Regina Shands Stoltzfus ’84
Professor of Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies
What drew you to teach at GC?
I came to GC in 2011 as an associate campus pastor. I had worked for several Mennonite institutions in peace and justice education related programs. I also served as a pastor at my home church in Cleveland, Ohio – Lee Heights Community Church.
When I went to seminary, I had such admiration for my professors that I began to think about teaching. So when I came to GC as a pastor, I made it known that I was very interested in teaching and I started out teaching a couple of classes a year.
What do you love most about teaching GC students?
So many GC students are curious, passionate and eager to make a difference in the world by fostering justice.
What is your favorite teaching moment at GC?
I have a lot of favorite moments. A pretty common one is when students are able to connect historical events to current realities. Understanding history is critical when thinking about peacemaking and peacebuilding.
How do you incorporate GC’s core values into your lessons/classes?
In pretty much all of my classes, we are learning about hard issues – conflict, violence and oppression. But we are learning about these difficult realities because we know it takes a deep understanding of these problems to work at solutions. We work at compassionate peacemaking as part of the curriculum.