Dr. Maxwell Kennel

Senior Research Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Far-Right Studies

Director of Pandora Press and Editor of the Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies Series.

Co-Investigator on the CREATE Project and Affiliate at the Arcand Centre for Health Equity at NOSM University.

Author of Postsecular History (Palgrave, 2022) and Ontologies of Violence (Brill, 2023), and editor of Astrid von Schlachta’s Anabaptists. Trans. Vic Thiessen (Pandora, 2024), and Robert Friedmann’s Design for Living (Wipf & Stock, 2017).

Pandora Press (Publishing Project, Lecture Series, and Book Series)

In late 2021 I took over operations of a small independent publishing company called Pandora Press that specializes in scholarly and popular works in the area of Mennonite Studies and the history of sixteenth century Anabaptist and radical groups in medieval Europe. The press has published landmark books like C. Arnold Snyder’s Anabaptist History and Theology and Astrid von Schlachta’s From the Tyrol to North America: The Hutterite Story Through the Centuries, and there are many more on the way.

Since Fall 2021 I have brought over 125 titles from the Pandora Press backlist back into print, compiled and designed a new Pandora Press Catalogue, and commissioned a new logo and illustration for the press. See here for a more detailed update on Anabaptist Historians, and here for a recent interview with the Conrad Grebel University College alumni series.

As the new Director of Pandora Press I am interested in working with authors who write critically, creatively, and rigorously on topics related to religion and history in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2022 the press published nine titles, including the first history of Mennonites in Quebec, an anthology and new instalment in the Bridgefolk Mennonite-Catholic dialogue series, a new edition of a textbook on spiritual care in hospitals, a pamphlet on the refugee crisis and Community Peacemaker Teams, and a history of Mennonite Central Committee’s peace advocacy group in the US.

Our two bestselling titles in the last quarter of 2022 included a book of thought-provoking reflections on hymns by Carla Klassen called These Songs We Sing, and a unique philosophical novel by Ron Tiessen called Menno in Athens – the latter of which was publicly endorsed by Margaret Atwood on Twitter.

Anabaptists and Philosophy Roundtable Lecture Series

Pandora Press is a proud sponsor of the Anabaptists and Philosophy Roundtable lecture series, which features scholars discussing Anabaptist life and thought in relation to philosophical themes, topics, and methods. The series is sponsored by the Doopsgezind Seminarium, the Biblical and Religious Studies Division of Fresno Pacific University, the Institute of Mennonite Studies, and Pandora Press. Our events typically include a paper presentation and respondent, followed by open discussion among participants. We hold events online three to four times per year.

Maxwell Kennel, “Anabaptism contra Philosophy: On Violence, Enmity, and Interdisciplinarity.” Anabaptists and Philosophy Roundtable Lecture Series no. 2. April 27, 2022.

Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies (New Series)
Series Editor: Dr. Maxwell Kennel

In mid-2023 the important and longstanding Pandora Press series in “Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies” was re-launched as an independent scholarly book series, for which I serve as the lead editor in consultation with an editorial board.

  • Volume 1. Gary Waite, Anti-Anabaptist Polemics: Dutch Anabaptism and the Devil in England, 1531-1660. Pandora Press, 2023. Order here.
  • Volume 2. Edmund Pries, Anabaptist Oath Refusal: Basel, Bern, and Strasbourg, 1525-1538. Pandora Press, 2023. Order here.
  • Volume 3. Cornelius J. Dyck, Hans de Ries: A Study in Second Generation Dutch Anabaptism. Introduction by Mary S. Sprunger. Pandora Press, 2023. Order here.
  • Volume 4. Linda A. Huebert Hecht, Women in Early Austrian Anabaptism: Their Days, Their Stories. 2nd Edition. Pandora Press, 2023. Order here.
  • Volume 5. J. Lawrence Burkholder, Mennonite Ethics: From Isolation to Engagement. 2nd Edition. Edited by Lauren Friesen. Pandora Press, 2023. Order here.
  • Volume 6. The Anabaptist Lodestar: Interpretations of Anabaptism on the Eve of a 500-Year Celebration. Edited and Translated by Leonard Gross. Pandora Press, 2024. Order here.
  • Volume 7. James M. Stayer, Anabaptism, Radicalism, and the Reformation: Collected Essays. Edited by Geoffrey Dipple, Sharon Judd, and Michael Driedger. Pandora Press, 2024. Order here.
  • Volume 8. “Elisabeth’s Manly Courage”: Testimonials and Songs of Martyred Anabaptist Women in the Low Countries. Edited and Translated by Hermina Joldersma and Louis Grijp. Reprint of the 2001 original with a new preface by Christina Moss. Pandora Press, 2024.
  • Volume 9. Thomas Kaufmann, The Anabaptists: From the Radical Reformers to the Baptists. Translated by Christina Moss. Edited by Maxwell Kennel. Pandora Press, 2024.
  • Volume 10. Astrid von Schlachta, Anabaptists: From the Reformation to the 21st Century. Translated by Victor Thiessen. Edited by Maxwell Kennel. Pandora Press, 2024.