GTU Women and Religion Conference, 28 April 2023Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble, GTU Women and Religion Conference, 28 April 2023Katy Dickinson, GTU Women and Religion Conference, 28 April 2023Dr. Mahjabeen Dhala, GTU Women and Religion Conference, 28 April 2023
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Katy Dickinson Women of Faith in Jail This presents a jail chaplain’s view on how women prisoners’s experience, especially their faith experience, is different from that of men in the American justice system. In many ways, the lives of American women and men prisoners are similarly marginalized; however, the systemic social and economic disadvantages of women in our society are reflected in the lives of female inmates. For example, women are usually the primary caretakers for children from whom incarceration separates them, women often enter the carceral system having had more traumatic experiences, and all-too-often women undergo more trauma in jail and prison. As a result, working with women inmates as a chaplain or officer can be more complex and emotionally intense compared to working with male prisoners. While some avoid working with women, others find special satisfaction in supporting female prisoners. A groundbreaking report has just been published about women prisoners and their unique challenges and patterns.
Here is a link to the whole submission, if you want more text (and references). The event will be recorded but not available online in real time.
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This semester at the Graduate Theological Union‘s Berkeley School of Theology, I am taking three classes as part of my Doctor of Ministry studies. They are: “The Qur’an: Origin, Application, Interpretations” (Dr. Majabeen Dhala, Center for Islamic Studies), “Introduction to Prison Ministry” (Father George Williams, Jesuit School of Theology), and “Examining the Case for Reparations for African Americans” (Dr. Ronald Burris & Dr. Aidsand Wright-Riggins, BST).
I just gave my first presentation in Dr. Dhala’s class, called “Joseph – Yusuf.” In this presentation, I considered the story of the patriarch / prophet Joseph – Yusuf as presented in the Torah / Hebrew Bible and in the Qur’an, in the context of my ministry as a jail chaplain. The class and I had a good discussion!
You can see the whole presentation here. See the last pages of my presentation for where I found the images and other sources.
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I am happy to report successful maintenance of my new weight for the last seven months. I still use the free Fooducate nutrition and weight tracker to record what I eat and weigh each each day as a reminder. In my 22 September 2022 update, I mentioned having to buy new clothes after losing sixty pounds. This meant making lots of style decisions (since nothing fit except my socks and scarves). I have enjoyed using ThredUp and other thrifty online sources to find new clothing designers and materials. I have also been watching YouTube for fashion ideas and to get an idea of what is worth extra expense. (The trick is to find a YouTuber whose style and form feels like yours.) My recent splurges have been for a pair of Thursday Captain boots, and Sézane fancy sweaters.
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“The Problem: As part of changing a life path that repeatedly ends in Santa Clara County jail, many inmates want to learn about and develop their faith and theology but lack resource access and the reading capability or education to move forward. Inmates who are Spanish language speakers, have reading difficulties, and those with mental health challenges are at a particular disadvantage and are often isolated and disempowered. America’s punishment-based, racist and classist carceral system, and the constant population churn inside jails, militate against empowering inmates’s spiritual well-being, success, and change of life. Tailoring educational and faith programs to particularly disadvantaged inmates may help to reduce long-term recidivism.
The Purpose: To support the most invisible of the largely-unseen and severely marginalized population of jail prisoners in Santa Clara County, this project revises existing Bible study and theological reflection program materials to support inmates in three particularly-underserved and vulnerable groups: those whose primary language is Spanish, and/or have mental health challenges, and/or have reading comprehension difficulties. Making materials more accessible may help to encourage their faith walk, sustain their difficult journey, and discourage recidivism after release.”
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Katy Dickinson, Lee Satterfield, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022
As 2022 is ending, I have been reflecting on how busy these last few months have been. In October, I mentored the remarkable and inspiring TechWomen Team Tunisia, and was one of the 21 mentors honored by the U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for ten years’ service to the TechWomen program. (I was the TechWomen Process Architect 2010-2011, and have been a mentor each year since.) Also that month, my husband John Plocher said a fond goodbye to Apple, and started a new job at Ford Greenfield Labs.
Katy Dickinson, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022Katy Dickinson, TechWomen Honor, 20 October 2022Katy Dickinson, Tunisia TechWomen, 16 October 2022John Plocher with Ford Mach-E
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I am honored to help mentor five TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Tunisia during their visit to the USA. The U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs – TechWomen program connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them the access and opportunities to advance their careers and pursue their dreams.
So far, our team has spoken online, been to a kickoff event hosted by Twitter at their San Francisco headquarters (I got to wear the embroidered cape I bought in Tunisia in 2015), and enjoyed dinner together at my house in San Jose. We are learning about each other, and working on the project again online, Tuesday night! This term, I am happy to be a TechWomen Co-Mentor with Darpana Pendyala (Hardware Design Engineer, Marvell), and Priyanka Sahay (Director, Product Marketing, LinkedIn).
TechWomen Team Tunisia 2022-09-23TechWomen Team Tunisia at Twitter 2022-09-29TechWomen Team Tunisia at Twitter 2022-09-29TechWomen Team Tunisia with WP668, in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1
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