Matt Tibbles MA ‘18 is the featured guest of this week’s episode of Peacebuilder podcast. Tibbles speaks with host Patience Kamau MA ’17 about and trauma-informed classrooms.

The “Peacebuilder” podcast, in its second season, is a production of ��ݮ����’s, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. 

More than 6,500 listeners in 102 countries and 1,239 cities across the globe enjoyed Season I.

The podcast is among just a handful covering the general peacebuilding field. It is available on, Apple Podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, TuneIn and other podcast directories.

During the conversation, he shares moving personal stories that actualize both his learning journey and the important peacebuilding ideas he studies, practices and teaches – drawing from experiences as a youth pastor and a juvenile detention officer, in education and prevention for a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, and from among his students in classrooms at EMU.

A 2018 graduate of ��ݮ����’s , Tibbles is an organizational development and conflict transformation professional with experience working in and with multi-ethnic for-profit businesses, higher education, nonprofit organizations, and indigenous tribes. He balances teaching at EMU with consultancy work among organizations and school districts, focusing on co-creating dignity and honoring trauma-informed and restorative organizational cultures. 

Tibbles brings these experiences into the courses he teaches to undergraduates in the peacebuilding and development program and the sociology program. He also teaches graduate courses at CJP. 

Tibbles begins by describing a pivotal experience of de-escalating conflict while working as a youth pastor in the Pacific Northwest. Witnessing the effect of trauma on the child involved pushed him to explore the concept more fully in the youth group he worked with at the church. Later in Alaska, he worked at a juvenile detention facility where he encountered trauma-informed care and practices. Night shifts there allowed for deeper exploration of restorative justice, especially through webinars offered by the and readings of The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr (Good Books, 2002).

There, Tibbles began to ask different and probing questions about the behavior of the teens he worked with: One guiding question was “In what reality does this behavior make sense?” Viewing those behaviors through a trauma lens, as responses to trauma, helped him and others he worked with see how daily protocols and practices could raise fear and anxiety. For example, walking directly behind a teen in transition between activities triggered a stress reaction, but shifting slightly into her peripheral vision was a much less threatening position. 

While our default approach might be “blaming and judging,” asking questions about why behavior might be happening “allowed us to see a much bigger, broader picture of what was going on,” Tibbles said.

After studies at CJP, he’s worked to integrate restorative justice and trauma-informed pedagogy within the larger university community with a ripple effect as students across the disciplines see the potential and benefits to bring those principles into various settings.

“When we’re able to create trauma-informed and resilient systems, my hope is, and I’m seeing it a little bit from students that have graduated, or even students that have transferred out of EMU into another university or college, is that they’re taking these experiences of being trauma-informed and resilient into their own communities into wherever they’re going,” he said. “And they’re beginning, in small ways, to shift systems that haven’t been trauma informed, or, or haven’t focused on resilience into systems that are beginning to explore just even a little bit of what that means and how it [can be] transformative.”

What will a post-pandemic world look like? How is COVID-19 affecting each of us differently, and what are our responsibilities to one another in the face of those disparities? What do we know about the biology of the virus? And are there things that are changing for the better because of this crisis?

A free seven-week online course offered at ��ݮ���� this summer will delve into those questions and more. Community members are welcome. Students can opt for a pass/fail grade and will have online access to readings, videos, and other materials before each class. 

The course meets each Tuesday evening, beginning June 30, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for seven weeks, with a different pair or trio of faculty and staff from different academic fields leading each class.

The lectures and Q and A will be recorded and available for viewing later.

The course is co-led by language and literature professor Kevin Seidel and chemistry professor Laurie Yoder.

“What pulled me in at first was the possibility of teaching with faculty from all three schools – sciences, social sciences, and humanities – talking together and learning from one another about the virus,” Seidel said. When the pandemic hit, he started fervently gathering information and perspective: from scientists, from fictive literature, and from poetry, trying to make sense of “this strange new world.” 

Week 1 | June 30, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Treating COVID-19

What do we know about the biology of COVID-19? What’s next in vaccine development? What public health measures are working to slow the spread of COVID-19?

Kristopher Schmidt, Associate Professor of Biology

Kate Clark, Assistant Professor of Nursing

Week 2 | July 7, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Pandemic History and Data

What can we learn from past pandemics about life after this one? What can we learn from visual presentations of data about the pandemic? 

Mary Sprunger, Professor of History

Daniel Showalter, Associate Professor of Mathematics

Week 3 | July 14, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Politics and Collective Trauma

Why has the U.S. response to COVID-19 been so contentious and uneven? What is collective trauma and what might it have to do with that response?

Mark Metzler Sawin, Professor of History

Ryan Thompson, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Trina Trotter Nussbaum, Associate Director, Center for Interfaith Engagement

Week 4 | July 21, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Zoonotic Viruses, Wet Markets, and the Economics of COVID-19

Where do coronaviruses come from? What are the links between environmental degradation and pandemics? What does COVID-19 have to teach us about how our economy is connected to the natural world? What are the economic impacts from a pandemic?

Jim Yoder, Professor of Biology

Jim Leaman, Associate Professor of Business and Leadership

Week 5 | July 28, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Our Life with Animals, Our Life with God

Why are so many people taking refuge in nature during the pandemic? Why is that refuge harder to come by for some people? What do the scriptures say about how our life with God is related to our life with animals? 

Steven Johnson, Professor of Visual and Communication Arts 

Andrea Saner, Associate Professor of Old Testament

Week 6 | August 4, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Systemic Racism in the U.S. before and after COVID-19

Why has COVID-19 hit African-Americans harder than other groups? Why does rural Navajo Nation have the highest infection rates in the country?

Jenni Holsinger, Associate Professor of Sociology 

Matt Tibbles, Teaching Fellow, Applied Social Sciences

Jim Yoder, Professor of Biology

Week 7 | August 11, Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Resilience, Repair, and Transformation after COVID-19

How do we carry forward what we’ve learned about COVID-19, trauma, and restorative justice? 

Johonna Turner, Assistant Professor of Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding

Katie Mansfield, Lead Trainer, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR)

The following appointments are announced by Fred Kniss, provost; David Brubaker, dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions; Sue Cockley, dean of the School of Theology, Humanities, and Performing Arts; and Tara Kishbaugh, dean of the School of Sciences, Engineering, Art, and Nursing. 

Benjamin Bergey, assistant professor of music

Bergey earned his Doctor of Music Arts and Master of Music degrees from James Madison University with a concentration in orchestral conducting, literature and pedagogy. He is a graduate of EMU with a degree in church music and vocal performance. Bergey is currently music director of the Rapidan Community Orchestra and director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. He was assistant conductor of orchestras at James Madison University from 2013-18 and has performed with several orchestras. He brings experience in arts administration and marketing as well, including roles as founder and director of Harrisonburg Sacred Arts and as the music editor of the forthcoming bi-national hymnal Voices Together, for Mennonite Church USA.

Sarah Bixler, instructor, Eastern Mennonite Seminary 

Bixler is completing her PhD in practical theology with an emphasis on Christian education and formation at Princeton Theological Seminary, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2021. At the seminary, where she also earned a Master of Divinity degree, she has worked in administrative roles with Princeton’s Center for Church Planting and Revitalization and Iron Sharpening Iron: Leadership Education for Women Clergy project. She has more than a decade of ministry and teaching experience at Eastern Mennonite Middle School, Zion Mennonite Church (Broadway, VA) and Virginia Mennonite Conference.

Bixler earned her MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary and her BA in English (secondary education) at EMU.

Bethany Detamore, instructor of nursing 

Detamore has worked as an RN and case manager in outpatient surgery and in medical-surgical nursing. She has a BSN from West Virginia Wesleyan University and an MSN from Western Governors University.  

Penny Driediger, assistant professor of practice, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Driedeger has taught clinical pastoral education and served as director of mentored ministry. She has a B.A. in Social Work from ��ݮ���� and an M. Div. from Eastern Mennonite Seminary with a concentration in Pastoral Care. She is ordained for ministry with Virginia Mennonite Conference and most recently she has received Supervisor status through the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. She has also been a staff chaplain at  Sentara RMH and served for 20 years in urban ministry in Hamilton, Ontario.

Beth Good, assistant professor and director of intercultural programs

Good will teach in and also provide leadership to EMU’s intercultural programs, including the undergraduate crosscultural program and off-campus cross-cultural curricular components.  She’ll also teach undergraduate cross-cultural courses. She most recently served as Kenya Country Representative for Mennonite Central Committee, with her husband. Previous professional experiences include living and working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, serving as MCC’s global health coordinator, working as director of clinical services of Hope within Community Health Center, serving as the HIV program coordinator for Eastern Mennonite Missions, and teaching classes for EMU’s RN-BS in program. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing from Widener University. Her BSN is from EMU.

Wendell Shank, instructor, language and literature

Shank holds a MEd from James Madison University and a master’s degree in teaching Spanish as a foreign language from the University of Salamanca. He earned his BA in English literature and Spanish at EMU. He has taught at JMU and Eastern Mennonite High School and worked in support services and as a home school liaison for Harrisonburg City Schools. Shank also has experience with interpretation in the medical and social services fields, as well as in mediation.

Angela Spotts, instructor, health and physical education

Spotts earned an MS in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise science from East Stroudsburg University and a BS in health science from Bridgewater College. In addition to teaching experience, she was worked as an exercise physiologist in cardiac rehabilitation and clinical settings. 

Matt Tibbles, instructor, applied social sciences

Tibbles brings a broad background in juvenile justice, youth and family services to his teaching role. He earned a BA in youth and family ministry from Harding University and an MA in conflict transformation from EMU. He has worked as a minister, auditor, juvenile justice transition officer and as a nonviolence trainer in Washington state, Texas and Alaska. Tibbles co-taught several courses as a graduate assistant while studying in EMU’s MA program.

Lela Faye Yoder, instructor, nursing

Yoder has more than 20 years experience in the nursing profession. She has an MSN degree from the University of Toledo and a BNS from EMU. Yoder has worked in a variety of hospital settings, including as a staff and charge nurse in cardiac care, orthopedic-surgical and peri-operative departments. She has also worked in family practice.