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Conrad Grebel University College’s Music Professor Kate Kennedy Steiner and long-time adjunct Professor Debra Lacoste join the Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission (DACT), a 7-year partnership project recently granted $2.5 million in funding by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The aim of the project is to collect, analyze, and trace the transmission of plainchant through time and place, beyond Europe and the Middle Ages.

Grebel's 60 Stories Project | Kenny Hildebrand graduated from the Peace and Conflict Studies program at the University of Waterloo in 2015 and now lives in New York City. Since 2020, Kenny has worked as an Associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. In his free time, Kenny enjoys traveling, baking, comedy shows, trivia nights, golfing, board games, and spending time with his friends at his local dive bar.

A conference on Indigenous-Mennonite Encounters, while encouraging Mennonite historical self-examination, brings new partners into conversation and relationship. These connections, while often brief , enrich our work and sense of purpose, even if their impacts on those we rub shoulders with aren’t always visible to us.

Sometime in 1993, in pursuit of a good mark in Reformation History, I went to my professor’s office to discuss an essay topic. Hoping to appear studious, I took copious notes during the meeting—until Professor Werner Packull told me to stop, in words I’ll never forget: “Put your pen down,” he said. “I’m not here to give you the answers; I’m trying to broaden your mind.”

Because Grebel’s mission and programs are rooted in and inspired by its Anabaptist/Mennonite heritage, the College puts a significant emphasis on teaching Mennonite studies and History. While Mennonite Studies wasn’t an official program from the outset, Grebel’s founders wanted to ensure that Mennonite students pursuing post-secondary education at a secular university still had some grounding in Mennonite education.

Over the past 60 years, thousands of Grebel alumni have taken individual Grebel courses in History and Mennonite Studies, while hundreds of Grebel alumni have received University of Waterloo Arts degrees with majors and minors in History, along with some who have pursued specializations and minors in Mennonite Studies. The following profiles highlight a few of these alumni—some who went into history professions and some who used history as a jumping point for their career.

From martyr ballads and shape-note singing to contemporary folk hymns, operas, musicals, and festivals like Mennofolk, folk music and Mennonites just seem to go together.

Nowhere in archives are the three companions of loss, remainder, and possibility more present than when communities seek to understand historical wrongs. Following the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, archives in Canada are being urged to communicate to Indigenous communities what has been collected by and about them.

Disney animator. CEOs. Lawyers. Musicians. Peacemakers centred in war zones. These are just a few of the fascinating folks who have graduated from Grebel over the last 60 years. Not only are these alumni making advances in their fields, but they’re also representing Grebel’s excellence on an international level, with careers in countries all across the world.

Recent Grebel alums share how history courses have inspired them in their academic and professional careers.