This course studies the black gospel tradition, focusing on the genre’s distinctive combination of sound and belief. Music, movement, and conviction, the three expressions gospel holds together, will be explored through three interpretive lenses: exemplary performers, pivotal periods, and formal processes. This week’s work will bring material and approaches from the fields of musicology, music …
View course details “Black Gospel Music–Not for credit”

Our sense of “being” is grounded in a healthy self-esteem and satisfaction with our lives. These can be burdened by our feeling wounded with hidden grief and mourning. Today’s uncertainty and anxiety make it even more difficult for us to engage in self-care, and to theologically frame our understanding of self-care as something positive and …
View course details “Living a Life of Forgiving: Honoring the Life, Ministry and Legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu–Not for credit”

This course will explore the views and practices of British-American theologian, revivalist, and missionary Jonathan Edwards on race and slavery in the contexts of the “vast Americas” in general and of colonial New England in particular, showing the growth of African slavery and the slave trade, biblical and theological justifications for them, and evolving racial …
View course details “Jonathan Edwards, Race, and Slavery–Not for credit”

Each year Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP), an institute of Canadian Mennonite University, invites the peacebuilders of the world to gather in Winnipeg, Canada, for a selection of courses in June. Come take a course or two for professional and personal development or for academic credit. We offer courses from local, national and international peacebuilders, …
View course details “Canadian School of Peacemaking”

with Esther Epp-Tiessen, Joanna Hiebert Bergen, Byron Rempel-Burkholder, and Kathy Bergen In recent years, many people have begun to describe the reality of Palestine-Israel as “settler colonialism”—a form of colonialism in which the settler colonists “come to stay” and to assert their sovereignty over Indigenous land and people. (Canada is also a settler colonial state). …
View course details ““Palestine-Israel: Is this Settler Colonialism?””

with Piet Meiring; Emeritus Professor University of Pretoria, South Africa; friend of Archbishop Tutu for almost half a century, working with him in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, representing Desmond Tutu at the launch of the Canadian TRC in Winnipeg, teaching a CMU course. This course will provide a brief overview of the life …
View course details “The Legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu”

This class  will provide students with an introduction to intersectionality as a tool for social analysis and critical theological reflection, as a way to inform liberative praxis in various ministry and community contexts. We will engage questions and discussions of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they are treated theologically, emphasizing works from U.S. scholars …
View course details “Intersectionality & Justice”

This course is a survey course of prophets in Ancient Israel and the texts of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Studying the language of the prophetic corpus, we will explore the historical, social, and political contexts of the writings and their meanings for the intended audience and readers today. By the end of the …
View course details “The Prophets”

Explore hope and expose weakness in the church’s vocation to share God’s radical hospitality to all nations. Gain insight into biblical, practical ways that churches can practice racial justice in their congregation and community. Wrestle with the sin of racism and xenophobia, deal with its past and present reality in our churches, and push on …
View course details “Racial Justice and Radical Hospitality: A Biblical Approach”

Join racial justice and equity educators, The Revs. Carla Christopher Wilson and Kevin Barron, for a Lenten series on uncovering the practical aspects of our scriptural call to community activism. Too often we recognize God’s summons to love our neighbor but we fall short in knowing how to begin. Focusing on a deep dwelling in …
View course details “Journey to Jerusalem: Our Gospel Call to Racial Justice, A Lenten Series for All Parishes”