Keyword: PACTS
From peacebuilding to conservation: A CMU alum’s journey of justice, community, and care for creation
Aaron Janzen knows being an environmentalist is as much about working with people as it is with the land.
The self-described "social scientist type-person," graduated from CMU in 2008, majoring in Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS).
From Courtroom Dreams to Restorative Justice: A Journey in Conflict Transformation
Odelia Duffus wanted to become a lawyer after she graduated high school in Jamaica. Many years later, she's liaising with the court—but not in the role she expected.
Duffus is a mediator and caseworker with Mediation Services, a Winnipeg-based organization offering conflict resolution and training to workplaces, families, and communities. She wants to make a safer and more just future for all people involved in conflict, by navigating it in ways alternative to conventional punishment. Through mediation, she acts as a neutral third party that hears each side's perspective. She helps create an agreement that benefits everyone and develop an appropriate solution.
Sunday@CMU: May 2025
Difference and Disagreement: Lessons From Scripture and a Tradition of Peacebuilding
This month on Sunday@CMU, we're hearing from Valerie Smith, Associate Registrar for Graduate Studies at CMU. She was previously Co-Director of CMU's Canadian School of Peacebuilding for its first 10 years, and co-edited the book, Voices of Harmony and Dissent, a collection of writing by peacebuilders who were instructors at the school. Valerie is also an alumna of Canadian Mennonite Bible College, a predecessor of CMU, and holds a Master of Divinity from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. In this series, she explores themes of difference and disagreement through lessons from scripture and traditions of peacebuilding.
CMU alumna transforms dream for justice through peace program
CMU alumna Odelia Duffus wanted to be a lawyer after she graduated high school. Six years later, she's liaising with the court—but not in the role she expected.
Duffus is a mediator and caseworker with Mediation Services, a Winnipeg-based organization offering conflict resolution and training to workplaces, families, and communities. She wants to make a safer and more just future for all people involved in conflict, by navigating it in ways alternative to conventional punishment. Through mediation, she acts as a neutral third party that hears each side's perspective and helps create an agreement that benefits everyone and an appropriate solution.
CMU student's award-winning speech encourages us to live with “an attitude of abundance”
"The kingdom of God [that Jesus] preached about was one of banquets. It is a kingdom that starts with faith the size of a mustard seed and grows like yeast mixed with flour. You are invited; come and join the feast."
So says current Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) student Danika Warkentin in her award-winning speech titled, "Join the Feast."
Pandemic brings together students in Canada and Philippines
When students enrolled in Wendy Kroeker's upper-level Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS) course, they didn't expect to have classmates 12,000 kilometres away.
Kroeker, Assistant Professor of PACTS at CMU, is teaching Cultures of Violence, Cultures of Peace to 16 students at CMU and 11 students in the Philippines.
Refugee Resettlement in Canada: Moving Forward from Lessons of the Past (video)
Five refugee resettlement experts with experience in Canada's past and present programs formed a panel to discuss and examine the past, present, and future of Canada's refugee resettlement efforts.
"Canada has a long history of resettling refugees," says Dr. Stephanie Stobbe, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College, who moderated the panel. "Today there are 17.2 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate, and over 1 million refugees are in need of resettlement. We want to explore what the future of Canada's resettlement program might look like."