\u201cIf there\u2019s something scholarly happening, we want to know about it!\u201d says Kyle Gingrich Hiebert, co-coordinator of the Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network (AMSN).<\/p>\n
The Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network <\/strong><\/a>connects students and professors within a network of networks. It fosters global connections in research and to provide a contact point for shared information and resources.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, I\u2019m at Conrad Grebel University College, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada,\u201d says Kyle Gingrich Hiebert, \u201cbut I may not know what is happening at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada \u2013 which is so close.\u201d The network aims to fill in that gap.<\/p>\n Begun in the 1990s by Lydia Harder Neufeld at the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC), the original purpose was to help graduate students, particularly at the doctoral level, to connect with other Anabaptist-Mennonite scholars in their field.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a response to the need for more broad networking beyond the narrow confines of traditional Swiss\/Russian Mennonite scholarship as well as becoming more inclusive of women,\u201d says Lydia Neufeld Harder.<\/p>\n Dormant for a while, the network has renewed energy under Kyle Gingerich Hiebert and Jamie Pitts (directors, respectively of TMTC and the Institute of Mennonite Studies at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary).<\/p>\n AMSN is not only for scholars in Anabaptist-Mennonite theology and history, but also scholars in any field who identify as Anabaptist-Mennonite and find linkages between their research and their faith.<\/p>\n Jamie Pitts first connected with AMSN as a PhD student new to the Mennonite family. Receiving newsletters from AMSN, he no longer felt alone. \u201cI felt like part of a bigger conversation.\u201d He wants to help other scholars in far-flung corners of the world to experience this kind of connection.<\/p>\n \u201cAMSN (Anabaptist Mennonite Scholars Network) helps me to see how the faith and knowledge of global Anabaptist scholarly communities are practiced in various contexts and interconnected with each other,\u201d says Hyejung Jessie Yum, a network member who represents Korean Anabaptist Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n