Quaker Studies Working Group

Quakers, War, and Slavery, 1646-1723 (ICPR, PEAC, RELG 295)
In the 1640s and 50s, many Quakers believed that Christians should fight in wars; none of them (as far as we know) believed that Christians ought not own slaves. By 1723, most Quakers had renounced war; a good many of them had begun to assert that owning slaves was contrary to the will of God. Students in this course will try to determine how—and also why—Quakers changed their minds about war and slavery.

Ethical Struggles in Catastrophic Times: Quakers’ Responses to the Holocaust (ICPR, PEAC, RELG H116)
In the 1930s and 1940s, Quakers engaged in a number of remarkable—and controversial—activities that were intended to provide assistance to people who were being persecuted by the Nazis. Those actions were criticized by some US citizens (who thought that Quakers were giving unwitting aid to the Nazis) and also derided by Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels (who thought that Quakers were demonstrating a complete lack of awareness about how the world really works.) Nevertheless, Quakers’ actions did end up saving some lives. Students in this course will examine what Quakers accomplished—and failed to accomplish—in the 1930s and 1940s. The course is not designed as a venue in which to decide, once and for all, which of the Quakers’ actions were wise and which were foolish. The course is meant, rather, to offer students an opportunity to reflect on the ethical questions with which Quakers wrestled and an invitation to compare those questions with on the ones they face themselves. Special attention will be paid the connections between Quakers’ responses to the Holocaust and Quakers’ religious beliefs and practices.

Good Guys and Gals?: Quaker Imagery in Fiction (WRPRH156)
What have been the literary uses of Quaker ideas and images in fiction? How have these changed over time? Here on the Haverford campus, with its Quaker heritage and traditions, is housed perhaps the largest collection of Quaker novels anywhere in the world, fiction by or about Quakers, often populated with characters whose Quakerliness is designed to evoke a certain mood, message, or subtext. For some authors, Quakers became stand-ins for virtue. For others, the Quaker image is of the troublemaker, the nay-sayer, the haughty, unbending zealot. In this course we will read excerpts from an array of Quaker fiction. Then, through class discussions, written essays, and through considering each others writing, students will explore how commentators have interpreted the meaning of "Quakerness" in literature."

Haverford College, Rufus Jones, and the Rise of Liberal Quakerism (WRPR 186)
Quakerism isn’t stable. It varies from generation to generation. The form of Quakerism that is mostly closely associated with Haverford College today is, for example, quite different from the sort of Quakerism that was connected to the college in 1950s. That variety was Quakerism was, in turn, quite distinct from the one that was connected to Haverford a century earlier. There is a real sense in which Quakerism was reinvented in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Students in the course will examine some of the changes that Quakerism underwent between the 1850s and the 1950s by examining the life and thought of Rufus Jones (1863-1948). Jones grew up in rural Maine, graduated from Haverford College in 1885 and taught at Haverford for most of his career. Jones was one of the founders of an organization—the American Friends Service Committee—that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947. He was a prolific author whose books won him international fame. Jones’s assertion that Quakerism is at heart a “mystical” faith was sagacious, provocative, and extremely influential.

Ethical Struggles in Catastrophic Times: Quakers’ Responses to the Holocaust (ICPR, PEAC, RELG H116)


In the 1930s and 1940s, Quakers engaged in a number of remarkable—and controversial—activities that were intended to provide assistance to people who were being persecuted by the Nazis. Those actions were criticized by some US citizens (who thought that Quakers were giving unwitting aid to the Nazis) and also derided by Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels (who thought that Quakers were demonstrating a complete lack of awareness about how the world really works.) Nevertheless, Quakers’ actions did end up saving some lives. Students in this course will examine what Quakers accomplished—and failed to accomplish—in the 1930s and 1940s. The course is not designed as a venue in which to decide, once and for all, which of the Quakers’ actions were wise and which were foolish. The course is meant, rather, to offer students an opportunity to reflect on the ethical questions with which Quakers wrestled and an invitation to compare those questions with on the ones they face themselves. Special attention will be paid the connections between Quakers’ responses to the Holocaust and Quakers’ religious beliefs and practices.


Good Guys and Gals?: Quaker Imagery in Fiction (WRPRH156)


What have been the literary uses of Quaker ideas and images in fiction? How have these changed over time? Here on the Haverford campus, with its Quaker heritage and traditions, is housed perhaps the largest collection of Quaker novels anywhere in the world, fiction by or about Quakers, often populated with characters whose Quakerliness is designed to evoke a certain mood, message, or subtext. For some authors, Quakers became stand-ins for virtue. For others, the Quaker image is of the troublemaker, the nay-sayer, the haughty, unbending zealot. In this course we will read excerpts from an array of Quaker fiction. Then, through class discussions, written essays, and through considering each others writing, students will explore how commentators have interpreted the meaning of "Quakerness" in literature."


History and Principles of Quakerism (HIST, RELG 240)

This course examines the development of Quakerism and its relationship to other religious movements and to political and social life, especially in the United States of America. Special attention will be paid to the roots of the Society of Friends in 17th-century Britain and the expansion of Quaker influences among Third World populations, particularly the Native American, Hispanic, east African, and Asian populations.

Reinventing Quakerism: Rufus Jones and the Rise of Liberal Quakerism (WRPR 186)


Quakerism isn’t stable. It varies from generation to generation. The form of Quakerism that is mostly closely associated with Haverford College today is, for example, quite different from the sort of Quakerism that was connected to the college in 1950s. That variety was Quakerism was, in turn, quite distinct from the one that was connected to Haverford a century earlier. There is a real sense in which Quakerism was reinvented in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Students in the course will examine some of the changes that Quakerism underwent between the 1850s and the 1950s by examining the life and thought of Rufus Jones (1863-1948). Jones grew up in rural Maine, graduated from Haverford College in 1885 and taught at Haverford for most of his career. Jones was one of the founders of an organization—the American Friends Service Committee—that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947. He was a prolific author whose books won him international fame. Jones’s assertion that Quakerism is at heart a “mystical” faith was sagacious, provocative, and extremely influential.

 

Advanced Japanese I: Discerning Hidden Meanings in Japanese Media (JNSE 201)

This course immerses students in an array of common Japanese media forms that subtly reinforce powerful, widely held and often unquestioned historical, cultural, and political preconceptions underlying popular ideas about Japanese identity.  Analysis of the media enables students to hone advanced understanding Japanese language, language variation, and associated underlying Japanese cultural values.  Special attention will be paid to Quakers, to Otaku, and to governmental attempts to standardize the Japanese language. 

History and Principles of Quakerism (HIST 240)

The development of Quakerism and its relationship to other religious movements and to political and social life, especially in America. The roots of the Society of Friends in 17th-century Britain, and the expansion of Quaker influences among Third World populations, particularly the Native American, Hispanic, east African, and Asian populations.

Quakers in East Asia (HIST 347)

Haverford’s Quakers were key observers of and participants in the wars, revolutions, and social upheavals in East Asia from the late-19th through the mid-20th century. We will witness these events through their eyes, via the documentary and visual materials collected in Haverford’s Special Collections and Philadelphia’s American Friends Service Committee archives. This experience in archival research will culminate in individual research projects on aspects of the Friends’ educational, social, medical, and evangelical missions in China and Japan and what they tell us about East-West relations in an era of imperialism and war.

Taking Religion Seriously: Quakerism as a Test Case (ICPR 255)

Haverford students and professors sometimes think of Quakerism as a set of values, political inclinations, and social movements. They’re not wrong. However Quakerism is almost certainly a religion as well. The organization to which Quakers belong is called, after all, the “Religious Society of Friends.” Students in this course will explore a set of issues connected to attempts to give serious consideration to religion in general and to the Quaker religion in particular. What does it mean to “take religion seriously?” What is the opposite of “taking religion seriously” supposed to be? In what fundamental ways, if any, do religious phenomena differ from secular ones? Students will analyze texts written by authors (such as Talal Asad and Ann Taves) who focus on religion and by scholars (such as Rosemary Moore and Pink Dandelion) who specialize in the history of Quakerism. Students will also conduct original research in Haverford College’s extraordinary collection of Quaker-related texts.