Stories

How a local professor spent 20 years exploring the meaning of 'Oh My God'

How a local professor spent 20 years exploring the meaning of 'Oh My God'

Does the phrase "Oh my God" offend you? Have you ever wondered how it became something that people blurt out multiple times a day?

David Balzer, an associate professor of communications and media at Canadian Mennonite University and a storyteller at heart, is preparing to release an audio documentary that will answer all of these questions and more.

"I was doing the radio show [God Talk] and I had some friends at the University of Manitoba. They wanted to do something creative on campus and I got this idea to do a live show out of the university centre," said Balzer. "And so we're trying to pick a theme and during that week I was going to campus that week and I'm like, what could we do that would kind of bridge between our interest about who God is and culture and this phrase, 'oh my God' came up in my thinking."

 

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CMU Press celebrates 50 years of publishing

CMU Press celebrates 50 years of publishing

CMU Press, an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, literary, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), reached its 50th anniversary in 2024. It has produced over 100 books since its inception, a remarkable feat in an industry that can be gruelling for small publishers.

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Blazers Athletics produce top-tier student athletes

Blazers Athletics produce top-tier student athletes

The Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Blazers Athletics program has figured it out.

Last season, in particular, was a cut above the rest. Over half the teams from a variety of sports made conference finals, the women's volleyball team made an appearance at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships, while the men's basketball team won gold with its first Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) championship since 2017.

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Dr. Stephanie Stobbe receives King Charles III’s Coronation Medal in recognition of her work as part of the Hearts of Freedom project, a travelling exhibition that moved throughout various cities in the country, telling the stories of Southeast Asian refugees.

CMU faculty awarded King Charles III’s Coronation Medal

Dr. Stephanie Stobbe, Associate Professor and Chair of Conflict Resolution Studies at Canadian Mennonite University, has been awarded the King Charles III's Coronation Medal for her work on the Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees exhibition.

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#myCMUlife | How CMU made me enjoy living in Winnipeg

#myCMUlife | How CMU made me enjoy living in Winnipeg

Growing up in Winnipeg, I always thought I would leave this wintery plain the moment I turned 18. University seemed like the kind of thing you had to move away from Winnipeg for, to have a good experience like you see in the movies. I had visited other universities around Winnipeg and had seen the thousands of students rushing around the overwhelmingly large and at times not-so-aesthetically-pleasing campuses, running to catch busses in the freezing cold. I thought, "Yeah, I might take my business elsewhere."

Then I ended up at CMU by chance for a high school internship. The internship itself taught me so much and gave me the opportunity to work with a publishing company at 17 years old, but I was also enchanted by the architecture of the old castle building and the tiny classrooms compared to large lecture halls of other universities. This learning experience seemed to promise a more one-on-one approach.

I grew up in the North End of Winnipeg, which I found difficult for a plethora of reasons. When I moved to northern Manitoba, I made a promise to myself that when I moved again, I would never move back to Winnipeg. If you've ever seen the movie Lady Bird, I had sort of the same melodramatic line of thinking as the main character. As she says in the film, "I want to go to the east coast. I want to go where culture is."

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