Current graduate students

“Holding space to have difficult conversations can be incredibly difficult,” said Samantha Coelho, an Advocacy and Networking Specialist at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada. “But I think having these conversations can lead to more intimate and fulfilling relationships, allow us to build empathy, and remind us to have humility about the positions we hold.”  

Supporting marginalized communities, working for justice, and exploring creative approaches to addressing world issues have become a regular part of Samantha’s life, but her introduction to advocacy, justice, and peacebuilding began a decade ago during her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo and Conrad Grebel University College where she studied Arts and Business with a major in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS).

For Imogen Sloss, the desire for peace has always been an anchor in her life; growing up, it was a central value in her family and her community. Throughout high school, Imogen fostered this desire for peace through her passion for social justice, and after graduation, she continued to seek out opportunities to make a difference.

As she searched for the right undergraduate program to further her studies, her passion for peace and restorative justice drew her towards the Peace and Conflict Studies program at the University of Waterloo.

To mark the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2023, Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director at Project Ploughshares, will give a talk entitled From the Cuban Missile Crisis to Today: Nuclear Weapons 60 Years On. Hosted as part of the MPACS Thursday Talk: Research Series and in celebration of Grebel's 60th Anniversary, this talk will engage important questions related to nuclear weapons and non-proliferation.

 The event is at the Balsillie School of International Affairs called Skanikòn:ra: Indigenous Governance and the Future of LeadershipThis event is free to attend and will be a full day of learning and connection for both Indigenous and settler attendees. It will be bringing together Indigenous leaders, scholars, and knowledge keepers to present on topics related to Indigenous governance.

In celebration of Peace Week 2023, the PACS Department invites you to share your thoughts in response to a set of questions displayed in Grebel’s Upper Atrium. Questions will be displayed from September 21st to September 28th, 2023, inviting participants to visually and creatively represent their responses. Be part of our shared exploration of justice and peace by adding your voice.

Are you invested in supporting the social justice activities, programs, services, and advocacy groups here at the University of Waterloo? Would you like to see these initiatives and advocacies come to life through art, music, poetry, and other expressions? Come out to the Urgency of Social Justice event to support and experience the struggles and victories of social justice and advocacy groups at the University of Waterloo, and to have fun witnessing the various short speeches and performances by students, faculty, staff, and advocates. There will also be displays, information stations, research presentations, choir, and much more! This event is being hosted with the goal of sparking conversations about social issues including, but are not limited to; anti-racism, decolonization, gender and sexuality, class and economic inequality, truth and reconciliations, and human rights.

Our Convocation Celebration will take place on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2 pm at the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages Building. This celebration is for all students who have or are completing studies and plan to graduate in Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023 or Fall 2023.

Grebel Convocation Celebration will take place at two locations in-person. Students and two of their invited guests will celebrate at The Theatre of the Arts, this event will be professionally filmed and live-streamed back to the Grebel dining room where additional guests will take part in a virtual community celebration. The event will also be available on YouTube for those guests who wish to join from home. 

This interactive exhibition features photos of street art pieces from a range of conflict-affected societies and an opportunity to leave your own ‘mark’. Street art makes an important contribution to understanding local conflict dynamics and visions of peace. Street art tells narratives about everyday concerns and opinions, where multiple and often contradicting narratives by different artists and communities can be publicly viewed. This holds value in situations of conflict and censorship, as art can talk about issues that have no space in the mainstream political discourse.

Street art can have a range of different functions – some are displayed in this collection. These functions can both contribute to peace and social change, but also to foster or underline conflict and division. Functions that can be seen in this exhibit include resistance, political communication, identity expression, memorialisation of events or people, and inspiration.

This exhibition has been curated by the International Consortium for Conflict Graffiti (ICCG) with Peace and Conflict Studies students, Zoe Beilby and Christine Faber.