
Royden Loewen (born 26 October 1954 in
Steinbach, Manitoba
Steinbach () ( Plautdietsch: /ˈʃte̞nbah/ or /ˈʃte̞nbax/) is a city located about south-east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Steinbach is the third-largest city in Manitoba, with a population of 17,806, and the largest community in the E ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
) is a retired Canadian
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
Professor and Chair in
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...
Studies at the
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
. As a prominent historian in the field of Mennonite history, his book about the Mennonite Communities 1850-1930 is a leading publication about the emigration waves from south Russia to Canada.
Education and career
Loewen was born in Steinbach, Manitoba, the son of Dave Loewen, a poultry and wheat farmer and chairman of the
Steinbach Credit Union and Gertie Loewen, a homemaker and mother to six children. Loewen grew up in nearby
Blumenort, where he attended elementary school, before attending high school at
Steinbach Christian High School, and college at
Mennonite Brethren Bible College where he earned his university degrees and a
Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
scholarship at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
. He taught Junior and High School at
Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba's Interlake district and Canadian history at the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.[University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...](_blank)
.
Loewen visited Mennonite settlements in
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
several times for a book on anti-modernity in Canada and Latin America. He was involved in the two-year project ''Seven Points on Earth'', funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, where he visited seven Mennonite farm villages around the world with graduate students from around the world, exploring the environmental history of villages in Java, Siberia, Friesland, Bulawayo, Santa Cruz departmento (Bolivia), Kansas and Manitoba.
Loewen lives in Winnipeg with his wife Mary Ann, who teaches academic writing at the University of Winnipeg. He retired in 2020, and was replaced by Dr. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen as the new Chair in Mennonite Studies.
University of Winnipeg, Mennonite Studies
Bibliography
*''Mennonite Farmers: A Global History of Place and Sustainability'' University of Manitoba Press, 2021
*''Horse and Buggy Genius: Listening to Mennonites Contest the Modern World'' University of Manitoba Press, 2016
*''Village Among Nations: 'Canadian' Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006.'' University of Toronto Press, 2013
*''Seeking Places of Peace: North America; A Global Mennonite History.'' Good Books, 2012, co-authored by Steven Nolt
*''Immigrants in Prairie Cities: A History.'' University of Toronto Press, 2009, co-authored with Gerald Friesen (winner of the 2010 CHA Clio Prize for Prairie Canada)
*''Diaspora in the Countryside: Two Mennonite Communities in Mid-20th Century North America.'' University of Illinois Press and University of Toronto Press, 2006
*''Hidden Worlds: Revisiting the Mennonite Migrants of the 1870s.'' University of Manitoba Press and Newton, Bethel College, 2001 (finalist for the Margaret McWilliams book prize)
*''From the Inside Out: The Rural Worlds of Mennonite Diarists, 1863-1929.'' University of Manitoba Press, 1999
*''Family, Church and Market: A Mennonite Community in the Old and the New Worlds, 1850-1930.'' University Illinois Press and University Toronto Press, 1993 (winner of the 1995 AHA/CHA Albert Corey Prize)
*''Blumenort: A Mennonite Community in Transition, 1874-1983.'' Blumenort Mennonite Historical Society, 1983 (finalist for the Margaret McWilliams Book Prize)
Academic reviews of Loewen's works
*Seeking Places of Peace: Global Mennonite History Series, North America. Journal of Mennonite Studies. 2013, Vol. 31, p233-235. 3p. Historical Period: ca 1601 to 2012.
*Immigrants in Prairie Cities: Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth-Century Canada. Journal of International Migration & Integration. Aug 2012, Vol. 13 Issue 3, p399-400. 2p. Historical Period: 1901 to 2000. DOI: 10.1007/s12134-011-0204-6.
*Immigrants in Prairie Cities: Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth-Century Canada. H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Nov 2011, p1-4. 4p. Historical Period: ca 1910 to ca 2000
*Diaspora in the Countryside: Two Mennonite Communities and Mid-Twentieth-Century Rural Disjuncture. American Historical Review. Jun 2009, Vol. 114 Issue 3, p728-729. 2p. Historical Period: ca 1890 to 1950.
*Diaspora in the Countryside: Two Mennonite Communities and Mid-Twentieth Century Rural Disjuncture. Social History/Histoire Sociale. May 2008, Vol. 41 Issue 81, p293-295. 3p. Historical Period: 1930 to 1989.
*Diaspora in the Countryside: Two Mennonite Communities and Mid-Twentieth-Century Rural Disjuncture. Canadian Historical Review. Sep 2008, Vol. 89 Issue 3, p439-441. 3p. Historical Period: 1930 to 1989
*Hidden Worlds, Revisiting the Mennonite Migrants of the 1870s (Book). Journal of American Ethnic History. Fall 2003, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p124-125. 2p. Historical Period: 1870 to 1879.
*Hidden Worlds (Book). Western Historical Quarterly. Summer2003, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p237. 2p. Historical Period: 1870 to 1879.
*Family, Church and Market: A Mennonite Community in the Old and the New Worlds, 1850-1930. Social History/Histoire Sociale. Nov96, Vol. 29 Issue 58, p509-512. 4p. Historical Period: 1850 to 1930.
External links
*Royden Loewen's vita a
University of Winnipeg
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loewen, Royden
1954 births
Living people
University of Chicago alumni
Canadian Mennonites
Mennonite writers
20th-century Canadian historians
Writers from Steinbach, Manitoba
Anabaptism
21st-century Canadian historians
Academics in Manitoba
University of Winnipeg faculty