Spring is graduation season and this year, I joyfully walked the stage in-person for my Graduate Theological Union – Master’s – Theology degree, as well as graduating three of my own student-mentees from the University of the South – School of Theology – Education for Ministry (EfM) extension program.
Co-Mentor Karen LeBlanc, with whom I have led EfM seminars together for over twelve years, celebrated with me the graduations of Joel Martinez (graduated 2020, diploma presented 2022) and Beth Hopf at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, CA), and Mark LeBlanc (Karen’s husband) at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church (Cupertino, CA). Joel, Beth, and Mark faithfully completed four years of EfM study and theological reflection on the Bible, church history, theology, and ethics.
Katy Dickinson GTU – Master’s diploma 2021, tassel 2022GTU Commencement 7 May 2022GTU Commencement 7 May 2022GTU Commencement 7 May 2022GTU Commencement 7 May 2022GTU Commencement 7 May 2022Education for Ministry graduation, 12 June 2022Education for Ministry graduation, 12 June 2022Education for Ministry graduation, 26 June 2022Education for Ministry graduation, 26 June 2022
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I am proud of my daughter Jessica whose annual Yosemite camping trip for her Palestinian mentees has evolved into a TechWomen tradition. This year, there were enough mentors and mentees for two weekends. I was a driver last weekend, joining about thirty others – many of them camping for the first time. We stopped over in Columbia for lunch on the way to our campsite at Tuttletown. We had a lovely time getting to know each other, figuring out how to raise a tent, singing pop songs, and eating s’mores – and Safa of Libya got to touch a river for the first time ever!
TechWomen going camping, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Kate’s tea, Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen Jessica and Samantha, Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Columbia, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022sunset at Tuttletown camp, CA, 26 Mar 2022sunrise at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Tuttletown camp, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022TechWomen at Yosemite Falls, CA, 27 Mar 2022
TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East together with their professional counterparts in the United States for a mentorship and exchange program. I have been working with TechWomen since I helped to design it in 2010. Launched in 2011, TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
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It’s time in the San Francisco Bay Area to start planting our summer vegetables. Since I have some time during GTU‘s Reading Week, I cleared out winter weeds, dug in compost, and added tomatoes, basil, and borage to my planting beds. I left the rhubarb in its wheelbarrow since it seems happy. This year, from Yamagami’s nursery I bought three cherry tomato plants for salads and snacks (Yellow Pear, Sun Sugar Hybrid, and Super Sweet 100), plus three Ace tomatoes for soup. I also upgraded the Guadalupe River bank area next to the planting bed. The big yuccas, huge prickly pear cactus, and an elderberry tree dominate that space. There are also three lavenders (French and English) and two California Sagebrush (Artemisia Californica – from Jessica) continuing from two years ago. I just added four gloriosus “Heart’s Desire” prostrate ceanothus to fill in under and around the cactus. Another ceanothus “Centennial” plus some yarrow (Achillea Little Moonshine, and Red Velvet) will go in the front yard. I mostly add California Native Plants for long-term plantings. I am looking forward to everything growing happily all summer!
Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 23 March 2022Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 23 March 2022Princess – cat garden guardian, 24 March 2022Ketchup – cat garden guardian, 24 March 2022
Update 24 March: I decided to go camping with Jessica and the TechWomen in Yosemite this weekend, so I planted the ceanothus Centennial in the side yard, supervised by guardian cats Princess and Ketchup. I am also moving some of garden stones into the side yard where they will be more visible.
Update 28 March: My neighbor Russell gave away some of his extra heirloom tomato starts today – so I added a seventh (and final!) plant to my bed. The little plants are enjoying today’s rain.
Ceanothus Centennial, Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022Marvel stripe heirloom tomato, 28 March 2022
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TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022
Today was TechWomen Volunteer Day and twenty-three of us gathered at St. Stephen’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church – Community Garden in San Jose, California, to work together. We divided into three groups: the Hunters (looking for oak seedlings to pot), the Killers (taking down an oleander hedge), and the Diggers (making an accessible path for elder gardeners). We included technical leaders from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, some of whom were novices and others who had deep gardening experience, as well as two regular community garden volunteers and four TechWomen mentors. My daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, manages the community garden but she was managing another TechWomen volunteer group today, so I was in charge. It was a fun and productive day!
St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022Lizard, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022
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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.
Janguar and hummingbird rain forest carvings – reverse, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021
Hummingbird and butterfly rain forest carving by Markos Boruca, Boruca, Costa Rica, August 2021
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Maryann and I will introduce the online discussion through the history of computing and weaving, specifically Jacquard looms, considered a precursor to modern computing technology. The idea for this approach came from my daughter Jessica Dickinson Goodman who was one of the Mentors on the 2018 TechWomen Delegation to Nigeria during which she gave a workshop on “Teaching Binary and Encryption Through Weaving.” Our Physical Computing session this week will be relatively short but we plan to cover the relationship of physical objects (like looms and yarn) to computing devices. We will show parts of the hands-on video “Personal Jacquard Weaving” and will end with a more futuristic view in the video “Knightscope – Present and Future” from Knightscope, the robotics company where my long-term TechWomen Co-Mentor, Mercedes Soria is Executive Vice President of Software Engineering, and Chief Intelligence Officer.
Some key dates from my introduction: 1804 Jacquard loom, 1837 Babbage Analytical Engine (programming by Ada Lovelace), 1884 Hollerith punched card tabulating machine (used in 1890 U.S. Census). Punch cards and paper tape continued in use until the 1990s.
Gisele and Janet will lead the students through an exercise using the MIT Media Lab’s Scratch program. Gisele wrote this about the exercise: “To control a system, or automate its operation, we use the variables which can be random or fixed depending on the type of sensors, we apply the conditions. Loops are uses to do the same thing infinitely. These concepts are the basics of physical computing.” This is their handout.
Here is our 17 June 2021 session plan:
10 minutes – Introduction to Physical Computing (Katy Dickinson & Maryann Hrichak) on Zoom, including Arduino weaving video segment
25 minutes – Scratch activity in two Zoom breakout rooms with about 50 students each, one in Douala (lead by Gisele), and the other in Yaoundé (lead by Janet), with ten TechWomen mentors helping
5 minutes – Reflection (Katy Dickinson & Maryann Hrichak) on Zoom, including Knightscope robots video
Xaviera Nguefo Kowo and Janet Bih Shufor, TechWomen Cameroon Delegation 2021-06-17Fellows Janet, Jessica, Gisele of TechWomen Cameroon Delegation 2021-06-17
Thanks to Jeannice Farrer Samani, Janet Bih Shufor, and others for their recommendations on materials below. During our TechWomen-Cameroon Physical Computing session, I knew many of the girls might have network connection problems or would not fully understand the Zoom-based presentations because we spoke in English and many of them are French speakers. I want the “References and Resources” to present inspiring materials they could read later. I selected physical computing examples focused on weaving and robotics and included women and girl role models not only from Cameroon and Africa but also from the U.S. I hope that the girls will find these materials helpful!
1640 Weaving Room, Carlyle House, Alexandria, Virginia USA (postcard).
Updated 22 June 2021
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On 19 May 2021, I was graduated (virtually) with a Master of Arts degree from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, California), followed by a second graduation on 23 May 2021 from Pacific School of Religion (part of the GTU consortium) with my Master’s hood and a Certificate of Spirituality and Social Change. My thesis title was “Range of Chaplain Engagement with Prisoners”. This will (eventually) appear in the ProQuest dissertation and thesis database. Thanks for the loving and patient support of my family, friends, and community. Hooray!
26 May 2021 Update: I am honored to have been accepted into the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program of the Berkeley School of Theology! I am very interested in BST’s new cohort theme of “Racism/Prison Renewal/Reparations.”
Katy Dickinson GTU Graduation, 19 May 2021
Katy Dickinson graduation with John Plocher and Paul D. Goodman, 19 May 2021
Katy Dickinson graduation by John Plocher, 23 May 2021
Katy Dickinson graduation by Paul D. Goodman, 23 May 2021
PSR Commencement by Jessica 2021-05-23
PSR graduation program and folder May 2021
Katy Dickinson graduation by John Plocher, 23 May 2021
6 June 2021 Update:
Katy Dickinson GTU – MA Diploma and hood, May 2021
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