Spiritual Life & Religious Studies Peer Network Gathering 2025
Colleagues from Friends schools joining together for collaborative conversation, support, and idea sharing.
Should Quaker educators be activists?
In the ever-fraught political landscape of education, Friends schools find common ground in the rich history of Quaker social justice activism. But how is this mission enacted in schools today? More specifically, what role do faculty play in carrying out such a mission? Are we activists? Should we be?
Is education itself a form of activism? Is Quaker education in particular? Or is education rather an intellectual or spiritual means to inspire activism among students? Do Friends school teachers have an obligation to facilitate such activism? Ought we visibly practice activism ourselves, individually and/or collectively? If done collectively, how might we determine the causes of our activism? Must our activism align with “Quaker values” and if so, how should we discern such alignment?
In this workshop we will explore these queries among others as we seek to reconcile the overlapping—and at times conflicting—roles of “educator” and “activist” in Friends schools.
Dates & Details
November 12, 2025
Wednesday [9:00am - 3:00pm EST]
Friends Center
1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia
Validated parking available: $24
Facilitators
Michael LoStracco, William Penn Charter School & John Keenan, Mary McDowell Friends School
Fees
$120 pp [includes programs & meals]
Limited financial assistance is available.
Registration has closed.
Guest Speaker
Eileen Flanagan
Eileen is an award-winning author, speaker, and leader of spiritually-grounded activism. She has confronted corporate CEOs, prayed in their lobbies, and been arrested alongside Indigenous water protectors, interfaith clergy, and fellow Quakers. With Earth Quaker Action Team, she has played key leadership roles in three climate campaigns, including pressuring PNC Bank to pause its financing of mountaintop removal coal mining. With Choose Democracy, she has helped tens of thousands of people learn peacekeeping skills and nonviolent strategies for change. The first in her Irish working-class family to go to college, she earned a BA from Duke and an MA from Yale.
2025-26 Co-Facilitators
John Keenan is in his 11th year at Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn, NY, where he has taught courses including Philosophy, Global Studies, Civics and Quaker History & Practice. He is faculty sponsor of MMFS's Quaker Life Committee and the founding coach of the school's Ethics Bowl debate team. Before working at MMFS, he served as a counselor, manager and assistant director at Catoctin Quaker Camp. He has presented at past conferences on topics such as pre-college philosophy teaching, mission-driven pedagogy, and cosmopolitan philosophy of education. He holds an MA in Philosophy & Education from Teachers College, Columbia.
Michael LoStracco chairs the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Penn Charter, where he also serves as clerk of the Religious Life Committee. He was recently a visiting scholar with the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education and won Yale’s Life Worth Living Secondary School Curriculum Design Competition. Michael has published articles, delivered talks, and facilitated online events on topics including epistemology, Buddhism, and the meaning crisis. He also founded and leads Penn Charter’s summer skateboard camp, fostering community, confidence, and creativity through skateboarding.