CYNTHIA MERRIWETHER DEVRIES (Workshop: Living Quaker Testimonies Through Teaching): A member of State College Monthly Meeting and longtime member of the Religious Education Committee, Cynthia deVries is currently an Assistant professor of Sociology at Juniata College. A love of learning and teaching have been driving forces for her. Teaching in a variety of settings, from pre-school to community education to the college classroom, has given her a unique perspective on the ways in which Quaker faith can guide and enhance the educational process. In addition to her teaching, she is active in the American Lung Association, and does costumes for both the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania costume shop and the State College Community Theatre.
LAURA DUNGAN & AARON FOWLER (Panel: Quaker Peace Activists share their Stories;
Workshop: Music & Activism): Aaron Fowler and Laura Dungan combine their areas of
musical expertise and empowerment to create a dynamic and rich musical experience in the
folk tradition. Their music leads the listener to be attentive and appreciative of
one’s own place in the world, examine matters of the heart and conscience, and lend
courage to take next steps. They both are committed through music to stir the imagination
of one’s own heart and bring those individual pieces together in a collaborative
experience.
Involved in a semi-programmed tradition, Aaron
and Laura are members of an intentional community made up primarily of Quakers in Wichita
Kansas.
Laura Dungan’s bio…
Laura Dungan has lived in Kansas most of her life and focused early training around vocal music. She graduated from Friends University, Wichita Kansas with a degree in Church music. After beginning a family, she then trained in the area of Community Organizing through the National Training and Information Center in Chicago, IL under the mentorship of Shel Trapp. Music and Justice through empowerment of people are her two main passions that propel her forward.
Aaron Fowler’s bio…
Aaron Fowler is a native Kansan. He graduated from Friends University with a degree in Music Education. He received his masters in choral conducting from Wichita State University. For the past 11 years Aaron has worked with Hope Street Youth Development an inner city youth program designed to empower young people with the skills necessary to break the ruinous cycle of poverty that many find themselves in. Aaron has also worked as a touring musician since 1995 working in schools across the country using music as a vehicle to teach core subject matter.
DAVID JACKMAN (Panel: Peacekeeping; Workshop: The UN and Peacebuilding)
David Jackman joined the staff of the Quaker
UN offices in New York as Associate Representative in 1994. David’s focus at QUNO is
on the UN’s involvement in disarmament, peacemaking and peacekeeping issues. His
regular duties include the monitoring and interpreting of UN activity in these fields and
the identification of appropriate moments for arranging off-the-record discussions among
diplomats and members of the UN secretariat. Since 1994, QUNO’s disarmament focus has
been on conventional weapons and more specifically on curbing the spread of small arms and
light weapons.
From 1986 through early 1994 David worked with
Project Ploughshares, a Canadian ecumenical coalition focused on peace and security
issues. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and has considerable experience in
Canada in the fields of conflict resolution, consensus decision-making and nonviolent
activism related to peace and environmental issues. He is a member of Brooklyn NY Meeting.
SALLIE KING (Workshop: Peace Teams, Quaker & Interfaith; Panel: What Keeps Us
Going): Sallie King is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University in
Harrisonburg, Virginia and co-clerk of Valley Friends Meeting. She is a trustee of the
International Interfaith Peace Council and former president of the Society for Buddhist
and Christian Studies.
Sallie has authored books, articles and
chapters on Buddhism and on Buddhist-Quaker relations and is co-editor of Engaged
Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia and of The Sound of Liberating
Truth: Buddhist Christian Essays in Honor of Frederick J. Streng.
VAL LIVEOAK (Workshop: Peace Teams, Quaker & Interfaith; Panel: What Keeps Us
Going; Panel: Quaker Peace Activists share their Stories): Val Liveoak has been a
nonviolent activist since the early ‘70s and a Quaker since the mid-‘80s. She
was released by her Monthly and Yearly Meetings to work in El Salvador from 1986-90. She
is a Facilitator in the Alternatives to Violence Project, most recently on facilitation
teams in Cuba with South Eastern Yearly Meeting's Cuba Quaker Project. In February, she
completed training to become a Victim/Offender Mediation/Dialogue volunteer and is
awaiting her first case.
From 1994-97 she served as a reserve member of
Christian Peacemaker Teams, serving in, Chicago, Washington DC, and Chiapas, Mexico; and
in 2000 was a member of CPT's exploratory delegation to Colombia. She is a co-founder of
Friends Peace Teams and serves as its administrative co-clerk. Val is a member of Friends
Meeting of Austin and a sojourning member of Friends Meeting of San Antonio. She has
served on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of both of these meetings and is Recording
Clerk in San Antonio. She lives in an "intentional neighborhood" in San Antonio,
Texas, oversees the care of her elderly mother and keeps her income low enough to avoid
paying Federal income tax.