Author Archives: Laura Rediehs

About Laura Rediehs

I teach philosophy and peace studies at St. Lawrence University, and play flutes.
by | May 18, 2023 · 2:08 pm

Quaker Institute for the Future 2023

The Quaker Institute for the Future’s 2023 Summer Research Seminar will be held from July 17-21 using Zoom. Details and registration form are available at Summer Research Seminar 2023 – Quaker Institute for the Future. We welcome your expression of interest in presenting or facilitating by June 16.

There will be no registration fee; instead, participants in QIF videoconferencing seminars are encouraged to make a donation to QIF that is within their means. Youth Grants in the amount of $500 are available to support activist/researchers 18-35.

This year, which marks 20 years since QIF was established, the SRS will put less emphasis on presentation and discernment of individual research projects and more on theme-based discernment, led by groups of people interested in introducing and facilitating a theme-based session. Example themes of possible interest include:

  • Moving past colonial legacies and systemic racism
  • Climate change and related ecological crises
  • Economics, money, and the impossibility of infinite economic growth
  • Overcoming political and social polarization

The connections among issues are of special interest, since past failures to address any of the preceding issues have impeded progress on others. We also invite SRS participants to propose additional themes when they register. Following registration, SRS organizers will help facilitate brief preparatory sessions for those involved in each theme-based discussion.

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by | May 14, 2023 · 1:04 pm

FAHE Annual Conference 2023

Please join us and spread the word:

44th Annual Meeting of the Friends Association for Higher Education
Quakers, Colonization, and Decolonization


June 12-15, 2023Hosted by Haverford College, Haverford PA

Get more information and register here.

·       Full in-person overnight option

·       Commuter option

·       Zoom option

4 Hybrid Plenary Sessions:

·       International Decolonization Issues

·       Decolonizing and Land Back

·       Indian Boarding Schools

·       Insights for discernment moving forward.

25 Concurrent Presentations

·       4 session In-person series

·       4 session Zoom series

·       From “Quaker Colonists” to “the Future of a decolonized quakerism.”

·       From “Seeking Peace Without Land Justice” to “Researching Native American Boarding Schools.”

50 Presenters 

·       12 of Indigenous heritage representing 11 Turtle Island Nations

·       30 Quakers representing 13 Yearly Meetings and 5 continents

·       10 Colleges and Universities

All are welcome regardless of your academic background or current knowledge of these issues.

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by | May 5, 2023 · 11:39 am

QLHE: Cultivating Skillful Hope

Friends Association for Higher Education’s Quaker Leadings in Higher Education series presents:

Cultivating Skillful Hope:
Buddhist and Quaker practices that support transformation and liberation

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2023
7:30-9 pm, eastern
On Zoom

To register: tinyurl.com/FAHE-05-23-23

Daily we are asked to move in the direction of bravery, to stretch in the direction of goodness, kindness, forgiveness, patience, and vulnerability.  Yet life’s tender fragility, fear, and anxiety, and our own practiced self-sabotage can derail us from growing and thriving, leaving us fractured and afraid.

In this virtual event, we explore the wisdom of Buddhist mindfulness practices and Quaker faith and practice that support individual and collection transformation and liberation.  Centering practices to promote self-discovery, delight, spiritual discernment, compassionate inquiry, and renewal, you’ll leave the session with practices to support you in courageous and compassionate action to live with greater clarity and purpose.

Presenter:
Valerie Brown
Author, Facilitator, Coach
Founder and Chief Mindfulness Officer
Lead Smart Coaching, LLC

Moderator:
David R. Ross  
Research Professor
Department of Economics
Bryn Mawr College

Here is the poster for the event.

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by | May 5, 2023 · 11:08 am

Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival Recordings

THE 2023 BLACK QUAKER LIVES MATTER FILM FESTIVAL & FORUM

Recorded Fora Now Available 

The recorded events from the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum are now available. You can now watch all five installments of the 2023 festival-forum on this website. The organizers would also appreciate receiving any thoughts or feelings you might have on your experience attending this year’s program. Please fill out this brief exit survey–available here–if you have not already done so.

This year, the BlackQuaker Project set out to honor African American Quakers who made a difference throughout USA history: Bill Sutherland, Joan Countryman, Sarah Mapps Douglass, Benjamin Banneker, and Paul Robeson, a descendant of some 300 years of Quakers. The recordings include the following content corresponding to each event: 1) an introduction by Dr. Harold D. Weaver, festival-forum curator, director, and host; (2) a post-screening dialogue between guest experts; (3) an audience Q & A session; (4) a closing from Dr. Weaver; and, in limited cases, (5) a short postscript presentation on our ministry’s foci. Please note that for legal reasons, our recordings do not feature any of the films screened this year. The website offers information on where you can access the films, curated by Dr. Weaver for this year’s program.

Please write to theblackquakerproject@gmail.com with any comments or questions.

BQLMFF Recordings GraphicDownload

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by | April 26, 2023 · 4:07 pm

QLHE: Deconstructing the Master’s Tools

Deconstructing the Master’s Tools:
Taking apart the colonial-settler quaker Master’s House

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Audre Lorde’s 1979 response to white women academics, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”, resonates deeply in the field of colonial-settlerism of Turtle Island. Lorde was explicit about the use of racism, misogyny & heterosexism to build the ivory tower, but how were these tools used to indoctrinate and assimilate the indigenous population of Turtle Island on the USA Reservation Agency?

Presenter:
tom kunesh
Standing Rock lakota oyate desendant
Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy
BA, MA, MDiv.
University of Minnesota
Starr King School for the Ministry

Moderator:
Trayce N. Peterson
MA student/instructor
Human Rights Practice
University of Arizona

Bio:
tom was a russian & farsi linguist in the US navy, & has degrees in spanish, religious studies, & atheism & liberation theology, from the University of Minnesota & Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley. tom’s mom is enrolled Standing Rock lakota & had 13 kids. He attends sweats & Nashville Friends Meeting. He currently works with Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy.

Here are archived materials from this event.

2023.04.25 Masters Tools PosterDownload

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by | April 10, 2023 · 3:25 pm

QLHE: Listening Into Relationship (Rescheduled)

Friends Association for Higher Education’s Quaker Leadings in Higher Education series presented:

Listening into Relationship:
Practices that Connect in the Secular Classroom
(Rescheduled from January)

In this workshop, the facilitator models how to use contemplative listening practices that help educators bring alive course content and help students get to know themselves and their peers.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Presenter:
Alice Elliott-Sowaal (she/her; they/them)

Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
San Francisco State University

Moderator:
David R. Ross  (he/him)
Research Professor
Department of Economics
Bryn Mawr College

Here are archived materials from this event.

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by | April 10, 2023 · 3:16 pm

QLHE: Service-Learning Programs

Friends Association for Higher Education’s Quaker Leadings in Higher Education series presented:

Service-Learning Programs and Opportunities for Ethical Engagement

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Practices to advance community-campus engagement that support more just, inclusive, sustainable communities and positive partnerships across disciplines and geographies. 

Made possible by the members of  FAHE.  Your voluntary contribution in support of FAHE and this lecture series is greatly appreciated.

Presenters:

Christen Higgins Clougherty (she/her)
Founder and Director, The Nobis Project

Eric Hartman (he/him)
Executive Director, Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, Haverford College

Moderator:

Walter Sullivan (he/him)
Director, Quaker Affairs, Haverford College

Poster for this event:

FAHE – Feb 23 – Service-LearningDownload

Here is the video of this event, and other related materials.

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by | April 3, 2023 · 5:46 pm

Pendle Hill Hiring Development Director

Seeking Experienced Fundraiser to Lead in Philanthropic Strategy

Pendle Hill is a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center located on 24 beautiful acres in unceded Lenni-Lenape territory outside of Philadelphia. Pendle Hill seeks to create peace with justice in the world by transforming lives through learning opportunities, retreat, and community created on our campus and in virtual settings.

Pendle Hill is seeking its next Director of Development to lead in philanthropic strategy across various funds and fundraising initiatives. The Director of Development reports to the Executive Director and is a member of Pendle Hill’s senior Administrative Team, contributing to the leadership of Pendle Hill as a whole. Pendle Hill’s fund development is integrally linked with its education programs and marketing efforts, and the Director of Development will consult with members of both teams to advance Pendle Hill’s interests in these areas. This director supervises a team, including an Annual Fund Officer, Advancement Associate and a consultant working on grants.

Compensation is a $79,000-$90,000 yearly salary depending on experience, and Pendle Hill offers a variety of generous benefits.

The ideal candidate has at least five years’ experience in non-profit fundraising including success in securing 5- and 6-figure gifts, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and strong working knowledge of and experience in planned giving. The ability to design data metrics for effective analysis, excellent time management, and a strong grasp of the legal requirements of gift accounting and administration are also key to the role.

Review of applications will take place on a rolling basis with priority given to those that are received before Monday, May 15, 2023. For more information about this position, qualifications, benefits, application instructions, and more please visit the full posting.

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by | March 28, 2023 · 10:28 am

Final Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival Event

The American Friends Service Committee & The BlackQuaker Project Present

THE 2023 BLACK QUAKER LIVES MATTER FILM FESTIVAL & FORUM

Celebrating the 125th Birthday of Paul Robeson!

Paul Robeson: Tribute To An Artist (1978) & The Proud Valley (1940)

Saturday, 8 April, 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time over Zoom

The 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum will soon conclude with a finale dedicated to the renaissance man: scholar and star athlete; screen, stage, and recording star; linguist and orator, Paul Robeson (1898-1976). Join us one final time on Saturday, 8 April, at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time for not one–but two–screenings in honor of the beleaguered leader’s 125th birthday. We will first screen the 1978 Academy Award winning short documentary, Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, narrated by film star Sidney Poitier. Following this 30-minute program, we will screen the 1940 UK feature, The Proud Valley, the film of which Robeson is the proudest of having made.  Afterwards, Dr. Harold D. Weaver will facilitate a post-screening discussion with two of the world’s leading experts on Robeson: University of Houston Professor Dr. Gerald Horne, author of the 2016 biography, Paul Robeson: The Artist As Revolutionary, and Yale University Professor Dr. Charles Musser, author of numerous publications on Robeson in cinema. All three scholars will participate in an audience Q & A following their discussion. On this occasion of his 125th birthday, we continue our commitment in 2023–after more than 50 years–to return Mr. Robeson to his rightful place in history.           

Register here for our final Saturday, 8 April, screening and forum which will begin precisely at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time over Zoom webinar.  You will receive a confirmation email upon registration and a Zoom invitation 24 hours in advance of the event  Programming begins precisely at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Attendees will receive a confirmation email upon registration and a link to join our webinar 24 hours in advance of the event.  We invite registrants to join our webinar at 12:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time for a prologue of songs by revolutionary artist himself, Paul Robeson. Please write to us at theblackquakerproject@gmail.com with your comments and questions. 

Peace and blessings,

The BlackQuaker Project

PR 2023 BQLMFF-1 (1)Download

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by | March 19, 2023 · 9:34 pm

FAHE 2023 Conference Registration

44th Annual Meeting of the Friends Association for Higher Education

Quakers, Colonization, and Decolonization
June 12-15, 2023
Hosted, in-person and over Zoom, by Haverford College, Haverford PA
Registration is now open.

If you are ready to register for the conference, here is the full registration information!

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