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Chinenye Chukwuma-Nwuba is one of several international students currently enrolled in the MPACS program at Conrad Grebel. Growing up in Nigeria during times of relative peace and then violence, Chinenye brings her own perspective and experience to the program to gain a deeper understanding of what conflict is and how it develops:

 I’ve seen the good and bad side of my lovely country… For a while everything was okay, and then sometime in 2000 our lives turned upside down and there were religious riots. We lost a couple of friends, relatives and lost some of our belongings. When you witness this sort of thing, it stays with you… It’s something I wake up to everyday and think about. I think that's what pushed me to want to understand people more and want to understand the dynamics of conflict: how people change, why people change.

Rachel Urban-Shipley is a fourth year PACS student, with minors in Music and Psychology. She originally came to UW to study peace and conflict studies for her interest in mediation, but as she learned more about the field and other issues within PACS, her options and interests have also grown.

Jessica was drawn to the MPACS program because of its interdisciplinary nature and to further explore what she feels “is something of a calling, to look at peaceful solutions to significant problems”. She completed her undergraduate degree at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, and then came to Conrad Grebel for the MPACS program after working for a few years with a consulting firm.  

As she nears the end of the 16-month program, Jessica is able to reflect on her time here. Through the small classes and flexible program design, Jessica found that it was:

An opportunity to study what you really feel passionate about and research the things you really love.

This is the sixth installment of a monthly feature on the PACS website. This monthly profile of PACS and MPACS students will give a small snapshot into the pursuits and experiences of our students.

Having first attended college to become a paramedic, to then pursuing a certificate in Indigenous learning at Algoma University in Sault St. Marie, to now studying PACS at Conrad Grebel with a political science minor, Hilary Sadowsky has a passion for learning. Although the PACS program wasn’t as clear cut about peace as she thought it would be, the flexibility and interdisciplinary nature of it was the right fit for her. She took advantage of the ability to petition courses from other disciplines to truly mold the program to match her needs and interests. She says,

Petitioning courses or overriding prerequisites has allowed me to do so much with my degree. I have never, not once, taken a course that I did not want to take, in my university career.

This is the fourth installment of a monthly feature on the PACS website. This monthly profile of PACS and MPACS students will give a small snapshot into the pursuits and experiences of our students.

This is the third installment of a monthly feature on the PACS website. This monthly profile of PACS and MPACS students will give a small snapshot into the pursuits and experiences of our PACS students.

Conrad Grebel University College will confer its first honorary doctorate to John Paul Lederach at its Convocation ceremony on April 13, 2014.

Congratulations to Jacob Winter, winner of the 2013 C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest.

Jacob competed with students from all Mennonite and Brethren in Christ colleges and Universities across Canada and the US by composing and delivering a speech on the topic of the application of the Christian peace position to contemporary concerns.

Look Behind You!

This is the first installment of a monthly feature on the PACS website. This monthly profile of PACS and MPACS students will give a small snapshot into the pursuits and experiences of our PACS students.