News

On a balmy Sunday morning in Georgia, a large crowd of people slowly walk in a circle holding crosses, each with a unique name. When the name is called, the cross is raised and the bearer declares “presente!” These crosses are placed one by one in the fence, creating an impactful memorial. Name after name is called as the vigil continues and the people march on.

For Rachel, the past year involved many new crazy and stretching cultural experiences. Even just taking public transportation every day became a funny anecdote, between being squished into a minibus like sardines, being pecked by a chicken the entire way home from work, creating a make shift window out of an umbrella to protect passengers from getting wet during a monsoon, and not being entirely sure if the bus was dropping her off at the right destination. These are just some of the crazy things that can happen on a PACS field study.

On November 7th, four students flew from Waterloo down to Wichita, Kansas to attend the annual Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) convention.

By Emily Mininger, Peace and Conflict Studies student
Photo Credit: Hannah Yoon

The Peace and Justice Studies Association's (PJSA) annual conference is taking place this year in Waterloo from October 17th-19th.

By Sarah Klassen, Peace Camp Coordinator

For youth looking to make a difference, make new friends, and have fun at summer camp, Peace Camp is the place to be! Now heading into its third summer, Peace Camp is a unique camp where youth ages 11-14 get to experience the same types of fun games, activities, sports, and crafts as any other summer camp, but with a social justice and peace focus.

A local Kitchener imam, Muhammad Abuelezz, and a New York-based journalist and professor, Paul Moses, came together at Conrad Grebel University College on March 8, 2013 to share an 800 year old story. At this public talk entitled "The Saint and the Sultan: Religion, Conflict and the Search for Peace," Moses described the meeting of St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malik al-Kamil during the Fifth crusade. Abuelezz responded with the implications for Muslim-Christian relations today.

“Sponsor debates on peace issues.”  “Promote international peace through music.” “Become a peace and technology centre—mapping where peace is vulnerable in our world today.”  “Display peace art in the gallery.”  “Form research teams that produce effective peace-building practices in our schools.” “Study the environment as a peace issue.” “Host visiting peace advocates from the global church.”