Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

New STAR director brings vast experience with trauma, from 9/11 in Manhattan, through Kenya, to Swiss grad studies

The first leg of her journey toward directing Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) began in 2001 when Katie Mansfield, then a divisional vice ...More

February 26th, 2015

New STAR director brings vast experience with trauma, from 9/11 in Manhattan, through Kenya, to Swiss grad studies

The first leg of her journey toward directing Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) began in 2001 when Katie Mansfield, then a divisional vice president of Goldman Sachs, lived through the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. Subsequent legs in her journey: • Three years with Mennonite Central Com ...More

CJP student Fabrice Guerrier is one of 24 selected for prestigious fellowship, studying in D.C., Berlin and Paris

As he nears completion of his graduate degree in conflict transformation at Eastern Mennonite University, 23-year-old Fabrice J. Guerrier just marked another accomplishment of many since his formative years in his native country of Haiti: he is one of 24 recipients of the ...More

Psychiatrist connects deep, meaningful connections with God, each other, to healthier minds, healthier communities

As knowledge in the field of neurobiology advances, the human mind can be increasingly described by science and decreasingly explained by faith. Psychiatrist Curt Thompson shattered this notion during a recent Suter Science Seminar at Eastern Mennonite University. “New, emerging data that we see in this world of interpersonal neurobiol ...More

Nobel winner headlines EMU international student fundraiser for Ebola orphans

Leymah Gbowee, co-winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, loves small local initiatives that fight the problems of the world. So when she heard that a group of international students at a college in Virginia were raising funds for orphans of the Ebola plague in her native Li ...More

Veteran peacebuilder discusses global climate change as a destabilizing social and political threat

Global climate change and human conflict are two different problems, dealt with by different groups, right? Wrong. In fact, the United States military combats terrorism and climate change. Both are huge threats to national security. In this week’s Suter Science Seminar on the Eastern Mennonite University campus, professor ...More

Local colleges partner to teach nonviolence at Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County

Some children can struggle to channel their frustrations effectively, but a local program is trying to change that. The agape-satyagraha internship, a partnership between the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County and Eastern Mennonite University, teaches teenagers nonviolent conflict resolution in a safe setting. Every week, interns – or “mentors” ...More

Research on domestic abuse among Latina, homeless and conservative Mennonite women earns JustPax grant

Carolyn Stauffer has spent much of her life and career listening to women on three continents tell of violence in their lives. In a current project that highlights peacebuilding in intimate domains, she is listening again—this time to domestic violence survivors from within communities of homeless women, undocumented Latinas and Me ...More

Restorative justice alum Joseph Luciani garners national attention by dramatically reducing suspensions in LA schools

One Los Angeles school has experienced a “tectonic” decrease in suspensions, with more L.A. schools preparing to follow suit, as a result of the restorative disciplinary efforts of Joseph Luciani, a 2013 master’s graduate of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. Luciani’ ...More

At a known sanctuary where several migrant trails intersect on their way towards Tucson and beyond, migrants have constructed a shrine to commemorate loved ones lost along the way. This photo was taken by senior nursing student Zach Coverdale during one of his trips into the desert to provide food, water and care to those in need.

Arizona Samaritans help life-threatened migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border

Since 2003, over 2,000 desperate people have died trying to cross the harsh Sonoran Desert between Mexico and the southwest United States. This continuous death toll prompted the foundation of Tucson Samaritans, a humanitarian group which has drawn in Isabel Allen, an alumnus of EMU’s STAR program, and s ...More

Peace-trained alumni in Liberia and Sierra Leone tap local resilience and resourcefulness in curbing Ebola

Ebola is frightening – terrifying even – but bowing to the fear that Ebola can produce invites additional unrest and cultural destruction in societies already reeling from recent civil wars. Instead, a lasting solution will emerge from tapping the resilience and resourcefulness of the people themselves. These are the messages being spread by alumni of the ...More

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