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I was born into a global refugee family: my parents were born in Ukraine/USSR, I was born in Paraguay, and my 6 siblings were born in Winnipeg, Man., where I grew up. This taught me that education, like other matters of the heart and the head, is of great value and among the most transportable “assets” available.
My studies include a BTh (Theology, CMBC 1979); BA (History, Winnipeg 1980); MDiv (AMBS 1984); MA (History, Waterloo 1988); and PhD (History, Waterloo 1995).
Education is also transferrable: I have worked in various jobs and careers throughout my life – including as a minister, a business entrepreneur (also as a social entrepreneur) and a university professor. The ability to think critically and creatively - and to learn - is of paramount importance. I have also served as chair of a university college board and as development consultant for a new university in Brantford (the future Laurier Brantford).
In 2015 I walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela - from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago, Spain, and from there to Finisterre on the Atlantic coast. I learned again that life is a pilgrimage of learning and I invite students to join me on that quest.
My current research is focused on religion and peace/conflict and on the historical practice of, and social contracts derived from, citizenship oaths and military loyalty oaths. I also study about and write on pedagogy — especially peace pedagogy, experiential learning and Reflective Practice Writing.
- 2023 Howard Zinn Lifetime Achievement Award (by the Peace and Justice Studies Association)
- 2019 Appointed Laurier Teaching Fellow
- 2018 Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Teaching Excellence Award.
- 2014 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Teaching Award.
- Article from The Cord.
- 2011 Wilfrid Laurier University Award for Teaching Excellence.
I am willing to supervise graduate students in the following areas:
- Peace and conflict studies;
- Religion and social responsibility;
- Church history and political theology;
- Pilgrimage studies;
- Social enterprise development.
Please check this page for internship opportunities as they become available. You are also advised to check the C3 Innovation Labs pages for interesting lab courses you can take and also for updated postings on internships and research opportunities.
BOOK:
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Pries, Edmund. Anabaptist Oath Refusal: Basel, Bern and Strasbourg, 1525-1538. Thunder Bay: Pandora Press, May 2023.
EDITED BOOK:
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Amster, Randall, Laura Finley, Edmund Pries and Richard McCutcheon, eds. Peace Studies between Tradition and Innovation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
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Pries, Edmund. “The Moral Culpability of Soldiers: Where do Peacekeepers Fit In?” Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies. 53, No. 1 (2021): 30-49.
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Pries, Edmund. “Is an Oath to Hitler Still an Oath to God? The Debate About Loyalty Oaths in Germany, 1934-1945,” Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis 2, no. 2 (August 2020): 16-35.
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Pries, Edmund. “‘The Reflective Practice Writing Bicycle’: A Reflective Analysis Tool for Engaged Learning,” Religious Studies and Theology 38, no. 1-2 (2019): 125-140.
- Pries, Edmund. "Teaching Peace - Experientially." Peace and Justice Studies: Critical Pedagogy, Edited by Margaret Groarke and Emily Welty. Routledge, 2019.
- Pries, Edmund. "Moral Equality of Combatants and Invincible Ignorance: Two Just War Doctrines in Which Pacifists Have a High Stake." Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Vol. 49 No. 1 (2017): 43-65.
- Pries, Edmund. “A Soldier’s Right Not to Fight: Breaching the Insuperability of Military Oaths.” Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2012) & Vol. 45, No. 1 (2013): 31-87.
- Pries, Edmund. “Leveraging Diversity: Teaching Peace in the Public University.” Conrad Grebel Review (2014).
- Pries, Edmund “Taxpayers vs. Citizens.” Toronto Star. (September 15, 2011).
- Pries, Edmund “Apocalyptic Crisis Budgeting.” Toronto Star. (August 12, 2011).
- Pries, Edmund “F-35 Jets Aren’t a Good Buy.” Waterloo Region Record. (December 29, 2010).
In fall of 2024 I will be on a writing and teaching semester (sabbatical).
Contact Info:
Office location: DAWB 5-132
Office hours:
- Wednesdays from 1:00-2:00 PM
In fall of 2024 I will be on a research and writing semester (sabbatical).
Languages spoken: English, German, Low German