Reading My Thesis

Katy Dickinson Master’s Thesis, “Range of Chaplain Engagement with Prisoners,” 23 Jan 2021

I have been trying to figure out how someone could actually read my Graduate Theological Union Master’s thesis since it was published by ProQuest. This turns out to be complex. If you go to the ProQuest website (or the Graduate Theological Union Library website), you can read the first 24 pages of my thesis for free. If you want to read the entire 180 pages, here are some ways.

The easiest way is if you have access to a major library because you are, for example, a current student, professor, or member of a university alumni association. In this case:

• Log into the major library online
• Go to https://www.gtu.edu/library/resources 
• Go to “ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global” and select CONNECT
• Search for:
  • Range of Chaplain Engagement with Prisoners
  • Dickinson, Katy. 
  • Graduate Theological Union, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2021. 28721609.
• Select “Download PDF”

You may also be able to go the physical library itself (for example, to the Graduate Theological Union Library in Berkeley, California) and read the whole thesis there for free.

The next easiest way costs money but does not require library access. You can go to the following web page and pay for immediate PDF download access to publication ID 28721609 for $41.

https://www.proquest.com/openview/08106f95b66e8450cba0d46f9f2d3027/1

I will continue trying to figure out other ways to make my thesis more readily available but that is what I have discovered so far. Yes, I know I could publish it here on my blog but I have been told that may mess up future publication opportunities. So, I am trying to work through ProQuest for now. I appreciate your patience.

20 Nov 2021 addition: Here is what the printed thesis looks like

Katy Dickinson GTU- MA Thesis 2021

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Boruca in the Rain Forest

Jaguar and hummingbird rain forest carvings, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021

In August 2021, John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman and I enjoyed a lovely vacation at Cielo Lodge in Golfito, Costa Rica during which we were delighted to visit the indigenous artisans of Boruca in their mountain village. We brought home two carvings to celebrate the 10th wedding anniversary of our daughter and son-in-law, Jessica Dickinson Goodman and Matthew Holmes. In a prior blog, I wrote about the Boruca carvings in balsa wood of nature, particularly jaguars (symbolizing male power and protection of the tribe) and butterflies (symbolizing female power and beauty). The symbolism of a butterfly and a jaguar to celebrate a wedding anniversary seemed right.

This is to consider another aspect of these carvings, the faces in the rainforest. In both the butterfly carving by Gabriel Leira (above) and the one by Markos Boruca (below), you can see a brown face with yellow, green, blue, white, and other colored lines highlighting the features. Our indigenous guide told us that these faces represent the Boruca people who are also part of the forest.

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  Janguar and hummingbird rain forest carvings – reverse, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021

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  Hummingbird and butterfly rain forest carving by Markos Boruca, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021

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Fully Vaccinated

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  Katy Dickinson at Kingsburg Fire Dept. 23 April 2021

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  John Plocher getting COVID vaccine, 23 April 2021

My husband John Plocher and I took two road trips from San Jose to Kingsburg, California, to get our COVID-19 vaccines. We are now in the two week period before our second shots become fully effective. We chose to drive two and a half hours each way because local vaccine appointments were full and we got tired of the “Hunger Games” style scramble for open appointments closer to home. After checking websites of local pharmacies, medical centers, and county centers at all hours for a week (answering a dozen questions on each before finding out that they had no openings), we decided a longer drive cost less time overall. We got our shots at the Kingsburg Fire Department with no waiting.

Kingsburg is a small friendly farm town on the Kings River. It has a Swedish theme because it has been home to many Swedish-Americans. Kingsburg has a Viking mascot and the town water tower is decorated like a antique Swedish coffee pot. I bought John some Ole and Lena joke books at the Svensk Butik because he learned that style of humor growing up in Wisconsin. We even got a tour of the historical museum at the Kingsburg train station. We enjoyed a wonderful festive gourmet dinner at the Vintage Press Restaurant in Visalia driving home.

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  Kingsburg CA Viking mascot, 23 April 2021

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  Kingsburg CA Swedish coffee pot water tower, 23 April 2021

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  Kingsburg Fire Dept. 23 April 2021

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  Kingsburg Fire Dept. 23 April 2021

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  Kingsburg CA 2 April 2021

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  Kingsburg CA train station, 2 April 2021

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  Ole & Lena Joke books and Kingsburg CA coaster, 23 April 2021

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  Vintage Press Restaurant, Visalia, CA, 2 April 2021

Sunset driving home from Kingsburg to San Jose on Highway 5, 23 April 2021

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Happy Earth Day!

Islamic Networks Group – Earth Day Interfaith Panel, 22 April 2021

Today, I was honored to be part of an interfaith panel for ING – the Islamic Networks Group. We were discussing topics around caring for the Earth as part of celebrating Earth Day. The panelists included:

Dr. Rohany Nayan, CEO, Chicago Muslims Green Team (CMGT)

Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi, ING Board Member & Teacher at Land of Medicine Buddha

Harry Cornbleet, Retired Physician

Katy Dickinson, ING Board Member & Founder of Mentoring Standard

Lakshmi Subramanian, Hindu, Vocalist-Scholar, Aks & Lakshmi

AmarAtma Khalsa, Sikh Dharma Minister, a Board Certified Chaplain, and an Acupuncturist

Moderator, Ishaq Pathan, ING Bay Area Director

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Day 3, Episcopal General Convention

This was the second legislative session day of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church “GC79” (in Austin, Texas).  I am with the Deputation of the Diocese of El Camino Real (Central California).  Early this morning, I gave testimony at a hearing for resolution D027 “Pursuing Justice for Gaza” before the Committee on Social Justice and International Policy. Episcopal Church News published an article quoting me this afternoon: “Israel-Palestine resolutions spark impassioned testimony under expedited process for review”.

After the hearings, the House of Deputies held a joint morning session with the House of Bishops discussing racial reconciliation. This featured inspiring presenters, including a hip hop poet. Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves lead the El Camino Real Deputies to the section of the hall where the Alternate Deputies sit so the whole Delegation could discuss together – since Alternates are not allowed to come onto the House floor unless we are formally substituting for a Deputy. The Alternates gallery applauded her!  After the discussion, we took a photo of the whole El Camino Delegation.

This afternoon, the House of Deputies began its discussion on whether the revise the Book of Common Prayer – a subject of much passionate and prayerful consideration.  The final vote was put off until tomorrow morning to allow for additional discussion.  After the worship service, most of our Delegation ended the day with a (late) birthday party for Bishop Mary – including spouses and kids of some of the Delegates.

The Austin weather continues to be very hot and humid – going outside feels like having a soggy warm blanket dropped on you.

These blog posts and other GC79 news are posted on the Diocese of El Camino Real website.

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Advising 6 TechWomen from Tunisia

Since August 2016, I have been honored to be one of three Impact Advisors to the six TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Tunisia. We started meeting while the ELs were still in Tunis and we have continued our discussions at least weekly since. Mercedes Soria (Vice President of Software Engineering, Knightscope), Fatema Kothari (Senior Consultant,
T-Mobile), and I have had a wonderful time working on this.

On 7 October, the ladies presented our plan for WAKTECH at the TechWomen Pitch Day hosted by Oracle here in the Silicon Valley. This is the Executive Summary for WAKTECH, from our Action Plan:

The biggest public transport issue in Tunis is delay. Bus and metro schedules are confusing and unreliable. What makes this issue worse is the lack of total absence of online and offline information about these delays. Users are deprived from real time information about it. WAKTECH will be the first mobile platform to centralize the information about public transportation in Tunisia. It will provide all the needed information about traffic, schedule and transit itinerary. The particularity of this application resides in the community of trusted users who will be its main source of data.

We will be building an application that enables users to share information about public transit like departure and arrival times or possible incidents. Based on that data, the users can access at any moment that information to schedule their trip, be on time, and save money. Using WAKTECH will help create the smart Tunis everyone is dreaming of where technology serves the citizens to manage their time effectively and create a community of responsible users.

Our Tunisia team was one of 19 that presented – one from each of the TechWomen countries. I was so proud of their poised and professional presentation! Tonight at the TechWomen Community Celebration in San Francisco we will hear the results of the pitch judging – only five teams will win one of the cash prizes. There were many superb presentations and inspiring projects proposed for Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Wish us luck!

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Images Copyright 2016 by Katy Dickinson