Tag Archives: Quaker

Dr. Sa’ed Atshan to return to Swarthmore College and the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies

Prof. Sa'ed Atshan — Professor Sa’ed Atshan

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we share that Dr. Sa’ed Atshan will return to the faculty of Swarthmore College and that he will serve as Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies in the fall semester. We are so excited that future generations of students will benefit from his exceptional teaching and mentoring.

Dr. Atshan (Swarthmore ’06), a renowned anthropologist and peace and conflict studies scholar, has extensive teaching experience at institutions including Birzeit, Brown, Emory, MIT, Swarthmore, Tufts, and UC Berkeley.

He joined our program in 2015 and contributed mightily to its development as a department. His popular classes included the introductory course; Crisis Resolution in the Middle East; Gender, Sexuality, and Social Change; Humanitarianism; and more. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict course included five consecutive and transformational embedded study trips to Israel/Palestine, not to mention a related and well-attended annual film series. He also co-organized a large conference on resisting anti-Semitism with Rabbi Michael Ramberg, Swarthmore’s Jewish Advisor.

Cover of book, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

A widely sought public intellectual with a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, MA in Social Anthropology, and Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, Dr. Atshan’s areas of focus include peace and conflict, anthropology, Palestine/Israel, and gender and sexuality. He is author, co-author, or editor of award-winning books, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (2020 Stanford University Press), The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians (2020 Duke University Press; with Katharina Galor), and Reel Gender: Palestinian and Israeli Cinema (2022 Bloomsbury; with Katharina Galor).

Dr. Atshan is the recipient of a wide range of awards including the Arab America Foundation’s ’40 Under 40’ Award, the Young Global Leader Award from the Council for the United States and Italy, and a Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace. Just this semester, Dr. Atshan became the first Palestinian inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College, King’s alma mater in Atlanta.

Dr. Atshan inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College — In October, Dr. Atshan was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College.

Dr. Atshan returns to us from the Anthropology Department at Emory University, where he is a tenured professor and the department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies. His reputation as a beloved mentor precedes him. While at Swarthmore, he not only supported prospective students, current students, and alums in their academic and vocational pursuits, he also served as the Director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program. He himself, as an undergraduate at Swarthmore, was both a Lang Scholar and the first Arab-American in the nation to receive a MMUF scholarship.

Dr. Atshan brings deep roots in Quaker life, having been educated at Ramallah Friends School (RFS), and with service now as an advisor to RFS, on the Corporation of Haverford College, and on the Board of the American Friends Service Committee. He has also served on the Board of Pendle Hill, the Multicultural Board of Westtown School, and as a spiritual nurturer for the Quaker Voluntary Service. Moreover, as he returns to the College, Dr. Atshan will lean into a new research project on African-American and Palestinian Quakers that will involve Swarthmore’s Peace Collection and Friends Historical Library.

We hope you can tell why we are excited about Dr. Atshan’s rejoining our department. He brings outstanding experience in so many respects that fit seamlessly with Swarthmore’s and our department’s missions.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Sa’ed Atshan!

Applying Lessons from the Life of Bayard Rustin to Quaker Work at the UN

Our friends nearby at the Pendle Hill Quaker center are announcing their annual Stephen G. Cary Memorial lecture, and this year’s speaker is Sarah Clarke, Director of the Quaker UN Office in New York. She will talk about “Applying Lessons from the Life of Bayard Rustin to Quaker Work at the UN.” A number of Swarthmore students and alums have served as interns at the Quaker UN Office, so this could be a unique opportunity for you to learn more about the organization and experience the beautiful Pendle Hill campus!

“As we approach the 75th anniversary of Quaker work at the UN, we have an opportunity to reflect on those in our community who have taught us valuable lessons about the Quaker traditions of non-violence and direct engagement with those who hold power. The wisdom and life of Quaker civil rights activist Bayard Rustin offers insights and lessons that continue to guide us today and as we look into the future.”

Prof. Smithey plans to provide transportation to the lecture, which will take place on Monday, September 12 at 7:30pm-9:00pm Eastern Time.

In-person spaces are limited. If you would like to travel the short one mile to Pendle Hill in a college van, please RSVP using this form by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, September 7. If seats are still available then, we will request them.

People who choose not to travel to Pendle Hill can register to watch the event via Zoom.

Also see this recent piece in Waging Nonviolence by our own Prof. George Lakey.

Prof. Sa’ed Atshan named one of 40 Under 40 by the Arab America Foundation

On October 22, Professor Sa’ed Atshan, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, became an awardee of the Arab America Foundation’s 40 Under 40 initiative, meant to highlight the accomplishments of young Arab Americans across the country. The publication remarks, “each of the awardees has forged pathways in their profession and community. They have done stellar work to promote their Arab heritage and bring positive changes to those around them.”

The Foundation highlights both Atshan’s involvement in Palestinian, Quaker, and LGBT human rights activist organizations as well as his two recently published books, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (2020, Stanford University Press) and The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians (2020, Duke University Press). Queer Palestine tracks the rise and transnational expansion of the LGBTQ movement in Palestine and argues centrally for the linkage between struggles for Palestinian freedom and the struggle against homophobia. The Moral Triangle draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Berlin within its three titular communities to explore how German public policy and discourse is shaped by narratives of moral responsibility, the Holocaust, the Israel/Palestine conflict, and Germany’s recent welcoming of Middle Eastern refugees. Additionally, Atshan has self-designed two courses focusing on the Middle East at Swarthmore College, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Crisis Resolution in the Middle East, and has taught many more. Read his full accolade below.

“Sa’ed Atshan is based in Pennsylvania and originally from Palestine. He is a professor of peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College, having previously served as a postdoctoral fellow in international studies at Brown University, and receiving his Ph.D. in anthropology and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University. Mr. Atshan has published two books: Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (2020, Stanford University Press) and The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians (2020, Duke University Press). Mr. Atshan has been recognized with numerous major grants and fellowships, and he has worked for a wide range of organizations, with a focus on public service. He has volunteered on the boards of major organizations and has also been significantly involved in the leadership of Palestinian, Quaker, and LGBTQ human rights activist groups. Much of his work with Arab-American communities has been devoted to mentoring and supporting youth with education and civic engagement initiatives.”

Holding Tension – Making a Place at the Table for Continuing Revelation

This year’s Stephen G. Cary Memorial Lecture at Pendle Hill will be delivered by Swarthmore’s own Prof. Sarah Willie-LeBreton!

Stephen G. Cary Memorial Lecture 2018
“Holding Tension – Making a Place at the Table for Continuing Revelation”

by Sarah Willie-LeBreton

April 2, 2018

7:30pm-9:00pm in the Barn at Pendle Hill.

In this talk, I assume that genuine social relationship is necessary for justice, and I argue that its absence leads to what most people might characterize as evil. As much as we hunger for mutuality and connection, for many of us, the daily temptation of our lives is to distinguish ourselves as worthy, aware, and insightful. When we are disconnected from genuine community, very quickly those whom we dislike or with whom we disagree become unworthy, unaware, and even evil in our hearts and minds. The temptation is powerful and understanding its role in our lives can help us to seek out our biggest fears, lead us away from gossip and resentment, and offer us continual experiences where mutuality, humor, kindness, humility and the joy of serendipity are revealed.
—Sarah Willie-LeBreton

Sarah Willie-LeBreton teaches at Swarthmore College, where she chairs the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and regularly coordinates the Black Studies Program. A graduate of Haverford College, she serves on its Corporation and Board of Managers and has served on the Pendle Hill Board. Sarah edited and contributed to the volume, Transforming the Academy (2016), and authored Acting Black (2003). Her scholarly interests are in social inequality and complementarity. A convinced Friend, she is a member of Providence Monthly Meeting, Chester Quarter, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Call to Register

Free and open to the public (registration requested).

Call Pendle Hill for More Information! 610-566-4507, ext. 137

Live streaming will be available to registrants.

The Stephen G. Cary Memorial Lecture was endowed by Norval and Ann Reece and established in 2004 in concert with Pendle Hill’s publication of Steve Cary’s memoir, The Intrepid Quaker: One Man’s Quest for Peace.

Travel directions to Pendle Hill. Click to view the flyer.

Swarthmore Peace and Conflict Studies Students in the News

Peace and Conflict Studies special major Maria Castaneda ’18 and Peace and Conflict Studies minor Michael Nafziger ’18 were recently featured in the news.

Read Maria’s story related to President Trump’s order ending the DACA program here.
“From Mexico to Swarthmore, a dream now in danger”

Follow Michael’s involvement in our community in the wake of the alt-right controversy in Charlottesville, VA here.
“Swarthmore Community Reflects on Charlottesville at Collection”

Collection on Charlottesville

On Thursday, September 7th, 7-8 pm, the Collection Committee and Peace and Conflict Studies will co-host a Collection at the Friends Meetinghouse.

This Collection is an opportunity to reflect on recent and ongoing events. We will open with remarks from Michael Nafziger ’18 entitled: “Understanding Charlottesville: Reflections from Michael Nafziger ’18, a Peace and Conflict Studies Quaker Student from Charlottesville”

The second part of the Collection will follow the traditional collection format with silence and opportunities for people to speak if and when the Spirit moves them, reflecting on Charlottesville or other recent troubling events.

All are welcome.

King, Women’s March, Swarthmore College, and Quakers

A message from Chris Densmore, Curator of the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College:

A few years ago, I was looking for documentation of Martin Luther King Jr. and the early days of the Civil Rights Movement in the records of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends. It seemed like something for the Race Relations Committee to handle, but there was nothing there. A little more digging located the records I was seeking in the Peace Committee and more specifically in a subcommittee on non-violence.

This week began with commemorations of Dr. King. On Saturday, there will be a Women’s March in Washington, DC, and Sister Marches worldwide. I was both pleased and a bit surprised to read their statement of “Guiding Principles” on their website which was explicitly based on Martin Luther King Jr., and the principles of non-violence. It also strikes me that these principles and this approach to conflict comes close to how some people understand Swarthmore College’s heritage of Quaker values. It is not just a strategy for confronting the evils of the day, but a strategy for daily living. It is what King and others referred to as the Beloved Community.

— Christopher Densmore, Curator, Friends Historical Library.

Quaker Indian Boarding Schools and Moral Economies at Pendle Hill

It’s an exciting fall semester of programming across Crum Woods at Pendle Hill Quaker Retreat Center. Check out these events coming up in November and December!

The Quaker Indian Boarding Schools: Facing our History and Ourselves

Monday, November 7, 2016
Free
7:00pm-9:00pm in the barn, livestreaming available

In the 1800s, Quakers and other Christian denominations collaborated with the U.S. government’s policy of forced assimilation of Native peoples. Paula Palmer has been led to research these schools and take the first steps towards truth and reconciliation on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends with support from Pendle Hill (the 2016 Cadbury Scholarship), Swarthmore College (the 2015 Moore Fellowship), and the Native American Rights Fund. This is a part of Pendle Hill’s free and open to the public First Monday lecture series.

Visioning and Creating a Moral Economy Conference

December 1^st (4:00pm) to 4^th (noon)
Sliding scale $300-$600 (financial aid also available)

Co-sponsored by Quaker Institute for the Future, New Economy Coalition, and the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance.

What does a moral economy look like? What are the challenges that confront us in establishing it? What opportunities do the precarious state of global capitalism and accelerating climate change provide to galvanize action? What are the incremental and intermediate steps already being taken to bring forth our common vision? How do we build on those efforts to establish them on a larger scale? The conference will include plenary sessions with speakers and panels, open forum small group discussions, workshops, and whole group visioning and action sessions. Speakers include Political Economist Gar Alperovitz, Social Movement theorist George Lakey, Esteban Kelley, Executive Director of the US Federation of Workers Cooperatives and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Deputy Director of PUSH Buffalo.

George Lakey First Monday

Monday, December 5, 2016
Free
7:00pm-9:00pm in the barn, livestreaming available

In our First Monday forum, George will share insights from his research and writing on the Scandinavian Economies and respond to our questions about how we can use the Scandinavian models to create the kind of moral political economy that puts people’s welfare first and benefits the whole society in terms of health, security, and happiness.

Black History Month and Swarthmore College Exhibits

By Chris Densmore, Curator of the Friends Historical Library

As you walk into McCabe Library, there is a wooden bench and a photograph of the Longwood Progressive Friends Meetinghouse near Kennett Square immediately to your right. The bench is from Longwood. Longwood’s annual meeting, beginning in 1853 and ending in 1940, was a chance to discuss a broad range of reforms. Sojourner Truth attended the organizational meeting in 1853. At a later meeting, she gave a very terse testimony on her peace principles: “You can’t make life, so don’t take it.” So the bench in
foyer of McCabe may have been sat in by Sojourner Truth.

The last clerk of Longwood was Jesse Holmes, a Swarthmore College professor. Jesse Holmes gave the opening address at the 1927 annual meeting of Longwood saying, “The chief peril to civilization today is found in the arrogance and aggressiveness over the white race toward the colored races and weaker nations.”. The sale of the Longwood meetinghouse funded the Jesse Holmes Lectureship at Howard University.

Next, there is the Elizabeth Powell Bond Rose Garden. Her brother was Aaron M. Powell, the last editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard. He began speaking out on slavery after attending an anti-slavery meeting where Sojourner Truth walked down from the podium, pointed directly to the young Aaron M. Powell, and told him he was to become an anti-slavery lecturer. You didn’t mess with Sojourner Truth.

A little further up the hill is Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse, the site of the Swarthmore College Institute of Race Relations. The roster of lecturers at the first two meetings in 1933 and 1934, included African Americans E. Franklin Frazier, W.W. Alexander, William White, Ralph Bunch and James Weldon Johnson. White lecturers for those early meetings included Franz Boas and Melville Herskowitz.

Next time you are in McCabe Library, crossing the Rose Garden or at a Collection in the Friends Meetinghouse, imagine you are in a living history exhibit. Imagine also that you are part of that history,

Ellen Ross awarded Howard M. and Charles F. Jenkins Professorship of Quakerism and Peace Studies

Yesterday, we got the fabulous news that Ellen Ross has been awarded the Howard M. and Charles F. Jenkins Professorship of Quakerism and Peace Studies!

Congratulations to Ellen on a well-earned accolade!