News

By Jules Gravestock

Since the inception of the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) department, few students have taken as many courses as Kelly Brown (BA 2012, MPACS 2014). She is an alumnus of the MPACS program, majored in PACS as an undergraduate student, and attained the Conflict Management and Mediation Certificate. She has since gone on to work in mediation as well as teaching both at the University of Waterloo and beyond.

“According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, ‘thousands of students suffered physical and sexual abuse at residential schools. All suffered from loneliness and a longing to be home with their families.’ Mennonites were directly complicit in and responsible for the running of a number of these schools.” Sophia Kauffman shared these words with a predominantly American audience at Peace Talks in September.

As a second-year Peace and Conflict Studies and Political Science student at Conrad Grebel University College and the University of Waterloo, she has been learning more about Canadian Indigenous people and cultures, and wrestling with her own ingrained assumptions. “I titled this speech ‘Sitting with Our Shame’ because I believe that this is exactly what we as a church need to do. The first step is to find the shame,” she said in her speech. “Once we find that place, we then have to do the even harder thing. We have to sit there, sit with the shame and guilt of what we’ve done. Listen to the stories of those we have hurt. Realize that our church has so, so far to go in our work towards reconciliation. And then, even harder, we have to act.”

The Make a Difference (MAD) Holiday Market

Join us on Saturday, November 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Conrad Grebel University College for our annual Holiday Make a Difference Market! This festive event brings together local vendors and artisans for a joyful day of community, shopping, and giving back.

Browse unique, handmade gifts and support small businesses while helping us spread kindness this holiday season.

Your generosity will directly support the Compass Refugees, located in Downtown Kitchener.

Highlights: Free admission (Suggested $2 donation), Local vendor booths, silent auction, festive treats, and more!

Come shop, connect, and help make a difference this holiday season!

At each spring Convocation, the University of Waterloo honours the top graduating scholar with the highest cumulative average in each honours program of study. Chiara McLean has combined strong scholarship and dedication to Peace and Conflict Studies throughout her degree and is the winner of the PACS Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement. 

Alice Chu is accustomed to winding roads. Now an attorney and an entrepreneur who franchises bakehouse Hazukido throughout Canada, Alice’s experience studying at the University of Waterloo provided a foundation for the pursuit of her interests.  

Alice, who attained a Bachelor of Arts and Business (ARBUS) in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) in 2018, recalled starting her degree as an Economics major. As her interest in Economics waned, she decided to take several courses from other programs. While in PACS courses, she “felt like the instructors and the professors were invested in their cohort and in their class.” Alice sought community during her time as an undergraduate student, and intimate class sizes were an important aspect of her undergraduate experience. The class sizes, alongside the program being aligned with her skillset, later motivated her to declare a PACS major. 

The journey of figuring out what you want to do after high school isn’t linear, and Abigail Persaud is an example of how seizing new opportunities can lead to the most profound experiences of self-discovery and impact. As she completes her final term of her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, the experiences she has gained through her time at the university have provided a strong foundation for her to be a part of the meaningful change that Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) alumni are making around the world. 

Abigail Persaud, a 4th-year Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) student, explored global opportunities through the Beyond Borders program at St. Jerome’s and completed a co-op term working abroad in Uganda. The Beyond Borders program provides students with an international service-learning experience where they can explore new cultures and discover alternative perspectives and ways of life around the world. She worked with Reach One Touch One Ministries (ROTOM) in Mukono, Uganda, a non-for-profit organization that supports international fellowship to provide care to older adults and the grandchildren that depend on them in both Uganda and Ethiopia. As an Intergenerational Support Worker, she provided direct hands-on support in Uganda.  

Her experience working abroad gave her a new perspective on how she approaches work and how peace and conflict studies can fit into that.

If there’s anyone who likes breaking down barriers and seeing what’s on the other side, it’s Benny Skinner (BA 2019, MA 2023). They are a human rights advocate, award-winning rugby player on an inclusivity-driven Premier League team, and Indigenous Research Advisor who positively affects the world through activism. Benny’s commitment to social justice was enhanced by Conrad Grebel University College’s Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) program, the place where they learned how to challenge and change a society where injustice runs deep.

"It's hard to describe, but it hit me right in the heart. I just thought, sometimes things can look one way, but then with a little more context or information, it can completely change your perspective," reflected Nancy Williams(last to the right) on a statue she saw at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City during a multi-day student seminar hosted by Mennonite Central Committee. The statue, pictured on the left, was recovered from the 1945 Nagasaki bombing. "How can something look so perfect from one side but then on the other side, you know there's just absolute tragedy?"

“I have this personal mantra, which is that information needs to serve for transformation,” says Lorena Rodriguez (‘15), a graduate of the Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (MPACS) program. Specializing in peacebuilding communication in humanitarian and development contexts, this mantra serves her well: the transformative power of outreach, advocacy and public policy to create meaningful change in complex environments and vulnerable communities is precisely what drives Lorena’s work.

Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) alumni Sage Streight looks back on her time as a PACS student fondly, and the program’s teachings continue to inform her work today. After graduating from the University of Waterloo in 2019, with a major in PACS and a minor in Legal Studies, Sage pursued a law career. She graduated from the University of Ottawa’s law school in 2023 and by 2024, she was a fully licensed lawyer. She now works as a criminal prosecutor and assistant crown attorney in Kingston, Ontario.