The context she’d been immersed in as a graduate student in the with the (CJP) at 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ) was very different than the context of the institute at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania.

“The term ‘peacebuilding,’” she said, “is used frequently at PKSOI, but primarily to refer to activities done ‘post-conflict’ during ‘reconstruction,’ not to refer to activities all through the scale of different stages of conflict. This can make it challenging for stakeholders from dissimilar backgrounds to have productive conversations.”

Monitoring semantics was just one of many skills Gehman practiced during what she calls a “cultural immersion” in the military environment. With her specific interest being the military-peacebuilding nexus in the Middle East and North Africa, Gehman was matched with a project covering the African Union Mission in Somalia. She worked under the supervision of retired Colonel Dwight Raymond, an expert on the protection of civilians in mass atrocities.

The experience gave her a better knowledge of the multi-dimensional, powerful stakeholders who engage in operations of war and peace: the U.S. military, U.S. government agencies, and multinational coalitions.

“I now have a basic familiarity with the principles and processes of United Nations peacekeeping, including issues like mandate implementation, force generation, and logistics for troop-contributing countries,” Gehman said.

The CJP Capstone Project

When it came time to choose her practicum experience, Gehman said applying to PKSOI was a good option to pursue her academic and professional interests. She had previously conducted interviews with veterans, participated in a workshop called “,” and joined veteran and fellow CJP graduate student Michael McAndrew .

Gehman also benefited from CJP’s connections to the institute. Her advisor, professor, had taken students to visit the institute. Additionally, CJP research professor has been a guest lecturer at the U.S. Army War College.

“Our faculty have strong connections with peacebuilding organizations around the world,” said program director and professor. “This helps our students find placements that fit their particular interests, and build skills and networking contacts.”

Students in CJP’s practice-oriented graduate program in conflict transformation culminate their coursework in one of three options for a capstone project. The organizational practicum, of which Gehman’s experience is an example, requires a 2-4 month commitment. A second option is the research-based practicum, which results in production of an article, book, exhibit or other project. A third option allows full-time CJP students to write a thesis. Students must make a presentation to the CJP community about their project.

2015 CJP Capstone Projects

In addition to Gehman (from Morton, Illinois, and a graduate of Wheaton College), the following graduate students presented capstone projects during the 2015 spring semester. All were awarded their degrees during the April 26 commencement ceremony.

Matt Bucher (Harrisonburg, Virginia; Messiah College, 91����Ƶ MDiv ’15) researched Anabaptist responses to Christian Zionism and sought to find Christian theology that is good news for Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans. Additionally, he worked at the in Harrisonburg, connecting with local church leaders and working to understand where and how ministers have developed their ability and skills for addressing congregational conflict. Project title: Pursuing Good Theology and Best Practices: Christian Zionism, Empowering Church Leaders and Self-Reflection.

��Ray Garman (Ocean City, New Jersey; Haverford College) conducted independent research on the role that meaningful productivity plays in post-traumatic growth. Project title:A Predicament of Being

Fabrice Guerrier (Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Florida State University) worked in the Advocacy Unit of the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (). He focused on research and supporting numerous outreach and advocacy strategies essential to OHRLLS’ implementation of its programs of action, as well as mobilizing international support for the most vulnerable countries. Project title: Advocating for Vulnerable Countries in the 21st Century

Tony Harris (Annapolis, Maryland; Goucher College) worked as the global education graduate associate at the . His primary responsibilities included curriculum development and program design/implementation. He was also involved in planning special events and worked on various projects related to organizational development. Through his practicum, Harris also explored explicit and implicit theories of change specific to the organization. Project title: The Global Education-Peacebuilding Nexus: Pedagogies, Programs, and Possibilities

Jacob Kanagy (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Eastern University​) served as a congregational consultant and member of a church governance reference team at a community mediation center. His experience led to exploration of the overlap and complexities of serving in both a secular and religious peacebuilding context as a mediator or facilitator. Project title: The Intersection of a Community Mediation Center,��Congregational Conflict, and a��Church Governance Project

Diane Kellogg (Staunton, Virginia; Geneseo State University) ​contributed to the development and implementation of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s (WPLP). Confident that WPLP was making a greater impact in the participants’ home communities than most people were aware of, Kellogg explored how that impact could be measured and evaluated. Her video production introduced the program and its participants, and reported on the community-level impact of the women’s participation. Project title: Evaluation and Promotion of the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program

��Bridget Mullins (Hudson, Ohio; University of Notre Dame) explored the role of theater in visualizing the roots of conflict and��re-discovering voice, body, self and the other.��In the process, she witnessed communities, both in Harrisonburg and in occupied Palestine, rehearsing the change they want to see in themselves and the world. ��Project title: Beautiful Resistance:��When Words Fail, Art Speaks��

Nate Schlabach (Millersburg, OH., Ohio State University) worked in the , an organization based in Washington, DC, that promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. He was involved in writing, researching, and editing several of the center’s newly released publications on Japan and Australia, and he provided news and analysis for the “Asia Matters For America” website. Project title: The U.S.-Asia Relationship:��Why It Matters to America

This lonely outpost was one of numerous stops for Jacobs as he traveled 5,000 miles – mostly by helicopter – to visit the 750 members of his battalion during his 10-month tour of duty in 2009.

Jacobs, who graduated from in 2004 with a master of divinity degree, planned to return to EMS this fall to enroll in . The intensive hospital-based program would prepare him for chaplaincy work among veterans and in hospitals and hospices. But he recently received notice that he is being called up in early 2014 for a 9-to 12-month ��deployment to the Middle East, to be stationed in Qatar.

Meanwhile other military chaplains have enrolled at EMS this fall. “Several new students this school year have expressed interest in being chaplains at veterans’ hospitals or with active-duty personnel,” said , the seminary’s admissions director and communications coordinator. “The EMS focus on chaplain ministry and peace-and-justice theology is a valuable mix to these students who are sorting out how to care for those who have experienced war and military service first hand.”

Jacobs is part of the , so he must be ready for duty at any time – at home or abroad. Stateside duty includes accompanying a senior officer to notify parents that their son or daughter has been killed.

In a war zone, a chaplain’s duty is to nurture the living, comfort the wounded, and honor the dead. In addition to leading Christian services and performing various sacraments, Jacobs prayed with wounded soldiers from the battlefield and accompanied them to the operating room. “In general, we are supposed to bring the presence of God,” he said.

Jacobs also did a lot of marriage counseling for the many soldiers who were separated from their spouses.

Since Jacobs is a Protestant chaplain, he was also responsible for making sure that members of his battalion who were not Protestant had access to Catholic or other appropriate members of the clergy.

Jacobs loves people – all kinds of people. He enjoys the diversity he finds in the Army and the variety of people he met in Afghanistan. He learned to understand the motivation of the Taliban and enjoyed interacting with Muslims. One man, using the Muslim word for clergyman, called Jacobs his “American imam.”

The seed for military chaplaincy was planted in Jacobs’ mind after he completed nearly 13 years of active duty in the U.S. Army. First he had to finish an undergraduate degree and then find a seminary to attend. He picked EMS, arriving with his wife and three children in 2001.

“EMS offered me a safe place to be myself and bare my soul,” he said. “They didn’t make me feel like I had to be a perfect person.”

While in seminary he took part-time jobs, making sure that he was able to interact with “common people,” which he figured would help him in future ministry. In fact, ministry started for him on the job. “I talked about faith with people who would never come to church,” he said.

Jacobs and his wife, Diana Patterson, are both from Lancaster County, Pa. John was raised Presbyterian and Diana was Mennonite. They were married when he enlisted in the Army at age 21. His first Army career took them to Alaska, South Korea, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.

Since his seminary days, the Jacobs family has been based in nearby Broadway, Va. He hopes that a future job in hospital chaplaincy will bring more stability to his life and more focus to his career.

Under the rubric, “Remembering the Cost, Mourning the Violence,” a thousand small white grave markers are occupying a portion of the lawn in front of the 91����Ƶ Campus Center Nov. 8-12.

The crosses were erected by JustVoices, a group of about a dozen local citizens and students committed to nonviolent action, to remind the 91����Ƶ campus and larger community of the human cost of war.

According to one of the organizers, Danny Malec, the 1,000 white markers represent the deaths of over one thousand U.S. soldiers and civilians in Iraq. Each of these 1,000 crosses, crescents and stars also represents at least 13 Iraqi citizens; thirteen humans, friends, co-workers, students, soldiers, and civilians who have died as a result of the U.S. action in Iraq, he noted.

Malec, a student in 91����Ƶ’s Conflict Transformation Program, said the idea for the grave markers came from Katherine P. (Katie) Resendiz, another CTP student, noting that “about 30 community people made and painted the crosses.”

Constructing the markers, all fashioned from discarded wood, “was a moving experience,” he said.

Signs posted at several points surrounding the markers invite persons to “imagine 14 of your friends standing around each cross, crescent or star. Take some time to experience the loss yourself, and then to mourn the loss for the world that will never know these people.”

JustVoices has been actively engaging people on issues of justice, nonviolence and social action for nearly a year in the Shenandoah Valley. The 91����Ƶ campus display represents the culmination of a four-month series of weekly protests on the actions in Iraq. Each week, a group has gathered on Court Square in downtown Harrisonburg to mourn over people covered in white linen, representing the unreported deaths in Iraq and the unpublicized return of bodies to the U.S.

The week-long display will end with a period of reflection and prayer on the Campus Center plaza 5 p.m. Friday (Nov. 12). All are welcome.

“The protests generated a variety of responses from the community, and we hope that this display elicits the same level of response here on campus,” Malec said. “I’ve seen people walking slowly among the markers, taking pictures and standing in quiet reflection.

“We’re open to help facilitate discussion on- and off-campus,” he added.