Category Archives: Uncategorized

Please join us for FAHE’s new discussion series Quaker Leadings in Higher Education.

The inaugural event, “Turning on a Quaker Dime: Lessons Learned for Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic” was held via Zoom on Tuesday, May 26, 7:00 to 8:30 pm, EDT.

The panelists were Stephen Angell, Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion; Francisco Burgos, Director of Education and incoming Executive Director at Pendle Hill; and Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Provost & Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Sociology at Swarthmore College. Donn Weinholtz, Professor of Education & Director of Educational Leadership at the University of Hartford and Convener of FAHE’s Advancement and Membership Committee was moderator.

Watch the video of the event.

Read more: Turning on a Quaker Dime

The Friends Association for Higher Education conference, which was to be held at Earlham College this June, has been postponed. The exact dates are still being determined but it will be held at Earlham College and the Earlham School of Religion, possibly June 8-10, 2021. We will have the same focus planned for this year: Peacemaking and the Liberal Arts. 

As a non-profit membership organization, FAHE relies on conference fees and membership dues for most of its budget. Please stay engaged with FAHE during this year by becoming a member or renewing your membership.

We’ll continue to publish our bimonthly newsletter and are working on finding ways to stay engaged with our members during these challenging times.

“Peacemaking and the Liberal Arts”

The Quaker peace testimony calls us to work actively for the just and peaceful transformation of conflict, and for the removal of causes of violence and injustice. As educators at Quaker and non-Quaker institutions, what roles do peacemaking and social concern play in your context of higher education? Given the changing landscape of higher education when there is pressure to make education focus more intentionally on career-oriented preparation, what is the future of programs (both curricular and co-curricular) specializing in peacemaking and social justice?

When we’re able to determine new dates, please join us as we consider these topics, as well as others that concern Friends testimonies in higher education.

FAHE is pleased to announce the sixth volume in our book series Quakers and the Disciplines. Quakers, Creation Care, and Sustainability gathers over two dozen Quaker authors and scholars to address some of today’s pressing concerns in ecology, creation care, and sustainability.

Beginning with historical Quaker themes on the subject, essays also consider developing a Quaker ecotheology, discuss Quaker approaches to the environment within academic disciplines, and share stories of sustainability—both individually and organizationally. The book includes discussion questions at the end of each section and an expansive bibliography.

We hope this volume will prove useful to study groups, classroom teachers and readers concerned about the environment, climate change, and the role of people of faith in caring for the planet.

“Rooted in deep spirituality and practical experience, the chapters canvas the topic from history to theology, from academics to activism. I have never seen the case for a distinctively Quaker call to stewardship presented with this breadth and force before.”
― Philip Clayton, Ingram Professor of Theology at the Claremont School of Theology

Quakers, Creation Care, and Sustainability is available from Amazon.

FAHE is pleased to be gathering for our 40th conference at our member institutions Pendle Hill and Swarthmore College, June 13-16.

We’ll be considering our conference of “Truth and Inspiration” through over 25 presentations and workshops.  See the conference schedule and 2019 Conference Program. Read more about our four plenary speakers: Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee; Maurice Eldridge, Vice Chair, The Chester Fund for Education and the Arts and Pendle Hill board member;  Frances Rose Blase, Provost of Haverford College, and Jon Watts, producer of the video series Quaker Speak.

As we look forward to our annual conference in June at Pendle Hill and Swarthmore College, near Philadelphia, FAHE has launched a fundraising campaign to offer scholarships for students, adjunct faculty and independent scholars to attend.

FAHE is committed to promoting the Quaker ideals of equality, social justice and peace in higher education.  The opportunity to share academic interests in a spiritually nourishing environment is unique and precious; and in an era of tightening budgets, we want to welcome the newest generation of post-secondary teachers and scholars into the profession and our FAHE community. 

Last year, donations to FAHE for scholarships enabled Stanley Chagala Ngesa, a Kenyan Quaker studying at Earlham School of Religion, to attend our conference at Wilmington College in Ohio.  Here’s a video as he reflects on the benefits that he experienced from attending the conference. 

We would appreciate your gift of any amount! To donate, click here.  Thank you!

Registration for FAHE’s 2019 conference at Swarthmore College and Pendle Hill is now open!

FAHE invites you to join teachers, scholars and educational administrators on the beautiful campuses of Swarthmore College and Pendle Hill near Philadelphia, for our annual conference.

We will consider the theme “Truth and Inspiration” and other topics of interest to Friends and educators through presentations, panel discussions, and three plenary speakers: Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee; Maurice Eldridge, Vice Chair, The Chester Fund for Education and the Arts and Pendle Hill board member; and Frances Rose Blase, Provost of Haverford College.

The conference also offers a disciplinary theme, as we prepare the seventh volume in our “Quakers and the Disciplines” book series. Sessions will address the theme of Quakers, Social Work and Justice Concerns. Conference presentations provide an opportunity to draft an article for inclusion in the volume.

Interested in presenting a session? Proposals are being accepted on-line through March 31.

Scholarship support is offered to graduate students and adjunct faculty. Please contact FAHE for details.

40th Annual Meeting of the Friends Association for Higher Education
June 13-16, 2019
Swarthmore College and Pendle Hill
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Conference Theme: Truth and Inspiration

The Friends Association for Higher Education was conceived in 1979 by a group of educators seeking to bring together faculty, staff and administrators at historically Quaker colleges and universities, as well as Friends teaching at other institutions. Since its founding, FAHE has met annually at Friends institutions of higher education around the US and beyond, engaging educators and scholars in ongoing dialogue around Quaker concerns in higher education. From the very beginning, Friends have embraced a strong commitment to education, and Friends schools and colleges have attracted and welcomed both Quaker and non-Quaker educators alike who resonate with the historic Friends commitment to educating the whole person, guided by the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and (especially in recent decades) sustainability.

This coming summer, from June 13-16, 2019, FAHE will hold its annual conference at Swarthmore College and Pendle Hill, near Philadelphia. The FAHE Program Committee invites proposals from faculty, staff and administrators for presentations related to the conference theme of Truth and Inspiration, or other topics reflecting Quaker concerns in higher education. As a tool for seeking truth as part of corporate discernment and decision-making, Quakers offer queries to provide focus, direction, and inspiration. Queries to consider in envisioning and crafting proposals include:

• What are truth and truth-seeking, and how would you define these in your discipline and work?

• In an era where truth is under constant assault, how do we navigate, in and outside the classroom, the dangers posed by lying, information suppression, misrepresentation, and conspiracy theories?

• How do we navigate between apparently conflicting truths, values or stories?

• How has your campus responded to, or been involved in, the free speech controversies that have engulfed campuses around the country?

• In the face of growing threats to human and civil rights, a global environmental crisis, mindless consumption, and opioid addiction, what does it mean to speak truth to power?

• In an era of lies, deception, and abuse of power, how do we prevent ourselves and our students from succumbing to cynicism, hopelessness and despair?

• How do we inspire curiosity, wonder, awe, and a love of learning in our work with students in and outside the classroom?

• What values do we seek to honor in our work as educators and scholars, and what is the basis for these values?

• Wherein do you find inspiration, meaning, or truth?

The conference also offers a publication opportunity: FAHE’s Quakers and the Disciplines book series

Presenters can propose a presentation topic on the theme of the upcoming seventh volume, Quakers, Social Work and Justice Concerns. Conference presentations provide an opportunity to draft an article for inclusion in the volume. Editors Max Carter, Daniel Rhodes, Jennifer Buck, and Erin Johnson offer some ideas for topics:

+ Early Friends and social concerns
+ Concerns for the poor (John Bellers, John Woolman)
+ Concerns for the imprisoned (Elizabeth Fry, etc.)
+ Early concerns regarding slavery (George Keith, Germantown Friends, etc.)
+ Concerns for the mentally ill (the Tukes, Philadelphia Hospital, etc.)
+ Pennsylvania—the “Holy Experiment” as a haven for conscientious refugees
+ Quakers and the abolition of slavery
+ Women’s rights and suffrage
+ Temperance and domestic concerns
+ Reconciliation and peace work
+ Reconstruction and post-war relief work
+ Jane Addams: innovator in the field of social work
+ The AFSC and Quaker Peace & Service
+ Quakers and the United Nations
+ Quaker missions and social concerns
+ Quakers and Gandhi and King
+ Quakers, Ramallah and Palestine

Proposal Guidelines

Suggested Length: 250 words
Information to Include: Name, title, institution, type of presentation (traditional lecture, discussion), title of presentation, technology needs, presentation description
Deadline: January 31, 2019
Please submit proposals online.

The 2018 Quaker College Fair is on Saturday, September 29th! Come to Friends Center in Philadelphia to hear a discussion on the college admissions process and how to find the right school. Panelists are Duleep Deosthale, Dean of LIU Global, Grant Calder, Co-Director of College Counseling, Friends Central School, Dennis Kelly, Vice President of Enrollment, Wilmington College, Meg Rose, Earlham College alumna, and David Harrington Watt, Professor of Quaker Studies, Haverford College.

Then meet with reps from historically Quaker colleges, including Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Earlham, Guilford, Malone, Swarthmore, Wilmington, LIU Global and Earlham School of Religion, plus get information from Whittier College, George Fox University, William Penn University, Friends University and Barclay College.

This free event takes place at noon on Saturday, September 29 at Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia.   The Quaker College Fair is hosted by FAHE and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Student registration is open now: https://tinyurl.com/QuakerCollegeFair

FAHE is pleased to announce the publication of Quakers, Politics and Economics, the fifth volume in our book series Quakers and the Disciplines, available in both print and Kindle editions.  Editors for this volume are David R. Ross of Bryn Mawr College and Michael T. Snarr of Wilmington College.

For over 350 years, Quakers have offered unapologetic prophetic witness to the formation of public policy and to scholarly discourse in political science and economics. This volume offers 18 new essays on aspects of that engagement, with topics including:

• Religion as a public witness, not just a private commitment.
• Explorations of the moral dimensions of economic and political life.
• Exemplary thought and practice in the lives of individual Quakers.
• The blend of service, advocacy, and activism experienced by Friends.
• The role of faith in defining and building a just social order.
• The efforts of Quaker organizations and movements to bring about political and economic reforms.
• Visions of constructive and compassionate ways to address global challenges and crises.

The combination of essays and queries is designed to make the book serviceable within classroom and discussion settings and useful to scholars crossing disciplinary boundaries.

         “Most people associate Quakers with peace; fewer know the breadth of how we as Friends have practiced our faith from an               economic perspective. Simplicity and integrity, of course; but this important volume–Quakers, Politics, and Economics–                     offers a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the historical, intellectual, environmental, political and spiritual                           wholeness of economic life. As we confront the cultural and social shifts of our global society that hungers for peace and                       justice, the economic choices we make in public policy will have significant impact on the welfare of the planet and people                   throughout the world. This eclectic collection of essays offers material for both thoughtful discussion and spiritual reflection.”

                                                                                                                                          ~ Diane Randall, Executive Secretary
                                                                                                                                              Friends Committee on National Legislation

Quakers, Politics and Economics is available through Amazon, as is the entire Quakers and the Disciplines series. Special pricing for  book club use is available by contacting FAHE.