EMU students join in a 2020 MLK Day drum circle led by Victor Parker, Rodrigue Makelele, and Jonas Masiya who host a drum circle in Harrisonburg called Drums for Community Inclusion and Wellness. Photo by Macson McGuigan/EMU.
A new concentration at Eastern Mennonite University combines the disciplines of music and peacebuilding to equip students to creatively transform conflict and promote intercultural intelligence.
This interdisciplinary program will serve those drawn to using music to build common ground in the contexts of global studies, nonprofit work, theology, worship, sociology, neuroscience, or business administration.
Professor Benjamin Bergey is the advisor for the program. This field was the focus of his doctor of musical arts dissertation, and a subject that he studied through trainings run by Musicians Without Borders.