Centre Faculty
Susanne Guenther Loewen
Susanne Guenther Loewen has been teaching Introduction to Peace Studies (CPSJ 112) classes at St. Thomas More College since 2020, and has previously taught at Canadian Mennonite University and the Canadian School of Peacebuilding in Winnipeg. She holds a PhD in Christian perspectives on peace and nonviolence from the University of St. Michael’s College at the Toronto School of Theology. Her publications and research focus on feminist and/or Anabaptist-Mennonite approaches to martyrdom, trauma, and the cross; nonviolent resistance and peace ethics; sexual and gender-based violence; and maternity and power.
Christopher Hrynkow
Christopher Hrynkow loves teaching in the Religious Studies, Peace Studies, Catholics Studies, and Critical Perspectives on Social Justice and the Common Good distinctive area programs at St. Thoms More College. He worked as part of a team to develop the Peace Studies certificate program at the University of Saskatchewan, the first post-secondary Peace Studies program in the province. He was also the initial instructor for the first sections of what is now CPSJ 112 Introduction to Peace Studies and CPSJ 310 Peace Theory and Praxis. Chris is keen to help students succeed in all the courses he teaches.
John Liptay
John Liptay, Ph.D., a member of STM’s Department of Philosophy, specializes in Thomas Aquinas’ moral philosophy and the natural law tradition of moral inquiry. He has published a number of papers on Aquinas’ theory of natural law, co-edited Natural Law Ethics in Theory and Practice: A Joseph Boyle Reader (Catholic University of America Press, 2020), and is co-editing a further volume of Boyle’s papers addressing issues in biomedical ethics (Reverence for Life and Bioethics). He contributes to certificate programs at the Centre by regularly teaching PHIL 234 Biomedical Ethics and by periodically teaching CTST 200 Introduction to Catholic Studies.
Heather Peters
Heather (she/her) has been a community educator for nearly 20 years. She has facilitated classes and workshops in peacebuilding, restorative justice, conflict transformation, abuse response & prevention, and trauma-informed practices. You will find her teaching in offices, zoom rooms, churches, under trees, in jails, and even in classrooms.
Currently, Heather is the Peacebuilding Coordinator for MCC Saskatchewan and an occasional sessional instructor at St. Thomas More College in Peace Studies, teaching CPSJ 112.
Heather’s education comes from degrees in Human Security and Peacebuilding, International Development, and Theology, as well as many life lessons from living around the world and seeking good, interesting relationships from the people that come into her life.
Sarah Powrie
Sarah Powrie has expertise in medieval and early modern literatures. She holds a Ph.D. in Mediaeval Studies from the University of Toronto and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Erasmus Institute, University of Notre Dame, IN. She has published on various authors, including, Augustine, Boethius, Chaucer, Nicholas of Cusa, Edmund Spenser, and John Donne. In teaching "Introduction to Catholic Studies" (CTST 200.3), she looks at historical developments in Catholic thought and spirituality, from the decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the emergence of Global Catholicity in the 21st century.
Lesya Sabada
Lesya Sabada completed her Doctorate of Ministry specializing in Religious Peacebuilding at St. Paul and Ottawa Universities. Her research into conflict studies, genocide studies, field research includes Ukraine, Thailand, Israel, South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tibet, Cambodia, Myanmar and Japan. Her research on environmental destruction focuses on Borneo, the Republic of the Congo, and the Amazon Basin. Lesya has published works on religious peacebuilding, ecological theology and environmental ethics. As a member of the World Council of Churches, Lesya is involved with the Biodiversity Working Group. Through her volunteer work with the Sustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Ecological Justice (SAPREJ) Committee, Lesya has taught at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, University of Kyambogo in Uganda, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. She has taught several times at the United Nations mandated University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Tribhuvan University in Nepal. Her teaching includes Introduction to Peace Studies (CPSJ 112).
Cynthia R. Wallace
Cynthia Wallace teaches and writes at the intersections of contemporary literature, religion, and justice movements, with a focus on women writers, decolonization, and literary ethics. She holds a PhD from Loyola University Chicago and has published widely on the work of Toni Morrison, Adrienne Rich, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Louise Erdrich, Annie Dillard, and Mary Gordon. She is author of the books Of Women Borne: A Literary Ethics of Suffering and The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of Religion. In addition to serving as the centre’s current director and teaching courses in the department of English, Cindy regularly teaches CTST 200 (Introduction to Catholic Studies) and CPSJ 203 (Cultivating Humanity), as well as capstone courses in these programs.