{"id":60664,"date":"2026-02-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60664"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:19:54","slug":"five-questions-with-professor-dr-gloria-rhodes-88-director-of-emus-center-for-justice-and-peacebuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/five-questions-with-professor-dr-gloria-rhodes-88-director-of-emus-center-for-justice-and-peacebuilding\/","title":{"rendered":"Five questions with Professor Dr. Gloria Rhodes \u201988, director of EMU\u2019s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The classroom was packed. Over two-dozen people crowded into seats. Some stood along the sides. Others sat in the aisles. Only a few years after earning an English degree from EMU, Dr. Gloria Rhodes \u201988<\/strong> was in Russia helping establish an intercultural program. She stood at the front of the room, leading a Bible study on the Mennonite peace tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in the Mennonite church, Rhodes grew up believing she was called to be a peacemaker. But that early understanding of peace, she admits, made her avoid conflict rather than engage in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, two students, burly Russian men seated near the back of the classroom, began arguing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within moments, the tension shifted. Chairs scraped. Voices sharpened. The exchange turned physical. And Rhodes realized something that would change the course of her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could talk about peace, but I didn\u2019t actually know how to respond when presented with conflict,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I returned to the United States, I knew I needed to learn how to handle conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Listen to Rhodes recount that fateful moment in an episode of the Peacebuilder podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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She scuttled her previous plans to pursue a graduate degree in English and instead studied conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University, earning both a master\u2019s degree and a PhD. While at graduate school, she was hired by Professor Emeritus Dr.<\/strong> Vernon Jantzi ’64 <\/strong>to help coordinate the newly launched Summer Peacebuilding Institute<\/a><\/strong> (SPI) at EMU.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 34 years, Rhodes has taught at EMU, primarily in its world-renowned Center for Justice and Peacebuilding<\/a><\/strong> (CJP). Today, she serves as academic director of CJP and professor of peacebuilding and conflict studies. She also teaches courses in conflict transformation and peacebuilding for the undergraduate program and the master of nursing program.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhodes has led semester and summer intercultural programs in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, South Korea, and the Navajo Nation. She has served as department chair of EMU\u2019s Applied Social Science Department, administrative director of SPI, and as a program assistant for the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Gloria Rhodes ’88 embraces a graduate during the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Celebration of Blessings in May 2025.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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With SPI turning 30 this year, we sat down with the long-tenured professor to talk about the values-based education offered at CJP and how students are bringing more peace and justice to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following responses are from an interview that Rhodes conducted with photographer and videographer Macson McGuigan \u201917<\/strong>. A video from their interview will publish later this spring. These responses were edited for conciseness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s unique about CJP?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many other programs teach basic communication or mediation skills, but what we add at EMU goes deeper. Our focus is on who you are<\/em> and what you bring<\/em>. Beyond the technical skills of conflict transformation, students engage in deep reflection and introspection around questions of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n