Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

Iranian women scholars to study at Summer Peacebuilding Institute

Ten Iranian women from the world’s largest Shi’a Islam seminary will attend Eastern Mennonite University’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) for three weeks in May. Their ...More

April 16th, 2014

Iranian women scholars to study at Summer Peacebuilding Institute

Ten Iranian women from the world’s largest Shi’a Islam seminary will attend Eastern Mennonite University’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) for three weeks in May. Their arrival will mark the first visit to the United States by female scholars from the seminary, Jami’at al-Zahra in Qom, Iran. The ten women—doctoral students at the s ...More

Time to rebuild good relations with Iran, CJP Director argues in Richmond newspaper op-ed

When envoys from Iran and the world’s six major powers gather in Vienna today for a third round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program, you can safely bet that no one will say publicly that, 40 years ago, it was the United States who provided major support for launching Iran’s nuclear industry. Yet in my 10 trips to Iran over the past 20 years, I find that Iranians from every walk o ...More

CJP grad from Afghanistan reflects on journey to EMU, current work and imminent election back home

2010 was a busy year for Hamid Arsalan. He earned a master’s degree from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, while also completing two degrees from the University of Virginia: a bachelor’s degree in international relations and affairs, and a master’s degree in public policy. Around the edges, he fit in a part-time ...More

Center for Justice and Peacebuilding announces new restorative justice certificate

This summer, Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) will introduce a new certificate program for restorative justice practitioners. The program is open to all interested in furthering their postgraduate educations and aimed particularly at mid-career pr ...More

Healing Walls Mural 1 - Prisoners Journey_web

Award-winning filmmaking shows powerful role of media in sparking deep conversations and social change

In a new approach to promoting peaceful communities, graduate students at Eastern Mennonite University are leading conversation around an award-winning documentary about people who collaborated to paint massive murals in Philadelphia. A unique twist to the documentary, Concrete, Steel and Paint, is that the painters include men incarcerated in a maximum-security prison as well as ...More

EMU, MCC leaders nurture warm relationship with Islamic scholars in Iran

J. Daryl Byler’s 11th trip to Iran marks the culmination of nearly a quarter-century of bridge-building efforts between North American Mennonites and Iranians. Byler, who is executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at Eastern Mennonite University, la ...More

Palestinian Christian tries to bridge divides separating Christian, Jewish and Muslim neighbors

Salim Munayer is a citizen of a small nation that casts a giant shadow on the world stage. Small enough to fit four within the borders of Virginia, the modern state of Israel is a land of deep history and intractable conflict. Munayer’s mosaic of identities gave his four presentations at EMU, Feb. 20-21, the ring of authenticity. Palestinian. Christian. Arab. From a family whose lands ...More

Two pioneers of Playback Theatre – evoking understanding, empathy and change – will be teaching at SPI 2014

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CJP faculty member Hizkias Assefa leads mediation to ease suffering in South Sudan

Thousands of men, women and children displaced and otherwise suffering from the impact of war in Jonglei – the largest, most populated state in South Sudan – may see their situation become less desperate as a result of mediation efforts led by Hizkias Assefa, a founding faculty member of the Center f ...More

PBS segment features Byler’s insights on situation of Christians in Jordan

PBS correspondent Kim Lawton turned to J. Daryl Byler, executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, when she needed someone to provide context for a televised report on Christians living ...More

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