Lowell Ewert, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, earned a J.D. from Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, and an LL.M with a human rights emphasis from American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, DC. He practiced poverty, family law and criminal defense law for a number of years in Kansas before embarking on a 11 year career in international development during which time he worked and lived in Lebanon, Jordan, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Kazakhstan. As a development practitioner, he examined and advocated for a rights-based-approach to development that empowered civil society actors to be able to promote more impactful interventions serving the interests of those without access to formal systems of power. He subsequently consulted on rights-based project targeting working children in Egypt.
Since coming to the University of Waterloo in 1997, he directed the Peace and Conflict Studies program for 20 years during which time the BA in PACS, Master of PACS, and Certificate Program in Conflict Management were launched. He has taught courses at the University of Waterloo in human rights, civil society, human rights and business, conflict resolution, policing, fair trade, disability and peace, the connection between math and peace, as well as an introductory course in peace studies.
The focus of his research has been on the linkage of peace to law and human rights. He has co-edited two manuscripts Civil Society: A Foundation for Sustainable Economic Development and Local Ownership, Global Change: Will Civil Society Change the World? and written a number of chapters related to human rights, development, health and peace. He is currently working on a co-edited book Peace is Everyone’s Business, that explores how every discipline and vocation can be mobilized more effectively for peace.