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Editors Don Smith and Abigail Adams announce the latest edition of Quaker Higher Education, FAHE’s biannual journal.
How do we live in the world? How do we communicate with each other? How do we put our Quaker values into action, as teachers, scholars, and citizens? The articles presented here, all developed from presentations given at the 2016 conference of FAHE at the Woodbrooke Study Centre, Birmingham, UK, attempt to grapple with these questions.
We begin our issue with an article that reports findings from a qualitative study of college programs in peace studies, whose numbers have been dwindling. William Boudreau interviewed directors of these programs as part of his doctoral research, and he shares with us their inspirations and challenges.
Quakers have not always been… comfortable… with the role of the arts in spirituality. I am reminded of that classic scene in Friendly Persuasion, where Gregory Peck tries to hide from Meeting Elders the presence of an organ in his house, even while it is being played. Mark Russ, Nurturing Friends and Meeting Tutor at Woodbrooke, shares his experiences as a music teacher, and suggests ways that “musicking” and “Quakering” can be mutually beneficial.
Elizabeth Imafuji, Writing Program Director for Anderson University in Indiana, reflects on the role that digital writing can play in putting faith into action. She finds interesting and perhaps surprising parallels to the ways in which Early Friends used public writing to instruct, exhort, and chastise. The tools have changes, but we still seek connections with each other through written missives.
Our last two articles are written versions of two of the plenary speeches that invited guests shared with attenders at the FAHE Woodbrooke conference. We are delighted to be able to share them with you. Both essays address how faith intersects with the wider world. Gerald Hewitson leads us through a personal reflection on how life can be viewed as a journey of compassion. Paul Rogers shares brief reflections on the global political and environmental challenges, as explored in more depth in his recent book, and indicates where he finds hope in a very complicated situation.
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Editors Don Smith and Abigail Adams announce the latest edition of Quaker Higher Education, FAHE’s biannual journal.
Humans are storytelling animals. Our worldview and identity are created and shaped by the stories we tell about our experiences, our history, our culture, and our beliefs. Several of the articles in this issue of QHE pertain to the role of story and storytelling in the history and culture of the Society of Friends.
Ed Higgins, professor emeritus of English at George Fox University, has studied the ways in which Quakers have appeared in Science Fiction stories. How do our testimonies play out in fantastical settings with alien creatures or when confronted with the ethical dilemmas of time travel? He shares with us here some comparisons of four authors’ visions.
Marva Hoopes, Christian Education specialist at Malone University, teaches in educational ministry and theology. She has also been a pastor for 26 years in the Evangelical Friends Church. She shares with us an example of storytelling with Quaker Journals through the amazing life story of Susanna Morris.
Rebecca Mays teaches in a U.S State Department-funded program on religious pluralism at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Ron Rembert teaches in the Religion/Philosophy Department at Wilmington College. Together they have compiled an article that combines the story of the life of Hannah Whithall Smith with an unusual analysis of conflict. They use queries to challenge us to turn our obstacles into assets to overcome cultural conflict.
Donn Weinholtz, Professor of Educational Leadership in the Department of Education at the University of Hartford, and Diane Weinholtz, science teacher at Watkinson School in Hartford, CT, share with us a report on a program to teach conflict resolution skills to teachers in Rwanda. This exciting project is in its early stages, and the Weinholtzes tell us how it came about, and where they hope it will go.
Finally, writer and Assistant Professor of English Mylène Dressler, of Guilford College, shares with us a piece of story from the American Southwest, reminding us that when we learn how to look, we can find treasure in unexpected places. Mylène has published three novels and is hard at work on number four.
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Editors Don Smith and Abigail Adams are pleased to announce the latest edition of Quaker Higher Education, FAHE’s biannual journal.
What is the careful work that we as educators, artists and scholars must do to foster “Aha!” moments and perspective shifts for our students, publics, and colleagues? How do we draw on the grace of language in poetry, theatre, and song, as well as the tools of consensus, forensics, and Biblical exegesis to take on tough conversations, realities and truths? The six essays and works of this Fall 2016 issue of Quaker Higher Education help us address these queries.
Bill Jolliff, poet and professor of English at George Fox University, provides guideposts for enjoying and growing from contemporary poetry that offer delight, identification, transcendence, and epiphany.
Darlene R. Graves, Professor of Digital Media and Communication Arts at Liberty University, takes us beyond the Friends’ historical aversion to the “lively arts” by immersing the development of performances in Quaker process and queries.
Guilford College associate professor of biology Bryan W. Brendly describes how the tools of forensic anthropology help his students bring the Friends testimony of integrity and truth-telling, to the secular task of investigating crime.
From Earlham College, Kelly Burk, Director of Religious Life, and Trish Eckert, Director of the Newlin Quaker Center, carefully outline the steps and resources that they and their students have found useful when speaking one’s truth, listening to others’ truth, and moving forward in (very) difficult conversations.
Stephen Pothoff, associate professor of religion and philosophy at Wilmington College, walks us carefully through the confounding Markan account of Jesus cursing the fig tree. His Biblical and historical “forensics” reveal how Jesus was speaking truth to imperial Rome.
Finally, we present The Healing Blues Project, a multimedia engagement with homelessness, co-created by Ted Efremoff, assistant professor of Digital Photography and Video Art at Central Connecticut State University.
QHE is published twice a year, in the spring and the fall. If you would like to discuss an idea for an article, contact us at dsmith4@guilford.edu or adams@ccsu.edu.
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How do our journeys and experiences in academia inform us as Friendly scholars, teachers and students? How do we move beyond the Quaint Quaker and into cyberspace as Friends, with “the grace of great things”? The essays in the Spring, 2015 edition of Quaker Higher Education, which grew out of the June 2014 conference of the Friends Association for Higher Education at Haverford College, address these matters forthrightly.
Janet Gray, who teaches in the Women’s and Gender Studies program at The College of New Jersey, shares with us her process and trepidation in approaching online education, finding that the work of Rose Braidotti on The Posthuman (2013) helped her “become” open to the possibilities of such teaching.
Julie Meadows, who runs The Generous Reader, a “midwifery service” for academic writers, also shares her journey of living the Quaker values of peace and integrity by practicing plain speech, honesty and intellectual hospitality in the academic settings so infused with doubt and critique, of creating “cracks” in others’ work.
Due Quach, an MBA and founder of Calm Clarity, provides us with an insider’s view of the experience of firstgeneration students who have made it to college against all odds, including through harrowing experiences—and then find themselves unable to realize their potential. Her work and mission is to develop a mindfulness process for such students, using the tools of neuroscience and meditation practices.
Diane Reynolds, Ohio University Eastern, digs into the evolution of the term and practice of plain-ness for Friends, beginning with its geographical references and unearthing the development of the pastoral romance and anti-modern posture that attached to Quakers.
Finally, we are pleased to include two poems by the late Joan Joffe Hall, of Storrs Friends Meeting in Connecticut. Dr. Hall was the first woman hired for a tenure-track position in the English Dept. of the University of Connecticut, in 1963. She helped found the women’s studies program at UConn, as well as the creative writing and film study programs. A tireless advocate of women’s rights and gender equity, she was also a gifted poet.
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The Quaker Higher Education, Autumn 2014 edition considers how to establish and nurture right relationships. Most of the pieces in this issue grew out of the June 2014 conference of the Friends Association for Higher Education at Haverford College. This year’s conference included many passionate and careful explorations of how we can support each other, our students, and our society.
This is a milestone issue of QHE! The founder and editor for many years, Donn Weinholtz, has decided to pass the torch to other hands. We begin this issue with a letter of appreciation from all of FAHE for Donn’s work on this journal.
Donn remains an active member of FAHE, however. He currently serves as Assistant Clerk of FAHE’s Executive Committee, is a member of our newly-formed Book Committee (having co-edited, with Don Smith and Jeff Dudiak, FAHE’s first book, Quaker Perspectives in Higher Education), and is FAHE’s liaison to New England Yearly Meeting.
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FAHE is pleased to announce the publication of its first book. Quaker Perspectives in Higher Education is composed of articles drawn from the first fourteen issues of Quaker Higher Education (QHE), FAHE’s biannual scholarly journal, which the association launched in 2007. Initiated as a vehicle for promoting communication among Quaker scholars, WHE has become a popular venue for sharing many of the finest papers and write-ups of presentations from the annual FAHE conference, products that previously too often disappeared following each conference’s conclusion. It also solicits articles addressing a wide variety of topics and issues of interest to Friends. QHE is published in April and November of each year.
Quaker Perspectives in Higher Education is available through Barnes and Noble’s website and Amazon. Proceeds will accrue to FAHE to support the association’s future publishing efforts.
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The Spring 2014 edition of Quaker Higher Education looks at Quaker-focused, student leadership initiatives. Matt Hisrich leads off with a description of the Quaker College Leadership Gathering hosted last summer by Earlham School of Religion. Matt’s overview is followed by reflections on the gathering from the following students who attended; Riley Foley (Wilmington College), Grace Sullivan and Kiernan Colby (Guilford College), and David Reid (George Fox University.)
Next, Deborah Shaw (Guilford College), Jamie Johnson (George Fox University), Walter Hjelt Sullivan (Haverford College), Dan Kasztelan (Wilmington College), and Trish Eckert (Earlham College) provide descriptions of the Quaker leadership programs at their particular schools. As you read, you will see some similarities across colleges, but also recognize differences that make each of the school’s initiatives distinctive. You will also likely further appreciate the benefits of convening students and advisors from these programs. Hopefully, our Quaker colleges will continue to offer opportunities for Quaker student leaders to gather and learn from each other.
The final article in the issue, by Rebecca Leuchak, is a companion piece to The Art of Silence which Rebecca published in QHE last spring. Her exploration of silence is deeply insightful.
This issue is framed by memorials for two beloved and important figures in Quaker higher education, who both passed away in February. It opens with Wilmington College’s memorial minute for T. Canby Jones. An FAHE founder and beloved faculty member at Wilmington College, Canby inspired generations of students, colleagues and fellow Friends.
We close the issue with a poem from Stanford Searl’s new book, Quaker Poems. Stan dedicated this particular poem to another beloved Friend, brilliant scholar and a force of nature, Newton Garver.
