From Zurich to Zimbabwe: Mennonite historian and professor to present annual Keim lecture on Wednesday

Keim History Lecture, presented by Troy Osborne
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 8
Time: 4:30 p.m. for reception, 5 p.m. for lecture
Location: Suter Science Center 106 (1194 Park Road, Harrisonburg, VA 22802)
Cost: Free and open to the public
Online: Livestream here on the EMU YouTube page

A historian whose latest book traces the origins and development of the Anabaptist and Mennonite movements from their beginnings in Europe through their spread across the globe will present at EMU’s annual Albert N. Keim Lecture Series this week.

Troy Osborne is dean and associate professor of history and theological studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where he teaches courses on the Reformation and Mennonite history.

His lecture, titled “Beyond Radicals, Reformers & Martyrs: The Possibilities and Perils of a Usable Past,” will be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Suter Science Center 106. The lecture is free to attend and open to the public. It will be livestreamed here on the EMU YouTube page.

A reception at 4:30 p.m. in the upper level of the Suter Science Center will precede the lecture.

Mark Metzler Sawin, professor of history at EMU and director of its history and political science program, grew up with Osborne in Hesston, Kansas, and remarked on his dry wit. “Troy is a funny guy, and that sense of humor will certainly come through in his lecture,” he said. “He is a much-loved lecturer at Conrad Grebel.”

Osborne is the author of Radicals & Reformers: A Survey of Global Anabaptist History (Herald Press, 2024), which serves as a “new authoritative introduction to Anabaptist history,” according to a description from the publisher, and reflects on the ways that Anabaptists have defined their identity in new settings and in response to new theological, intellectual, geographic, and political contexts. The text provides an overview of how Mennonites “from Zurich to Zimbabwe” have adapted to or resisted the world around them.

“We haven’t had this sort of major book on Mennonite or Anabaptist history in probably 30 years,” Sawin said. “This has become the new Anabaptist history text.”

“The Anabaptist community is very much a global community, and histories before were really just focused on European and American Mennonites,” Sawin added. “Troy’s book does a great job of addressing the global Anabaptist history, providing a much more accurate view of the worldwide scope of Anabaptism.”

Osborne has a PhD from the University of Minnesota and degrees from Goshen College and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. His articles have appeared in Mennonite Quarterly Review, Archive for Reformation History, and Church History and Religious Culture. He and his wife Emma have two daughters. He is a member of Waterloo North Mennonite Church. 

In addition to the history lecture, Osborne will share his perspective on what can be learned from the Anabaptist story during Campus Worship at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Martin Chapel (Seminary Building). 

More on the Keim Lecture Series

The annual Keim Lecture Series is presented by the EMU history and political science program. It honors the memory of Professor Albert N. Keim, who taught as a history professor at EMU for 35 years and served as the academic dean from 1977 to 1984. The inaugural lecture in 2013 featured leading historian Peter N. Stearns of George Mason University. 

Learn more about past presenters below:

• 2025: Public historian and bestselling author Elizabeth Catte presented on “Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia.”
• 2024: Kristina Hook, State Department policy advisor for mass atrocity prevention, presented on “Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine: Atrocity Crimes, Accountability, and Pursuing a Just Peace.” 
• 2023: Clayton Koppes, professor emeritus of Oberlin College, presented on “Sex, Drugs and Human Rights: The Contested History of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.” 
• 2022: Professor Kimberly Schmidt presented on“Marketing Mennonites, Posing Cheyennes: Photography, Gender, and Indigenous Agency on the Mission Field (1880-1920).”
• 2021: Historian, author, and investigative reporter Rick Shenkman, founder of History News Network, spoke on “Why is Democracy so @#$&! Hard?” 
• 2020: Professor Ernesto Verdeja, of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, was the speaker. 
• 2019: Federal public defender, immigrant rights attorney, and playwright Kara Hartzler ’94 spoke on “Borders, Jails, and Long Drives in the Desert: 25 Years of Immigration Law in the Southwest.”
• 2017: Dongping Han, professor at Warren-Wilson College and a native of rural China, addressed “The Cultural Revolution: A Reinterpretation from Today’s China.”
• 2016: Artist/activist Mark Strandquist provided a lecture titled “Performing Statistics: Connecting incarcerated youth, artists, and leading policy experts to challenge Virginia’s juvenile justice system.”
• 2015: Charles R. Epp, political scientist in the University of Kansas’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, presented “The Police and Racial Discrimination in America.”
• 2014: Vincent Harding, a pastor, activist and history professor who helped EMC professors initiate social change in Harrisonburg during the early 1960s, presented “Is America Possible?”