CMU Blogs

Within CMU blogs, you'll find fascinating stories and pieces on current students and accomplished alumni. You'll also hear directly from students, faculty, and staff, as they tell their personal CMU stories in their own voices.
Clowning: speaking truth to power
Posted by MSC Staff | Menno Simons College | 2017.04.03 @ 12:00 AM
Karen Ridd
Thirty years ago, I “fell into” clowning. I realize that’s an unusual thing to say, and you might wonder how one accidentally becomes a clown (it’s a long story, trust me). I went on to a short career in clowning, founding the first therapeutic clowning programme in the world, at the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital in 1986 (and a second one in Toronto a few years later).
What most people know about clowns is that they dress up and are supposed to be funny (except, of course, the odd contemporary internet killer clown hoax).
Read MoreWorking with Christian Peacemaker Teams a profound experience for alumni
Posted by CMU Staff | Community & Alumni | 2017.03.28 @ 9:00 AM

'It changed my thinking forever,' Lisa Martens (left) says of
her work with Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Lisa Martens (CMBC ‘00) recalls what it was like being in Iraq when U.S. forces invaded the country in 2003. She remembers speaking with a man whose house was cracked because his neighbour’s home had been bombed.
Read MoreHonouring a peace builder: the Suzanne St. Yves Amani Peace Award
Posted by MSC Staff | Menno Simons College | 2017.03.27 @ 12:00 AM
Gina Sylvestre
Though I first met Suzanne while sitting on a refugee-sponsoring committee, I had heard of her social justice work much earlier and I was intrigued to learn from her about transformation and equity. In the twenty-odd years of friendship since, I have witnessed a strong woman, rooted in personal spirituality, with an unwavering belief in humankind. Her commitment to peacemaking has been life-long, and over the years she has been involved with the Deaf community, people with disabilities, refugees, abused women, inmates, and ex-offenders.
Read MoreFood Matters Manitoba: changing the province one carrot at a time
Posted by MSC Staff | Menno Simons College | 2017.03.20 @ 12:00 AM
Certain organizations attract Menno Simons grads like Milkweed attracts Monarch Butterflies. Food Matters Manitoba is one such nonprofit.
Food Matters, which partners with communities across the province to “make food more available and affordable,” currently employs five Menno Simons grads or current students: Jennifer French (IDS), Amanda Froese (IDS), Gabriel Gabriel (IDS, CRS), Rob Moquin (CRS), and Katrina Sklepowich (CRS).
Read MorePeace Research Journal: Call for Papers from the 2016 CARFMS Conference
Posted by Kevin Kilbrei | Menno Simons College | 2017.03.10 @ 11:56 AM
Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies invites presenters at the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) 2016 Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba to submit conference papers focused specifically on conflict resolution and international development.

The 2016 conference “Freedom of Movement: Exploring a Path from Armed Conflict, Persecution, and Forced Migration to Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, and Development” was chaired and hosted by Dr. Stephanie Stobbe and the Conflict Resolution Studies Department of Menno Simons College (MSC), a College of the Canadian Mennonite University at the University of Winnipeg.
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