{"id":19886,"date":"2014-04-22T15:33:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T19:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=19886"},"modified":"2014-05-05T15:47:40","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T19:47:40","slug":"peacebuilding-and-development-major-seth-stauffer-wins-annual-peace-oratory-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/peacebuilding-and-development-major-seth-stauffer-wins-annual-peace-oratory-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Peacebuilding and development major Seth Stauffer wins annual peace oratory contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Christian peace position is a radical thing,\u201d began Seth Stauffer in his winning speech, \u201cThe Danger of MCC\u2019s Own Single Story,\u201d at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest<\/a> held last month in Martin Chapel.<\/p>\n

Stauffer, a second-year peacebuilding and development<\/a> major from Lebanon, Pa., delved into the dangers of avoiding difficult discussions about violence in some areas where Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)<\/a> works. \u201cI think it is important for MCC to consider what ability they have to be subversive to violence by communicating about it in a more helpful way,\u201d said Stauffer.<\/p>\n

\"Seth<\/a>
Seth Stauffer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The annual C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest brings together students from Mennonite and Brethren in Christ colleges and universities in the United States and Canada to speak on contemporary issues from a Christian perspective. Winners at each school move on the intercollegiate portion of the contest for cash awards and conference scholarships.<\/p>\n

Stauffer\u2019s speech drew inspiration from ideas put forth in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie\u2019s TED talk, \u201cThe Danger of a Single Story<\/a>.\u201d In that talk, Adichie speaks of painful experiences she has had coming to terms with others’ perceptions of her, and her perceptions of them based on the dominant cultural narrative. To her, these single stories were fraught with inaccuracy and unhelpful stereotypes; getting beyond them allowed her to more fully experience the world.<\/p>\n

Stauffer summarized Adichie\u2019s point by noting that one story is never enough. But ignoring one particular story among many also has its pitfalls. As an example, he cited MCC censorship of a blog post he wrote about violence he witnessed last summer, while volunteering for the organization in Honduras. MCC, he said, didn\u2019t want to reinforce the perception of Honduras as a violent place. \u201cIn some ways, just talking about violence will reinforce popular assumptions,\u201d Stauffer said. \u201cBut in this case, MCC had similarly adopted a single story to compensate against the dominant narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a lengthy discussion, a three-judge panel, including EMU professors Jayne Docherty<\/a> and David Evans<\/a>, and Jennifer Davis Sensenig, a local Mennonite pastor, deemed Stauffer\u2019s speech the best of the five entered in the contest.<\/p>\n

The judges evaluated each speaker on topic, content, conclusion, delivery, introduction and originality. After the speeches, Nancy Heisey<\/a>, organizer and emcee of the event, thanked all the student participants for their courage and their insight, and expressed her relief at not having to judge such an outstanding group.<\/p>\n

The judges awarded Stauffer the first spot and also recognized two runners up, Chris Yoder, a senior writing studies<\/a> major, and Jordan Luther, a senior majoring in Biblical studies<\/a>. Yoder spoke about cultural adaptability in the context of cross-cultural experiences, while Luther gave a speech about the challenges and social stigmas associated with accent.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the five speakers was first-year Sara Caitlin Neubert, who investigated issues of body image and the role of the church in promoting positive self-image. Chris Parks, a junior, drew the first speaking position of the evening and made an appeal for acceptance and equality titled “Dreaming a New America.”<\/p>\n

Stauffer will receive $250 and entry to the intercollegiate portion of the contest.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s winner<\/a> of the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest at EMU was Emily Harnish. She placed third at the binational contest with her speech, \u201cLessons from the Hymnal in an Election Season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Christian peace position is a radical thing,\u201d began Seth Stauffer in his winning speech, \u201cThe Danger of MCC\u2019s Own Single Story,\u201d at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s C. Henry Smith Oratorical ... read more about Peacebuilding and development major Seth Stauffer wins annual peace oratory contest<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":19974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5589,14145],"tags":[6618,14606,14354,14201,14834,6003,14933,6100,9392,15430,14334],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-19886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-bible-and-religion","category-peacebuilding-and-development","tag-c-henry-smith-peace-oratorical-contest","tag-chris-parks","tag-chris-yoder","tag-david-evans","tag-emily-harnish","tag-jayne-docherty","tag-jordan-luther","tag-mennonite-central-committee","tag-nancy-heisey","tag-sara-caitlin-neubert","tag-seth-stauffer"],"yoast_head":"\nPeacebuilding and development major Seth Stauffer wins annual peace oratory contest - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/peacebuilding-and-development-major-seth-stauffer-wins-annual-peace-oratory-contest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peacebuilding and development major Seth Stauffer wins annual peace oratory contest - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Christian peace position is a radical thing,\u201d began Seth Stauffer in his winning speech, \u201cThe Danger of MCC\u2019s Own Single Story,\u201d at Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s C. 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