Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Jonathan Sears
Dr. Jonathan Sears is Associate Professor of International Development Studies, Affiliate Faculty of Political Studies, and Associate Dean of Menno Simons College (MSC), a program centre of CMU. He has taught at CMU since 2008, primarily from the MSC campus.
What are you researching and writing?
I'm coauthoring a book chapter with Jodi Dueck-Read, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies and Director of Practicum at MSC. It's about the successes and challenges of decolonizing our pedagogy, of anti-oppression pedagogy, particularly as it relates to our fields in global development and peacebuilding studies. An edited collection by Indiana University Bloomington, it's research and writing about our teaching practice. For me, to write about that is new, but that's part of what we do as teachers; we teach and reflect on our practice, what works, what doesn't, when, with whom. To take a step back and do a bit of analytical work and connect it to some of the literature about anti-oppression pedagogy, how to teach in a way that decentres straight, white, male views or decentres settler views or decentres majority views.
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#myCMUlife: Asians in STEM: Honourable yet onerous work
I remember being in grade one, sitting at the kitchen table doing my math homework with my sweet grandma, or "Khun Ya." Helping me in her lingual mosaic of Thai and English, we added and subtracted pencils, beads, and tamarind seeds. We snacked on pieces of fruit as we drew tallies and diagrams to practice my arithmetic after school.
I remember my grandpa, my "Khun Pu," a man of few words, who would eagerly sit counting trains with me and my sister as they rumbled by the window of my grandparents' seniors apartment. He taught me how to fold paper airplanes and boats, showing me how to achieve crisp, precise creases with the edge of my thumbnail. He emphasized to me that experts who designed these vessels for a living must also be very precise in their calculations and very smart.
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CMU alum recontextualizes art song through queer, ecological lens
At first glance, it may not seem like music, climate justice, and queerness would cross career paths. But Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) alum Anna Bigland-Pritchard has built a life that weaves together these strands.
The 30-year-old soprano lives in Victoria, BC, where she divides her time between studying under renowned soprano Nancy Argenta, managing marketing at Vancouver Bach Choirs, directing music ministry at Oak Bay United Church, and teaching through her small business, ABP Music Studio. She also dedicates time to advocating for climate justice and facilitating workshops on eco-mindfulness, which she has done for institutions like KAIROS, University of Toronto, and CMU.
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So What? A Podcast – Naawi-Oodena: Treaty (Replay)
What are treaties and why do they matter? This replayed episode from March 2021 features Niigaan James Sinclair, and sets up future episodes on the Naawi-Oodena urban reserve in Winnipeg, just two kilometres east of CMU.
Read more about Naawi-Oodena: https://indigenomicsinstitute.com/naawi-oodena/
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Sunday@CMU: January 2023
Reflections on Five Parables of Jesus
This month on Sunday@CMU, we are hearing from CMU alumnus Kenny Wollmann, a teacher and member of Baker Hutterite Community. In this series of meditations, he reflects on what Jesus' parables tell us about the Kingdom of God, in keeping with the Hutterite liturgical tradition of studying the gospel stories of Jesus' life and ministry in the season between Epiphany and Easter.
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