Center for Justice and Peacebuilding Archives - EMU News

EMU’s 108th Commencement sends forth 304 graduates

Ryan Cornell — Fri, 08 May 2026 03:57:50 +0000

��ݮ�� awarded 313 degrees during its 108th annual Commencement on Sunday, May 3. The total included 171 undergraduate degrees, 129 graduate degrees, 10 seminary degrees, and three doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degrees. The university’s 304 graduates represented 23 states, Puerto Rico, and 15 countries.

Commencement address

Dr. Angela J. Lederach, assistant professor of peace and justice studies at Chapman University, delivered the Commencement address in Yoder Arena.

The author and anthropologist, whose father, John Paul Lederach, co-founded the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, spoke about the lessons she’s learned from peacebuilders and CJP alumni around the world.

Undergraduates Dylan Hall and Arelys Martinez Fabian, along with MA in Counseling graduate Yenifer Dottin-Carter ’23, presented the graduate perspectives.

This was Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus’ first Commencement as interim president.

Commencement speaker Dr. Lederach says EMU and CJP alumni taught her to ‘speak the language of justice’

Celebration of Blessings

The Center for Justice and Peacebuilding sent 17 graduates into the world with words of tribute during its annual Celebration of Blessings on Sunday afternoon, following Commencement. This year marks the 30th anniversary celebration of the CJP.

Graduates LaToya Fernandez, Jamila Gaskins, Hannah Gilman, and Jacob Sankara offered their perspectives.

Celebration of Blessings sends off CJP graduates with joy and love

Graduate Celebration and Sending

EMU honored members of the Class of 2026 at its Graduate Celebration and Sending service on Saturday evening in Lehman Auditorium.

The event featured a faculty address by Dr. Tara Kishbaugh, senior class salutations from co-presidents Genesis Figueroa and Arelys Martinez Fabian, and the presentation of the senior class gift, along with prayer, music, and poetry from graduates.

Graduates ‘look forward with courage’ at 2026 Graduate Celebration and Sending

Donning of the Kente

Family, friends, faculty, and other supporters gathered in the MainStage Theater on Saturday to honor the perseverance, compassion, and determination of this year’s graduates at EMU’s 11th annual Donning of the Kente Ceremony.

The event recognized 49 graduates celebrating their African and international heritage.

‘What a beautiful space’: EMU’s 2026 Donning of the Kente Ceremony recognizes graduates’ roots

Nurse Pinning

Sixteen EMU nursing graduates marked a major milestone Saturday morning during a pinning and commissioning ceremony in Lehman Auditorium.

Dr. David Rosie, an emergency medicine physician at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg, delivered the keynote address.

Pinning ceremony honors nursing graduates from Class of 2026

Lavender Graduation

EMU recognized 11 graduates at its fifth annual Lavender Graduation on Friday evening in the Old Common Grounds space. The ceremony honors LGBTQ+ graduates and alumni while celebrating their unique experiences, achievements, and contributions to the university.

Sarah Peak and Jamila Gaskins delivered the keynote addresses.

‘Pride, love, and joy’: EMU’s 2026 Lavender Graduation celebrates LGBTQ+ graduates

EMU at Lancaster will award 21 undergraduate degrees, 13 graduate degrees, and 13 graduate certificates at its Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m. at Forest Hills Mennonite Church in Leola, Pennsylvania. Lancaster Mayor Jaime Arroyo will deliver the address.

Stay tuned for a recap of the Lancaster ceremony.

Celebration of Blessings sends off CJP graduates with joy and love

Ryan Cornell — Thu, 07 May 2026 22:32:38 +0000

In his welcome remarks at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s annual Celebration of Blessings, Kory Schaeffer MA ’24 had one final request, not of the 17 CJP graduates, but of the families, friends, and loved ones seated with them.

“When you see them pouring themselves into the work of justice and peace, and you see them giving and giving, remind them to pause, please,” Schaeffer, director of programs at CJP, said. “Remind them to rest. Remind them to seek out something joyful because this work needs them, but it needs them whole.”

The ceremony honored graduates of CJP’s master’s degree and graduate certificate programs and was held Sunday afternoon in Martin Chapel following EMU’s 108th annual Commencement.

This year marks the 30th anniversary celebration of the CJP, which was co-founded and led by John Paul Lederach. His daughter, Dr. Angela Lederach, delivered the Commencement address earlier Sunday.

Graduates from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding are embraced and recognized by CJP faculty and staff during the annual Celebration of Blessings in Martin Chapel on Sunday.

In the heartfelt ceremony, CJP faculty and staff members Dr. Gloria Rhodes, Amy Knorr, Dr. Paula Ditzel Facci, and Dr. Joe Cole provided words of tribute for each graduate. The following CJP graduates were recognized:

Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation

Diego Crespo Guido of Mexico City, Mexico

Jamila Gaskins of Los Angeles

Hannah Gilman of Salt Lake City

Chelsea Griffin of Flagstaff, Arizona

Leslie Meja of Nairobi, Kenya

Jacob Sankara of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

CatiAdele Slater of Upperville, Virginia

Tamera Vaughan-Drozd of Vienna, Virginia

Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation

Spike Coleman of Charleston, South Carolina

Devin Withrow of Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Master of Arts in Restorative Justice

Maria Arias of Viedma, Argentina

LaToya Fernandez of West Hartford, Connecticut

Sofía Garcia Pini of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice

Réka Bordás-Simon of Nyíregyháza, Hungary

Mallery McShine of Fredericksburg, Virginia

Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership

Josiah Ludwick of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Tyler Stanley of Harrisonburg, Virginia

Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88 (left) and Kory Schaeffer MA ’24 (right), co-directors of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, offer their welcome remarks.

As the graduates go out to create a more just and peaceful world, they also weave a web of connections and build an extended community of learning, Professor Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88, academic director of CJP, said in her remarks.

“We’re a small community, and EMU is a very small university,” Rhodes said. “But together, we are enormous.”

She said there are more than 23,000 EMU graduates around the world, including more than 800 who have earned degrees from CJP’s master’s programs.

As a CJP alumnus, Schaeffer said he shared the graduates’ joy and quiet solidarity, as well as their sense of how much they had cared, questioned, and transformed throughout their time at CJP.

“This work was never just the books you read or the papers you wrote,” he said. “It was also the gray hairs, the tears, the tightness in your body, and the moments you questioned everything. It was the weight, literal or metaphorical, that comes with doing work that is both deeply personal and profoundly collective.”

LaToya Fernandez, an MA in restorative justice graduate, shares the journey that led her to CJP.

Conflict transformation graduates Hannah Gilman (left) and Jamila Gaskins (right) reflect on their experiences in the program.

Graduates LaToya Fernandez, Jamila Gaskins, Hannah Gilman, and Jacob Sankara shared their perspectives.

Fernandez recalled visiting Ghana a couple of years ago and experiencing something there that changed her life. “I grieved there, I left my burdens there, I cried for my ancestors,” she said. “I learned things about myself that I didn’t know.”

She left Africa with a mission to bring that sense of healing to her communities and to the United States. She had applied to another school’s restorative justice program, which offered her a full scholarship, when a friend encouraged her to learn more about CJP. “You want to go to a place that’s going to value you and all your decolonizing institution ways,” Fernandez recalled her friend telling her. “That’s exactly what happened. I came to EMU and I fell in love.”

Gaskins, who spoke at EMU’s Lavender Graduation two days prior, asked the crowd when they last breathed. “Not a shallow breath, the kind most of us live on, tight chest, shoulders up near our ears, but a full breath. One that goes all the way down, opens up the belly, and reminds you that you are here, present, alive.”

“So many of us are chest breathers, and I say this with love and a little humor, because chest breathing is a perfectly functional way to stay alive, but it cuts us off,” she said. “It blocks access to the richness of our emotional experience, the very experience this work demands we stay connected to. We cannot feel our way into someone else’s suffering if we are numb to our own.”

Gilman said their past two years in the program have involved real sacrifice, balancing work, family, stressful logistics, and a dream. There have been many hard moments and even some tears, but also triumphs, laughter, and joy. There were moments of fear, and they showed up anyway.

“What a unique experience it has been to do this in a place like CJP,” she said. “With faculty and staff who knew us, challenged us, believed in us, and who, bless them, gave us extensions. I’m so grateful to share this era of growth with you, this particular season of becoming, of stretching, of learning what we are made of and made for.”

Mukarabe Inandava-Makinto (right), a CJP student, her husband, Makinto GC ’26 (left), and their son, Joël Friebe-Makinto, perform the musical prelude

CJP students Virginia Maina and Kensly Cassy offer student blessings (left). Amy Knorr (right), CJP’s peacebuilding practice director, provides the graduate sending. “This is actually my favorite day of the entire year, even more than Christmas,” Knorr said. “And it’s not because summer break begins tomorrow, but because we are sending forth so many graduates who will go on to change and transform the world.”

Sankara shared that he felt two emotions when he received his acceptance to the CJP program: excitement and intimidation. “Some of my colleagues at [Mennonite Central Committee], when I was working there, had gone through the program, and they spoke about it with a kind of reverence,” he said.

Along with those emotions came real anxiety. How would Sankara, an international student from Burkina Faso, find the money to fund his studies? He said his family’s visa situation was also uncertain. “I had to make a decision to trust God and move forward, even without having all the answers, and slowly things began to unfold,” he said.

He received a helpful scholarship from CJP and support from friends and family. Eventually, his family was able to come to the United States and was there to celebrate with him on Sunday. Sankara described CJP as more than a program, calling it a community.

“When I say community, I don’t mean a group of people who simply agree with each other,” Sankara said. “I mean a space where we celebrate, laugh together, and step on each other’s feet, not once but repeatedly. But the difference is that we acknowledge it, address it, and grow through it.”

Apply by May 8 for Summer Peacebuilding Institute

EMU Communications — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:58:00 +0000

Each summer, the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) brings together students, practitioners, and professionals from around the world for a unique learning experience centered on conflict transformation, restorative justice, and peacebuilding.

More than a series of classes, SPI is a place to learn in community. Participants live on campus, share meals, attend lectures, and build connections that last long after the program ends.

This year’s sessions will be held May 18-26, May 28-June 5, and June 8-12.

The application deadline for U.S. participants is May 8. Learn more and apply at .

For the record: Patience Kamau ’02, MA ’17 says EMU changed the trajectory of her life

Ryan Cornell — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: This profile is the sixth and final story about students and alumni leading up to the 10th annual LovEMU Giving Day on April 1. For more information about the day and how to donate, visit .

Patience Kamau ’02, MA ’17 (conflict transformation), stands outside the post office in Nyahururu, central Kenya, and holds a letter. Its mailing address is written to her in blue ink, while the return address lists an “��ݮ��” in Harrisonburg, Virginia, of the United States. The high school senior tears open the envelope and starts reading. The letter inside tells her that 50% of her tuition costs at EMU will be covered through the university’s International Grant.

Though that moment occurred nearly three decades ago, Kamau remembers it like it was yesterday. “That was among the greatest blessings I ever received,” she said, looking back.

She didn’t know much about the U.S. at the time, and even less about EMU, but her decision to cross an ocean and enroll at the university would forever shape her future. “It was very clear it was shifting the trajectory of my life,” she said.

Soon after receiving that first letter, she received another from EMU with an invitation. “Bring an open heart,” Kamau recalled reading, “because here you will make friendships and relationships that you will maintain for the rest of your life.”

“And that was true,” she said. “Many of the relationships I formed at EMU remain meaningful in my life.”

She admitted that she didn’t choose EMU; her father chose it for her. He had heard through family friends about “a little college in Harrisonburg” with a strong pre-med program. “He started looking into it, reading and studying it, and he liked it,” Kamau said.

She arrived as a pre-med major in the fall of 1998. Her parents were physicians, and they encouraged her to follow in their footsteps. Kamau enjoyed biology classes during her first year at EMU, but once she started taking organic chemistry her sophomore year, she realized it was not for her. She quickly switched majors to computer information systems.

She became close with the handful of other international students on campus and got involved with the university’s multicultural and international programs, where she came under the wing of Delores “Delo” Blough ’80, former director of international student and scholar services. “Delo was a huge part of making all of us feel at home,” she said.

After graduating in 2002, Kamau worked in a variety of campus departments, including the alumni and parent relations office, the seminary, and the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. She eventually landed a position at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, serving as assistant to the executive director while a student at CJP. As a perk of her job, she said, she could take eight credit hours a year at no charge.

Six years ago, as chair of CJP’s 25th anniversary committee, she began producing a series of Peacebuilder podcast episodes featuring the program’s faculty and staff to capture CJP’s oral history. According to an EMU News article from 2022, the podcast had logged more than 11,500 listeners in 119 countries and territories around the globe.

Since 2022, Kamau has served as program director for . The online course and connection platform offers activists, innovators, and others seeking knowledge and tools a space to “manifest solutions for people and planet,” according to its website.

Kamau said she categorizes her life as “100% lucky.” Half of that luck comes from the random happenstances she had nothing to do with. The other 50% is the kind of serendipitous luck when “preparation meets opportunity,” she said, borrowing a favorite phrase from Oprah.

“You try and live a certain way and prepare, and then when the opportunity arises, you hopefully take advantage of it,” she said. “I couldn’t have been more grateful to have ended up at EMU as a young adult who didn’t fully know who I was or what I wanted from life.”

Your support helps students pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 10th annual LovEMU Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future EMU students. On April 1, let’s show that our generosity knows no bounds…for the record!

Five questions with Professor Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88, director of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

Ryan Cornell — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The classroom was packed. Over two-dozen people crowded into seats. Some stood along the sides. Others sat in the aisles. Only a few years after earning an English degree from EMU, Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88 was in Russia helping establish an intercultural program. She stood at the front of the room, leading a Bible study on the Mennonite peace tradition.

Born and raised in the Mennonite church, Rhodes grew up believing she was called to be a peacemaker. But that early understanding of peace, she admits, made her avoid conflict rather than engage in it.

Then, two students, burly Russian men seated near the back of the classroom, began arguing.

Within moments, the tension shifted. Chairs scraped. Voices sharpened. The exchange turned physical. And Rhodes realized something that would change the course of her life.

“I could talk about peace, but I didn’t actually know how to respond when presented with conflict,” she said. “When I returned to the United States, I knew I needed to learn how to handle conflict.”

Listen to Rhodes recount that fateful moment in an episode of the Peacebuilder podcast.

She scuttled her previous plans to pursue a graduate degree in English and instead studied conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University, earning both a master’s degree and a PhD. While at graduate school, she was hired by Professor Emeritus Dr. Vernon Jantzi ’64 to help coordinate the newly launched Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at EMU.

For 34 years, Rhodes has taught at EMU, primarily in its world-renowned Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP). Today, she serves as academic director of CJP and professor of peacebuilding and conflict studies. She also teaches courses in conflict transformation and peacebuilding for the undergraduate program and the master of nursing program.

Rhodes has led semester and summer intercultural programs in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, South Korea, and the Navajo Nation. She has served as department chair of EMU’s Applied Social Science Department, administrative director of SPI, and as a program assistant for the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution.

Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88 embraces a graduate during the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Celebration of Blessings in May 2025.

With SPI turning 30 this year, we sat down with the long-tenured professor to talk about the values-based education offered at CJP and how students are bringing more peace and justice to the world.

The following responses are from an interview that Rhodes conducted with photographer and videographer Macson McGuigan ’17. A video from their interview will publish later this spring. These responses were edited for conciseness.

What’s unique about CJP?

Many other programs teach basic communication or mediation skills, but what we add at EMU goes deeper. Our focus is on who you are and what you bring. Beyond the technical skills of conflict transformation, students engage in deep reflection and introspection around questions of:

Who am I?
What are my values and identities?
What do I uniquely contribute to this work?
And where do I fit in creating a more just and peaceful world?

We challenge students to connect their personal growth with leadership. They consider how to bring these skills and values into the places where they already work and lead. That combination of skill and self-assessment is the value we offer.

What can CJP grads do with their degrees?

There are generally three directions our students take. About a third go into direct practice, often working with nonprofit or non-governmental organizations anywhere in the world. These roles can include mediation centers, community outreach, or other supporting positions where they apply skills like facilitating discussions and bringing together diverse groups to meet community needs.

Another third pursue further education. Many go on to doctoral programs to study conflict more deeply, contribute to policy, or prepare to teach in this relatively new field.

The final third continue in their current careers in positions ranging from ministry, health care, business, and government. They’re drawn to CJP because they want to improve how people work together, make decisions, and solve complex problems.

Why should people study at CJP?

We are truly about creating a learning community together. This isn’t a place where you come to be filled up with knowledge. You come because you want to explore your part in making the world more peaceful, and together, we figure out how to bring more peace and justice to the world.

We can’t do it alone, and no single set of skills fits every situation. That’s why our approach is based on mutuality and learning, where everyone’s experiences and knowledge matter. Students contribute what they know, and at the same time, gain practical skills they can use in their own contexts.

Our focus is on practice, not just theory or research. We care about what people can do to make the world more peaceful and just. CJP is a place to learn, share, and build that future together.

What kinds of hands-on experience is offered at CJP?

Our curriculum is intentionally designed to include hands-on practice in the community. For example, in the facilitation course, our graduate students are contracted by local groups and organizations to help facilitate meetings or support decision-making processes. While students are learning and practicing new skills, the organizations also benefit from their work.

At the end of the master’s program, students can choose a traditional thesis, but most complete a practicum. These opportunities are diverse, ranging from restorative justice and trauma healing to mediation, facilitation, and training. Alumni often connect current students with new practice opportunities, ensuring a rich network of real-world engagement.

What is the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI)?

Part of how we support our students is by offering courses in the summer, not as traditional summer school, but as a training institute. These courses and trainings, held in May and June, allow anyone to explore topics related to conflict, restorative justice, and other areas of practice. Courses generally last five to seven days, and multiple courses run simultaneously over the two-month period.

SPI is intentionally designed as a learning community. Students live in dorms, attend classes and lectures, and learn from one another, all while experiencing what it means to live together in a diverse community. It’s both a retreat and a training space. As one alum described, SPI is like a well where people can take a drink of water. It’s not going to feed them forever, but it’s nourishment they can take back into their work and communities.

This year’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute will be held in three sessions from May 18-26, May 28-June 5, and June 8-12. Learn more at emu.edu/spi. The application deadline for SPI scholarships is April 1, 2026.

Alumna, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee MA ’07 appears on ‘CBS Mornings’

Ryan Cornell — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:29:37 +0000

Leymah Gbowee MA ’07 (conflict transformation), a graduate of EMU’s world-renowned Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and a 2011 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, appeared on CBS Mornings with famed activist Gloria Steinem on Tuesday, Feb. 3, to discuss their new children’s book, Rise, Girl, Rise: Our Sister-Friend Journey. Together for All. (Orchard Books, 2026).

A description of the states:
In this bold anthem, feminist organizer and bestselling author Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee share their parallel journeys as activists. … (Their) dual paths have inspired a friendship empowered by the principles of equality, progress, and hope for a new generation. Here, two friends come together to tell one uplifting story of girls and women strengthening one another and changing the world.

Watch the video of their appearance below!

About CBS Mornings

Each weekday morning, CBS Mornings co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson bring you the latest breaking news, smart conversation and in-depth feature reporting. CBS Mornings airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on CBS and streams at 8 a.m. on the CBS News app.

About Leymah Gbowee

Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker, and women’s rights advocate. She is founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, based in Monrovia. As a writer, Gbowee is the author of the inspirational memoir Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, and the children’s book A Community of Sisters. She is perhaps best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating, 14-year civil war in 2003. Gbowee returned to EMU to deliver commencement addresses in 2014 and 2018, the latter year being when she was awarded EMU’s first honorary doctorate.

About Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a political activist, feminist organizer, and the author of many acclaimed books, including the national bestseller Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. She is a contributor to the classic children’s book Free to Be You and Me. She is also the cofounder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Women’s Media Center. In keeping with her deep commitment to establishing equality throughout the world, Steinem helped found Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa.

SPI student facilitates healing for Haitians in crisis

Ryan Cornell — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:29:34 +0000

Nadège Robertson, a Winston Fellowship recipient in EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute and the co-creator of Lakou Tanama, is the lead facilitator for faith-inclusive healing spaces that support the mental well-being of recent Haitian entrants living in the United States. The mental health initiative works in partnership with Church World Service.

Four graduate students awarded MC USA scholarships

Ryan Cornell — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 04:01:00 +0000

Three Eastern Mennonite Seminary students and one Center for Justice and Peacebuilding student are recipients of Mennonite Church USA’s Scholarship for BIPOC Students. The scholarship recipients include Shana Green, pursuing a master of divinity; Makinto, pursuing an MA in Christian leadership; Jonny Rashid, pursuing a doctorate in ministry; and Mukarabe Lysaine Makinto-Inandava, pursuing an MA in conflict transformation.

CJP alum honored with Immigrant Leadership Award

Ryan Cornell — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 22:20:12 +0000

Ishtiaq Khan MA ’24 (conflict transformation), a refugee resettlement caseworker and restorative justice practitioner for The Refugee Center in Champaign, Illinois, received the Immigrant Leadership Award from the Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum on Sept. 20. Through his work, “Khan focuses on helping people from war-affected and conflict zones like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, be it organizing children’s education, finding jobs or honing in on health,” states an article in The News-Gazette.

New handbook on peace and conflict studies shaped by EMU faculty

Ryan Cornell — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:01:00 +0000

Seidel

Kim

A new book published in July and co-edited by EMU professors Ji Eun Kim (political science) and Timothy Seidel (peacebuilding, development, and global studies) aims to provide a broader, more inclusive understanding of peace and conflict by intentionally integrating voices and perspectives from the Global South/majority world.

The Sage Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies (Sage Publishing), which was also co-edited with three professors from the U.S., Canada, and Ecuador, features contributions from more than 40 authors around the world who are working on these issues in their contexts, including current and former EMU faculty members: Center for Justice and Peacebuilding Professor Paula Ditzel Facci (she wrote a chapter on “Decolonial Possibilities in Arts and Peacebuilding”) and CJP alumni and former professors Florina Xavier MA ’04 and Ashok Xavier MA ’04 (they wrote a case-study chapter on “Preschool Intervention in Sri Lanka”).

“In seeking contributors, we reached out to scholars and practitioners from around the world as widely as possible,” Kim said. “Given EMU’s longstanding commitment to peace and justice, it’s perhaps not so surprising that several of the experts who joined the project have, or once had, ties with EMU.”

The 592-page handbook explores the evolution of the field of peace and conflict studies and offers a critical overview of theoretical approaches. “Additionally, it examines how cultural and disciplinary assumptions shape peacebuilding and conflict transformation, and it critiques traditional global narratives on issues like governance, climate change, and human rights,” according to a description from the publisher. “Finally, the handbook presents real-world case studies that integrate themes of decoloniality, race, gender, and power inequalities across diverse global contexts.” Some of those case studies examine peace and conflict in regions including Ukraine, Palestine, Libya, and Afghanistan.

“We dig into political economy and histories of colonialism and the sorts of things that don’t always get as much attention in peace and conflict studies,” Seidel said. “One of the goals of this handbook was to not only expand the scope of what we study, but also to expand the range of voices included in that study—something of critical importance in a historical moment defined by rising authoritarianism close to home and genocide in Gaza.”

The book is structured in the following five sections:

History, Knowledge, and Power in Peace and Conflict Studies;
Theory and Analysis in Peace and Conflict Studies;
Practices and Approaches in Peace and Conflict Studies;
Global Issues, Institutions, and Change in Peace and Conflict Studies; and
Case Studies in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Seidel said the process in completing the book took about two years from start to finish. “It’s an interesting and impactful book,” he said, “and you can see EMU’s fingerprints all over it.”

The Sage Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies is available to through EMU’s Sadie Hartzler Library. An online webinar on the book, sponsored by the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association, will be held on Friday, Oct. 24, at 8:30 a.m.

About the professors

Kim is an associate professor of political science at EMU, where she teaches courses on human rights, political reconciliation, genocide and mass atrocity prevention, and East Asian security. Her research lies at the intersection of International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Peace Studies, and her areas of specialization include transitional justice processes after large-scale political violence and international institutions and norms. She holds a PhD in Political Science and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Seidel is associate professor of peacebuilding, development, and global studies at EMU. His writing has appeared in various journals including Postcolonial Studies, International Politics, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, and Third World Quarterly. He is co-editor of Resisting Domination in Palestine: Mechanisms and Techniques of Control, Coloniality and Settler Colonialism (2024) and Political Economy of Palestine: Critical, Interdisciplinary, and Decolonial Perspectives (2021).

Alumni Awards: Collaborative worldbuilder Fabrice Guerrier MA ’15 named Alum of the Year

David Pulgar — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 11:55:00 +0000

This is the first of three profiles about the recipients of EMU’s 2025 Alumni Awards. For more information about the annual awards and a full list of past winners, visit emu.edu/alumni/awards.

LOS ANGELES VISIONARY ARTIST AND FUTURIST FABRICE GUERRIER MA ’15 (CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION) has been selected by ��ݮ��’s Alumni Association and its Awards and Nomination Committee as the 2025 Alum of the Year for his work as founder and CEO of (pronounced Syll-a-ble), the first collaborative worldbuilding production house for science fiction and fantasy storytelling.

“Being selected for this award feels quite unbelievable and affirms my work around collaborative worldbuilding,” said Guerrier, who defines worldbuilding on his website () as “the creation of intricate, plausible fictional universes often found in sci-fi, fantasy, and video games.”

In collaborative worldbuilding, underrepresented creators from diverse cultures come together to imagine and publish their shared stories.

A refuge of books

Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Guerrier immigrated with his family to Coral Springs, Florida, when he was 13. Already fluent in French and Haitian Creole, Guerrier learned English as his third language.

“It’s kind of magic… being Haitian from an Afrocentric world… being from an island… being able to speak multiple languages,” said Guerrier.

Nevertheless, Guerrier was an exile in a foreign country, forced to flee the 2004 Haitian coup d’état. He says while he “wanted to be an American,” the more he tried to fit in, the more he felt like he was destroying a precious part of himself.

Guerrier found refuge at Northwest Regional Library, where he worked as a page, volunteered, helped with community programming, and explored everything from manga and comics to encyclopedias and films to nonfiction and sci-fi books. His curiosity sparked Syllble, an idea that was furthered while reading “Blindness,” an essay in Jorge Luis Borges’ “Seven Nights” collection, as a sophomore at Florida State University.

“I resonated with how Borges described being in a library as the closest thing to heaven, and how his blindness allowed him to see things in different ways. The impact of his words inspired me to become a writer,” said Guerrier.

Healing and growth

After graduating from Florida State in 2013 with a bachelor of science degree in international affairs and a leadership studies certificate, Guerrier decided to pursue a master of arts in conflict transformation from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP).��

As a graduate assistant at the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, he worked with its then-director and CJP professor, Carl Stauffer MA ’02 (conflict transformation), and conducted “humbling and eye-opening” field research on the impact of Fambul Tok International in promoting reconciliation in communities after an 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone (West Africa).

“EMU was a place of healing for me,” Guerrier said. “My peace studies showed me how personal and interpersonal work affects peace in the world.”

Guerrier worked with CJP Professor Emeritus Barry Hart MDiv ’78 to explore theories and practices of Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Healing (STAR), and in 2014, he started a chapter of Coming To The Table (), a racial healing and reconciliation organization aimed at Taking America Beyond the Legacy of Enslavement—a program that began at CJP. Guerrier later served on CTTT’s board of managers and became its youngest national president.

Looking to the future

After graduating from EMU in 2015, Guerrier worked on two novels, revising one to the point of exhaustion.

“It was probably one of the most painful and loneliest experiences I’ve ever had,” he said.

Guerrier began researching collaborative writing techniques in Hollywood and beyond, which led him to invite three writers to his home to create a story together. The successful session set Syllble in motion.

Today, Syllble is enabling marginalized voices across the globe to conceive and tell the stories of their shared universes in order to disrupt modern-day inclinations toward disaster and doom.

“Imagining radically hopeful futures allows us to replace the realities imposed by capitalism and technology and media with something that’s beautiful, nourishing, warm, and healing,” said Guerrier. “It is how we reclaim what it means to be human.”

Guerrier will share his story at EMU TenTalks, held on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel during Homecoming 2025. For a full schedule of Homecoming events and activities, visit emu.edu/homecoming.

Highlights from EMU’s 2025 Commencement

Ryan Cornell with photos by Macson McGuigan/EMU and Caleb Schlabach '16 — Thu, 08 May 2025 16:32:07 +0000

��ݮ�� awarded 320 degrees at its 107th Commencement on Sunday, May 4. The total included 188 undergraduate degrees, 70 master’s degrees, and 62 graduate certificates. The 316 members of the graduating class hail from 26 states, Washington, D.C, and nine countries.

An estimated 3,000 people attended the ceremony to celebrate the graduates.

The Rev. Dr. Lesley Francisco McClendon, senior pastor of C3 Hampton and adjunct instructor at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, delivered the Commencement address. She encouraged graduates to live into the instruction of Micah 6:8, the guiding verse foundational to EMU’s mission: “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?” As they leave campus, McClendon urged them to carry that call into a lifelong journey of discovery in the world.

McClendon also serves as a member of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board and as an instructor at Duke Divinity School. She is the founder of Herstoric Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to empowering leaders of all backgrounds to discover their voice, lead with confidence, and leave a lasting impact.

“The world doesn’t just need more professionals, it needs more compassionate, just, and humble leaders. And I have no doubt that’s exactly who you are,” she told graduates. “You are ambassadors of hope, agents of change, and bearers of light in a world that desperately needs it.”

Undergraduates Jason Dwyer and Adesola Johnson and MA graduate Getachew Temare presented the graduate perspectives.

For a longer summary of the Commencement address and the graduate perspectives, visit the post below.

Commencement speaker calls on graduates to pursue justice, mercy, and humility beyond EMU

EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman presided over the ceremony—her final commencement as university president before retiring later this year.