Faculty Profiles
Practicing theology from the bottom-up
Assuming a new position teaching theology at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), Rev. Dr. Sunder John Boopalan and his family arrived in Winnipeg in October 2020 after a move, during the pandemic, from their home in Boston, MA. Growing up in the religious context of Pondicherry, a former French colony in southeast India, Boopalan was raised by his mother, a nurse and Hindu convert to Christianity, and his father, a lab technician and preacher, who together attended the "Bakht Singh Assemblies," a multi-lingual and multi-ethnic indigenous (that is, without foreign missionary history) church movement. Describing the religious atmosphere of his upbringing, Boopalan states that "there was an interesting mix of theological influences that combined pietist, holiness, and charismatic movements. Services were four hours and included plenty of music played with indigenous Indian instruments and would always end in a love feast cooked by church members and shared sitting around mats on the floor."
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Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Cheryl Pauls
Dr. Cheryl Pauls is the serving president of CMU. Prior to her installment in 2012, she taught for 26 years in the areas of piano and music theory.
What do you love about your work here?
As much as I value the creativity of the arts, I have to admit, even to my musician friends, that I find it takes even more creativity to do administration. That's what I love about my current role; I love the range of people that I get to bring together, the ways I have to think forward when there's no template for how things should go. It's a wonderfully creative task for me!
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Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Jodi Dueck-Read
Dr. Jodi Dueck-Read, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies, has taught at Menno Simons College as a sessional instructor since 2010 and has been on faculty since 2015.
What do you love about your work here?
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Doktorvater: How Dietrich Bartel is bringing a teacher’s heart to research communication
In German, the word for a doctoral supervisor is doktorvater, or "doctor father." No phrase could better express the spirit of pedagogical generosity and delight which critics have identified in the work of Music Professor Emeritus, Dietrich Bartel.
Bartel has been teaching at CMU since before it existed, beginning with CMBC back in 1985. Though he now teaches only part-time, Bartel's passion as an instructor is unflagging. In the classroom he is beloved for his animated and sympathetic teaching style, his expertise, and his sensitivity to the connections between music and discipleship. Outside of school, Bartel puts his specialized knowledge and talents to work for the wider community, serving as music director and organist of All Saints Anglican Church in Winnipeg. Between times he also sustains a vibrant research life, most recently exampled in his 2018 annotated translation with commentary of Andreas Werkmeister's 1707 music theory treatise Musikalische Paradoxal-Discourse.
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Faculty: In Their Own Words - Justin Neufeld
Justin Neufeld has been an Instructor of Philosophy at CMU since 2008.
What are you teaching right now that you're most excited about?
This winter I'm teaching Disability and Difference: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives. It's a class that I've really come to under the influence of students here at CMU. Years ago, a student wanted to do an independent study on disability, and I had more interest than expertise, but we were willing to kind of work on it together, and that gave me confidence a couple of years later to offer a course on the subject. This year will be the second time I'm teaching it.
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