Episode 1 - Working Towards Shalom - Interview with Laurens van Esch

In this episode Sarah and Sheri talk with Laurens van Esch about St. Stephens University’s (SSU) Certificate in Reconciliation Studies program. This program was designed to equip settlers to live into relations of peace and friendship, and to take seriously the work of reconciliation. Learn more about this one of a kind theological program at the links below.

Originally from the Netherlands, Dr. Laurens van Esch teaches history and political philosophy at St. Stephen's University, on the homeland of the Peskotomuhkati Nation in New Brunswick, Canada. Over the years, he has participated in various forms of Indigenous solidarity efforts through organizations such as Community Peacemaker Teams, Mennonite Church Canada, and the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers). At St. Stephen's University, he currently serves as co-director of the Centre for Reconciliation Studies, which seeks to equip non-Indigenous people to commit to an ongoing process of reconciliation as invited by the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Laurens loves to reflect on how the study of the past relates to the pursuit of justice in the present, and is particularly interested in the power of story, religion, and commemorative practices within emancipatory social movements.

Show notes:

St. Stephen’s University Certificate in Reconciliation Studies

Program website: www.ssu.ca/certificate-in-reconciliation-studies

Application page: www.ssu.ca/application

Check out our online monthly trainings: tinyurl.com/Trainings2026

Sarah’s and my book: So That We and Our Children May Live: Following Jesus in Confronting the Climate Crisis

Sarah’s and my Substack: So That We and Our Children May Live

You can follow the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery on Instagram (@coalitiontodismantle) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dismantlediscovery)