Building Bridges, Crossing Borders: Welcome to Winnipeg!
Caitlin Eliasson and James Janzen
10 December 2009
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is a mid-sized city of 700,000 located in the heart of the North American continent. Oft dubbed the Chicago-of-the-North, Winnipeg is a historic transit point for travelers and trade alike. Situated at the intersection of two major river systems, the land has been a meeting place for thousands of years. Today, Winnipeg boasts a rich multicultural population, numerous annual arts and culture festivals, and a budding civil society concerned about peace, justice, and human rights.
In Cree, “Winnipeg” translates as “muddy water,” referring to the Red River and Assiniboine River that meet at the historic Forks site before emptying in Lake Winnipeg, 40 kilometres north of the city. Up to 6000 years ago this site was used as a gathering point for Aboriginal peoples and this spirit of coming together remains a strong weave in the fabric of the modern city. To this day, a practical result of two major rivers running through the city is that going anywhere in the city requires crossing a bridge, hence our practical concern for building and maintaining bridges!
Today the Forks is a site flush with theatre showings, cultural events, and outdoor activities that bring people together. Summers see concerts, outdoor arts festivals, and a newly crafted and highly acclaimed skateboard park that serves many of Winnipeg’s youth. Through Manitoba’s infamously long winters, the Forks opens up its rivers to ice skaters and cross-country skiers and is home to the fabulous Festival du Voyageur, a celebration of Manitoba’s Métis peoples and exploratory spirit.
Winnipeg, at the heart of the continent, has also been at the heart of several stunning and historic social movements that have had lasting impact on Canadian politics and society. The city hosts the burial place of Louis Riel, a late 1800s Métis-Canadian politician who was a founder of the province of Manitoba and led a series of rebellions against the post-Confederate Canadian government in Ottawa, highlighting the rights of the mixed race and French-speaking Métis peoples. Riel remains a modern day folk hero and is often named the “Father of Manitoba.”
Nearly a half century later, in 1919 Winnipeg was the staging ground for another social revolution - the Winnipeg General Strike. The mostly non-violent strike saw a coalition of many major unions come together to fight for their rights. For over five weeks nearly every worker in Winnipeg walked off the job, leaving the city at a complete standstill and garnering international attention. The strike laid the groundwork for major wage and labour reforms across Canada.
In 2012 Winnipeg’s rich cultural and social heritage will be carried into the future with the opening of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Currently under construction at the Forks, the museum is the first national museum situated outside of the National Capital Region around Ottawa, Ontario. This state of the art facility will highlight domestic and global human rights issues and act not only as a museum but also as a platform for research and dialogue in an effort to take action against the oppression of all peoples at home and abroad.
Remarkably, three of the city’s four post secondary institutions offer significant degree programs directly relating to peace, social justice, human rights, and development. In this respect, Winnipeg is becoming somewhat of a Mecca for local and international students interested in peace and justice issues.
In 2000, Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) was granted a charter by the Government of Manitoba making it the province's newest university-level degree-granting institution. What began as a federation of three colleges has flourished into a first rate institution for undergraduates. A Bachelor of Arts in “Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies” is offered at CMU’s newly renovated Shaftsbury campus. At the University of Winnipeg (UW) in the bustling centre of Winnipeg’s downtown, Menno Simons College acts as a satellite campus for CMU and offers two degree programs: “Conflict Resolution Studies” and “International Development Studies.” Each of these programs is highly praised for balancing intellectual engagement with opportunities for practical involvement. With thirteen full-time faculty, approximately twenty additional CMU faculty listing elective courses, and an annual combined total of about 250 students with undergraduate majors in these areas of study, these programs represent a significant contribution to the area of peace and justice studies.
Housed alongside Menno Simons College on the University of Winnipeg campus is the Global College, a born vision of University President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, a former Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister and current leader in poverty reduction and security initiatives. Defined as a place for research, dialogue, and action, the Global College was founded in 2005 and offers a thematic major in “Human Rights and Global Studies.” Adding to the depth of peace related options for students, UW also has programs in “Women and Gender Studies” and “Aboriginal Governance,” two areas of study in which marginalized voices assume centre stage.
A twenty-five minute ride south of the University of Winnipeg campus takes one to the University of Manitoba (UM), Winnipeg’s most populous university with 25,000 students. Situated here is the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice, which was established in 2001 with the generous donation of Dr. Mauro, an alumnus and former UM Chancellor. In its brief life, the centre has coordinated the North American Conflict Resolution Student Exchange Program and developed a prestigious PhD program in “Peace and Conflict Studies” that attracts scholars from around the globe.
An integral aspect of each academic program is networking with the numerous peace focused organizations scattered throughout Winnipeg. One such organization is Mediation Services, which has developed strong connections with the universities and offers professional mediation training to students. The Institute for Community Peacebuilding is another active organization in the city. It was implemented by CMU in 2005 and has been instrumental in holding public dialogues, facilitating research, and helping local communities to execute capacity strengthening initiatives. These associations between academia and community programs ultimately foster both the intellectual and activist potentials of Winnipeg’s students.
We, the faculty and students of Winnipeg’s universities, are very excited to be hosting the 2010 Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference next October. We are diligently planning and preparing for your visit across the border and look forward to welcoming you to Winnipeg for an engaging conference on the theme “Building Bridges, Crossing Borders: Gender, Identity, and Security in the Search for Peace,” and an introduction to our city’s rich history and visions for a just future. For further information and questions about Winnipeg or the conference, please write to pjsainfo@uwinnipeg.ca
Caitlin Eliasson is an Honours student with majors in English and Conflict Resolution Studies. She is also the PJSA 2010 Conference Administrative Assistant.
James Janzen is a senior student in Conflict Resolution and International Development Studies. He is also the PJSA 2010 Youth Summit Coordinator.
