{"id":26397,"date":"2016-01-04T11:50:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T16:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=26397"},"modified":"2016-01-11T13:10:42","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T18:10:42","slug":"new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/","title":{"rendered":"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflecting the Mennonite church\u2019s commitment to development and disaster relief, Eastern Mennonite University has long offered degrees that prepare students to work in those fields. As the priorities, needs and philosophies of international service agencies have changed over the years, EMU\u2019s programs have also evolved, with earlier majors in development, nutrition and international agriculture giving way to ones with more emphasis on peacebuilding at both the undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> levels.<\/p>\n

Next academic year, that process of change continues when EMU launches a new humanitarian action leadership (HAL) program. It will include a 21-hour undergraduate minor<\/a>, an 18-hour graduate certificate<\/a> and a variety of graduate-level training courses<\/a> designed for those already working in humanitarian relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe desire has always been to prepare students to engage the very specific needs around the world,\u201d said Ann Hershberger<\/a>, a professor of nursing and the coordinator of the new program. \u201cNow, leadership training for humanitarian relief workers is where the need is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hershberger, who spent 10 years working in development and humanitarian relief in Central America with two Mennonite voluntary service agencies, helped lead a several-year planning process for the HAL program. If interest is sufficient, the program will expand to a full undergraduate major and a master’s degree.<\/p>\n

Next semester, prior to the official beginning of the HAL program, a first undergraduate class offering credit toward the minor will be offered through Canadian Mennonite University. More than 10 EMU students have enrolled and will participate remotely (in real time, with the supervision of an EMU faculty member or graduate student) in the crisis, humanitarian aid and disaster recovery class.<\/p>\n

Hershberger said an article in the student newspaper about the new HAL program has already generated interest on campus, and that EMU hopes to build on a disaster management program offered at Hesston College, a two-year Mennonite college in Kansas.<\/p>\n

In 2014, a group of faculty began a feasibility study for the HAL program. It determined that significant need exists for a faith-based program that can develop humanitarian assistance leaders with skills in cross-cultural understanding and an ability to collaborate with the many different organizations involved in specific relief projects, Hershberger said.<\/p>\n

Daryl Yoder-Bontrager \u201980, who helped EMU with the feasibility study, noted that humanitarian relief in the United States (typically referred to as \u201cemergency management\u201d) has become an increasingly professionalized field that needs a well-prepared workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mennonite community has a long history of working with humanitarian response to disasters,\u201d said Yoder-Bontrager, who spent two decades with Mennonite Central Committee\u2019s Latin America programs and is now pursuing a doctorate at the University of Delaware\u2019s Disaster Research Center. \u201cI think EMU can offer a program that will serve domestic needs as well as training students for international work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting the Mennonite church\u2019s commitment to development and disaster relief, Eastern Mennonite University has long offered degrees that prepare students to work in those fields. As the priorities, needs and ... read more about New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,359,12503,8845,14145,5730],"tags":[7923,17210,5944],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-26397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-applied-social-sciences","category-cjp","category-emu-at-lancaster","category-peacebuilding-and-development","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-ann-hershberger","tag-daryl-yoder-bontrager","tag-giving"],"yoast_head":"\nNew humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - 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\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reflecting the Mennonite church\u2019s commitment to development and disaster relief, Eastern Mennonite University has long offered degrees that prepare students to work in those fields. As the priorities, needs and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-04T16:50:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-11T18:10:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/\",\"name\":\"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-04T16:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-11T18:10:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg\",\"width\":610,\"height\":375},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - EMU News","og_description":"Reflecting the Mennonite church\u2019s commitment to development and disaster relief, Eastern Mennonite University has long offered degrees that prepare students to work in those fields. As the priorities, needs and","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2016-01-04T16:50:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-11T18:10:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":610,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/","name":"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-04T16:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-11T18:10:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/01\/HALweb.jpg","width":610,"height":375},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/new-humanitarian-action-leadership-programs-at-emu-meets-changing-needs-of-increasingly-professionalized-field\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New humanitarian action leadership programs at EMU meet changing needs of increasingly professionalized field"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245","name":"admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26397"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26435,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26397\/revisions\/26435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26397"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=26397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}