Fall 2024 Courses

Instructor: Olexandr Shevchenko

One of the arguments advanced by the proponents of communist ideas is that in spite of all the horrors of Stalinism and other communist regimes, they greatly contributed to the advancement of the countries where they managed to establish themselves. Taking into account the fact that in 1900 Grand Duchy of Finland was part of Russian Empire but in 1917 both parts took radically different paths of their development, a comparative history from 1900 to 1991 may give us a glimpse into successes and drawbacks of different political systems

Topics covered include:

• Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire, 1900-1917
• Revolution and Emergence of Independent Finland: why the Whites won in Finland?
• Uneasy co-existence in the interwar Period
• Winter War of 1939-40 and continuation war of 1941-44. How Finland managed to preserve its independence?
• “Finlandization”: Finland and the USSR in the era of the Cold War
• End of the Cold War and recent developments in the relations between Finland and Russia

Olexandr Shevchenko

Olexandr is a lifelong student and teacher of history. Born in the USSR, he witnessed collapse of the communist Empire first hand. He studied history in Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, the US and Canada and taught in several Universities and community programs. His areas of interest are history of the twentieth century, Ukrainian history, history of Russia, history of Europe and military history. Since 2006 he lives and works in Winnipeg as a freelance historian and interpreter.

Instructor: Dr. James T. Christie

Religious engagement has been on the rise worldwide, regardless of how any particular religious or spiritual tradition may be faring in Canada. The Pew Institute continues to count that from 80-85% of the world’s peoples self define as religious or spiritual. The old question is new again: are world religions stumbling blocks to building global community, or are they essential to its realization? In this six-week course, we shall examine some of those religious traditions: who they are, where they are, and what they have been doing, what they are doing, and what they yet may do.

Topics covered include:

• The Axial Age and its Echoes
  • The Birth of the World’s Religions and Spiritualities.
  • The world’s religions and spiritualities today: The ‘Dead Z Scrolls’
  • Our story up to now: for better and/or worse
• From Chicago and Back Again
  • A century of ups and downs.
  • The Interfaith/Multifaith Movements in the 21st Century.
• Setting a Table
  • Principles of Dialogue.
  • The Dialogue Decalogue.
  • The Discernment Decalogue.
• Cases in Point
  • Case studies of achievements in Global Interfaith Collaboration.
• On the Home Front
  • The United Church of Canada: 5 Signs of Hope
  • The Canadian Council of Churches Interfaith Reference Group
  • The Canadian Interfaith Conversation
  • The Canadian Multifaith Federation
• Meanwhile, here in Winnipeg ...
  • The Mayor’s Multifaith and Cultural Liaison Circle
  • ‘For the Sake of the City’
  • The Lt. Governor of Manitoba Award for the Advancement of Interreligious
  • Understanding
• Wrap up: Back to the Future: A New Axial Age
  • For further study

Ambassador, The Rev. Prof. Dr. James Taylor Christie

Pastor, scholar, author and essayist, dialogue theologian, ecumenist, and interreligious diplomat, Dr. Christie has devoted his life to Christian reconciliation, interreligious harmony and collaboration, and to building global community. Accordingly, he has served for over four decades in the ministry of The United Church of Canada, and for a quarter of a century with The Canadian Council of Churches, including a term as President and two terms as Chair of Project Ploughshares. Dr. Christie is Ambassador-at-Large for the Canadian Multifaith Federation and serves on the Board of Experts of the International Religious Liberties Association and the Board of the G20 Interfaith Forum Foundation. He is a life-long World Federalist, and is the longest serving Governing Council Chair, from 1995-2012. The inaugural Professor of Dialogue Theology and Whole World Ecumenism at The University of Winnipeg, Professor Christie was also Dean of Theology, the Inaugural Dean of Global College and Co-founder of the Ridd Institute for Religion and Global Policy. Dr. Christie has published hundreds of articles, essays and columns, both scholarly and popular. His two most recent co-edited volumes are The North American Churches in the Cold War, with Dr. Paul Mojzes; and Religious Soti Diplomacy and the United Nations.

Instructor: Mike Cook

Given from the point of view of an accused, we will discuss several aspects of the system of Criminal Justice in Canada. We will look at The Courts, the Penal system, and Police Powers as they relate to the rights of all Canadians as described in the Charter. Ultimately, the goal is to have students gain a new perspective of the Law and those who administer it.

Topics covered include:

• What about confidentiality and privacy? Should I believe everything that I hear/read?
• From the time of arrest to the highest court we will examine options and possible outcomes.
• Based on my experience of 3 decades I will share the challenges presented by some of my more difficult files.
• The roles of the judge, crown, and defence lawyer. 4 levels of court in Canada. Preliminary inquiry. Trial and appeal. Conflicts of Interest. Rules of confidentiality. Arrest and bail, ground to detain, legal onus for crown and defence.
• Charter Right to bail. Obstruction of justice. Are the news articles about tougher bail going to work? What programs are available for those out on bail?
• Trial Day! It’s not at all like on TV. Formal entry of plea. Oaths and Promises. Examination.
• Contempt of court. Verdicts. Appeal convictions, sentences and acquittals. Perjury.
• Factors in sentencing. Pre-sentence reports. Letters of reference. Provincial time versus Federal time. Parole. Breach of parole/probation/house arrest.
• Police Powers. What are my Charter rights? Arrest vs detention. Search warrants. High risk searches/Tactical Support Unit/flash bangs/ballistic entry
• Phoenix Sinclair, Steinbach Puppy Mill, Lawyer killed on Winnipeg Avenue, Electra Starr murder, MBCA-Ruis Fuentes, Croatian Giant.

Mike Cook

Mike Cook is Winnipeg born and raised. He attended Gordon Bell High School from grades 7-12. Upon graduation he enrolled at UWinnipeg, where he completed a three-year BA in Criminology. 

Law School at the University of Manitoba was his next stop. The first few years of his practice were doing a “general” practice working in many areas of the law. After three formative years, he focused on doing criminal defence work. That is the only area he practices in.

Mike has many years of experience in all levels of court including Provincial Court, The Court of King’s Bench, the Manitoba Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Home base is Winnipeg but he also travels throughout the province helping people who are accused of crimes.  

When he is not in the courtroom, he loves to run marathons. He has coached many runners in Winnipeg to attain their running goals. He has much community involvement, inter alia, President of the Manitoba Criminal Justice Association, former President of the Manitoba Marathon Board, former President of the Winnipeg Public Library Board, former President of the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, former Board member at St. Mary’s Academy to highlight a few.

He looks forward to discussing law with the students of the 55-Plus program.

Instructor: Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. James Fergusson

This course covers the period from the entrance of Canada into NATO in
1949 to the NORAD modernization process of 2024 posing the question:
what does it mean to "defend" Canada?  The topics that will be
discussed are:


Topics covered include:

• Coming out of the Second World War, Canada had the 4th largest
military, but how would it organize and train for the new "Cold War";
• Canada was a founding member of NATO, but insisted on a "Canadian"
article in the Washington Treaty.  Darling to laggard, Canada's role
in NATO's 75 year history deserves closer scrutiny;
• With NORAD's Canadian headquarters in Winnipeg, and being the
first line of defence for North America, the missions and evolution of
NORAD will be discussed;
• From the Suez Canal to Afghanistan, Is Canada's legacy as a
peacekeeper a myth or is it the definition of peacekeeping that needs
adjusting; and
• The future of war, to include the importance of space and Canada's
significant role.  Technology and revolutions in military affairs
mean Canada's approach to war changes often.  War is likely to
involve all domains and catch everyone off guard in the future. At the
same time, assistance to municipalities in the wake of natural
disasters is on the rise and likely to require even more military
support.   How will Canada prepare? And might a whole of society
approach be needed?


Andrea Charron

Professor Andrea Charron is a Professor, Political Studies, and the Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba. She has degrees from Queen's University, Webster University in The Netherlands, and PhD from the Royal Military College in Kingston.  She has written extensively on Arctic security and continental defence issues.

James Fergusson

Professor James Fergusson is a retired Professor specializing in International Relations and past Director Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.  He has been commissioned to write several reports for the Department of National Defence and Department of Foreign Affairs.

Instructor: Dr. Kent HayGlass

We will explore human health and disease. We discuss what your immune system does to protect you from the thousands of threats you encounter daily – and how, like us, it sometimes makes incorrect decisions – with serious consequences. We examine the silent goings-on inside which allow most of us to experience lifespans over triples those of our ancestors.

Sessions are taught at the educated lay level to non-scientists.

Topics covered include:

• Birth, Death and Between: Early understandings. Building a potent defense system that doesn’t backfire.
• Allergies and Asthma: What are they, Why do they happen, What can be done about them? (Professor A. Becker as guest contributor)
• CHILD: An in-depth study of 3500 normal Canadian infants from before birth through to their teens. What have we learned?
• Sex and Immune Capacity. Men and Women differ, Girls and Boys, not so much.
• Your Gut: When it is Good to You and When it is Not. (Professor JE Ghia as guest contributor)
• An Appraisal of Vaccines
• Coming Improvements to Human Quality of Life, Health and Longevity.

Dr. Kent HayGlass

Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, Kent did his undergraduate training at Queen’s University. After working a year, he began his PhD program at Western University London in 1979, obtaining it 3 years later. In 1983, he undertook a postdoctoral research fellowship at Harvard in the lab of Baruj Benacerraf, an awardee of the Nobel prize in 1980.  After an additional year as Faculty there with his own lab, Kent moved to the University of Manitoba in 1986. UM hosts the first Department of Immunology in Canada.

His main professional activities include developing and leading basic research programs in Immunology plus advanced training of graduate students, post doc fellows, medical students and pharmacists. At various times he also served as Head of Department, Director of UM’s MD/PhD program and Scientific Director / Research of the Manitoba Institute of Child Health. He is a recipient of various national and international awards.

Throughout his career, his main interest has been (i) trying to unravel the different ways in which our immune system is turned on and (ii) understanding how it chooses the correct responses from the dozens available.  Done correctly, this provides us protection without accidentally inducing chronic health problems.

Together with his wife Sandy, they have had the privilege of becoming Manitobans, raising their family, enjoying their careers, and trying to contribute to the open, friendly and constructive nature of our province.

Instructor: Dr. Gordon Zerbe

This course will explore the complex dynamics of Jewish and Christian self-definition, experience, and interaction in the context of Hellenistic and then Roman imperial rule, focusing on the years 200 BCE to 200 CE.

Topics covered include:

• The history and diversities of “second temple Judaism.”
• The impact of Greek political domination and cultural influence, beginning in 332 BCE.
• The story of Judea and Rome: from treaty alliances, to Roman conquest, to Jewish wars of national liberation, to the complete decimation of the Judean state.
• The survival and reconstitution of Judaism after the destruction of the Judean state.
• Greco-Roman antipathy toward the Judean people and nation.
• The story of the Jesus movement: how a renewal movement within Judaism quickly evolves into multiple streams of “Jesus groups,” and becomes dominated by non-Jewish adherents separated from and hostile to its Judaic origins.
• How Judaic Jesus groups disappear by the fifth century.
• How “orthodox Christianity” becomes the Roman imperial state religion, resulting in the suppression of other forms of “Christianities” and an increasing hostility to the dispersed Judean nation: the roots of European Christian antisemitism.

Dr. Gordon Zerbe

Gordon concluded his teaching career at CMU in the spring of 2023, beginning as a sessional instructor in the fall of 1988, and then as a full-time professor starting in 1990. He served in a variety of capacities, including two terms in academic administration (2004–2007; 2014–2017), and two terms as visiting professor at Silliman University Divinity School, Dumaguete City, Philippines (1996–1998; 2002–2004). His primary teaching area was in Biblical and Theological Studies, but he also taught courses in the areas of Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies, Cultural Anthropology, History, and World Religions. His current research interest is in migration and settler-indigenous dynamics in the world of the Bible.

Education
PhD New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary 1991; MA Cultural Anthropology, Western Washington University 19ti7; MA Biblical Studies (New Testament), Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary 1979; BA Social Work, Tabor College 1976