home to over 200 students living on campus and 4,000 students taking academic courses each year.

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Waterloo, Ontario – An expert in civil society peacebuilding, Professor Reina Neufeldt will be joining the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) department at the University of Waterloo, based at Conrad Grebel University College, beginning July 1, 2012. Neufeldt comes to Conrad Grebel from American University in Washington D.C. where her research focuses on the intersection of identity, social change, ethics, and peace processes. Her dissertation examined Mennonite identity maintenance and change during three periods of conflict in the 20th Century. She received her PhD in International Relations in 2005, and holds an MA in Social Psychology.

President Susan Schultz Huxman stated:

In her new role as Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Reina will bring an outstanding portfolio of teaching, research, and service expertise to the PACS program. She is well-positioned to articulate the identity, mission and values of Conrad Grebel University College in the wider community.

Bringing a well-established research background to the college, Professor Neufeldt approaches her work from the perspective of international relations and social psychology in both qualitative and quantitative methods. Neufeldt’s service and work in North America and overseas with Mennonite Central Committee, Catholic Relief Services, and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, at Notre Dame provides valuable experience in applying the scholarship and teaching of peace.

Jim Pankratz, Dean at Conrad Grebel, explained:

Professor Neufeldt adds several important dimensions to Grebel's PACS program. She has taught graduate students in the themes, methods and analytical perspectives that are foundational in peace studies. She has done significant research on Mennonite peacebuilding. And her southeast Asia field experience complements the diverse international experience of other Grebel faculty. She will be one of the core faculty members who will shape the new Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (MPACS) program and provide inspiration to the innovative Mennonite Savings and Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement in the years ahead. We are very pleased to welcome her to this significant role at Grebel and the University of Waterloo.

With her decision to teach at Grebel partly tied to the introduction of the new MPACS program, Neufeldt is

delighted to join the PACS team and to help launch the MPACS program. The Peace and Conflict Studies undergraduate program at Conrad Grebel was an early pioneer in the field, and I believe MPACS builds on this superb foundation and breaks new, exciting ground.

Neufeldt is also drawn to Grebel because

the college gains inspiration from foundational Anabaptist/Mennonite values of justice and peace, while at the same time engages with leading-edge research and thinking within the larger academic and professional communities. I think this cross-fertilization and engagement is particularly important in peacebuilding and conflict transformation,

commented Neufeldt.

It presents a wonderful opportunity for me to work with students who are developing their professional and academic skills in ways that will further enable them to contribute effectively, creatively, and skillfully to building peace.

Basing her teaching approach on her non-governmental organization and academic research experiences, students taking classes with Neufeldt can look forward to tackling real-world problems and challenges in the classroom, and engaging in building peace with the larger world creatively, responsibly, and sensitively.

Neufeldt looks forward to moving to the Waterloo Region with her family and husband, Narendran Kumarakulasingam, who is currently a professor at the School of International Service, American University.