"Healthcare Partnerships with Plain People: Providing Support while Conducting Research" Presented by Angela Kueny (Luther College)

Amish Vogue: Performing Fashion in the Plain World Presented by Nao Nomura (Fulbright Scholar, Univ. of MA.)

"Strictly Observant: Amish & Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Negotiating Media." (Rutgers University Press). Discussion with author Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar (Sapir Academic College).

Title: Discussion of JAPAS 11(2) Special Issue on Health (Autumn 2023) Led by: Rosanna Hess (Malone College), Braxton Mitchell (University of Maryland), and authors Read the special issue of JAPAS: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/amishstudies/vol11/iss2/

Title: German and Mennonite Mythologies in a Transnational Age Presented by: John Eicher (Penn State) Abstract: John Eicher presented his research and spoke about his recent book from 2020 entitled Exiled Among Nations: German and Mennonite Mythologies in a Transnational Age

Title: Implementing First Aid Education and Supplies within a Minnesota Amish Community Presenter: Kristin (Glumack) Moore Abstract: A summary of a Doctor of Nursing Practice student project of working with a small, rural central Minnesota Amish community. Minnesota is home to approximately 5,000 Amish people. Amish have historically been hesitant to accept, adopt, or implement Western healthcare ways, preferring to provide care for family members within their homes. Utilization of complementary or alternative methods for treatment is a high priority. Low health literacy rates, limited science education, lack of insurance, cultural differences, poverty, and rural living make healthcare access and treatment options difficult. This presentation will be a description of my doctoral project which involved developing a first aid kit, creating educational content, and conducting the teaching of skills necessary for implementing the first aid kit items into the local Amish community. Discussion highlights and emphasis will be placed on: - Establishing connections - Development of trust - Identifying needs - Collaboration - Blending of cultures - Project results - Follow-up survey results Further Reading: Anderson, C., & Potts, L. (2020). The Amish health culture and culturally sensitive health services: An exhaustive narrative review. Social Science & Medicine, 256. 1-6. https://doi.org.10.1016jj.socscimed.2020.113466 Cates, J. A. (2014). Serving the Amish: A cultural guide for professionals. (Donald B. Kraybill, Ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. Jagosh, J., et al. (2015). A realist evaluation of community-based participatory research: partnership synergy, trust building, and related ripple effects. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 725-725. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1949-1 Katz, M. L., et al. (2013). Health literacy among the Amish: Measuring a complex concept among a unique population. Journal of Community Health, 38, 753-758. https://doi.org.10.1007/s10900-013-9675-z

Presented by Andrew Martin Abstract: In this presentation I will provide a definition of spirituality and the methodology that provides the groundwork for my research. To understand the ascetical and mystical dimensions of Old Order Mennonite spirituality, I will identify key spiritual themes and their related practices in Old Order Mennonites as well as pointing to sources of continuity with in medieval monastic spirituality. Further Reading: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/126565/4/Martin_Andrew_C_202211_PhD_thesis.pdf

Topic: Pennsylvania Dutch: A Living Language Speaker: Rose Fisher Abstract: Pennsylvania Dutch is an umbrella term for the Germanic language spoken across North America by multiple groups. In this presentation, I will introduce this language's roots and historical developments illustrating its most important dialect divides and demonstrating a few of the features and processes that make it a uniquely American phenomenon. Given the high birth and retention rates of the separatist Anabaptist groups that still speak Pennsylvania Dutch and pass it on to their children, I show how this resilient language continues to evolve and thrive under intense contact with the majority language, English.

Topic: Logic and Tradition: Amish Theology in Recent Literature Speaker: Christopher G. Petrovich Abstract: In the past year, I have written four peer-reviewed articles on Amish theology and adjacent subjects. The essays address (a) the doctrine of the church with special attention to the construction of ‘lines of fellowship’; (b) their pre-modern reading of scripture; (c) the mid-twentieth-century context of the momentous 1955 ministerial decision that split the mostly unitary Amish world into two non-communing groups; and (d) the question of whether an Amish theology (if it exists!) can be inscribed on paper. The first three essays illustrate the viability of my argument that the Amish, like all other Christian traditions, are inescapably theological. I draw these articles together by addressing how logic and tradition are operative in Old Order Amish churches and note the ways that ‘modernist’ and Protestant Evangelical assumptions tend to skew outsider understandings of Amish beliefs and practices. Suggested reading: Petrovich, Christopher G. “Reading, Interpreting, and Applying Christian Scripture in Amish Communities” Mennonite Quarterly Review 96 (October 2022): 503-29. — “Amish Ecclesiology: Plural-Elder Congregationalism, Governing Lines of Fellowship, and Envisioning the Church” Ecclesiology 18 (2022): 297-318. — “1955 Diener Beschluß: Text, Interpretation, Reception History, and Historiography” Journal of Amish & Plain Anabaptist Studies (Forthcoming). — “Writing an Amish Theology.” Journal of Religion (Forthcoming).

Speaker: Lindsay Ems Abstract: The Amish are famous for their disconnection from the modern world and all its devices. But, as Lindsay Ems shows in her new book,Virtually Amish, Old Order Amish today are selectively engaging with digital communication technology. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two Old Order Amish settlements in Indiana, Ems finds that the Amish do not allow digital communication technologies to drive their behavior; instead, they actively configure their sociotechnical world to align with their values and protect their community's autonomy. This talk will explore the various decisions made by members of Amish communities to guide digital communication technology use in an effort to maintain community wellness. Lindsay Ems’ Biography: Lindsay Ems is an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her research explores the social impacts of digital communication technologies. Specifically, in her teaching and research she aims to better understand the social forces that are often inconspicuously embedded into the technologies we all use today for relationship-building and maintenance, and workplace collaboration. Her new book, Virtually Amish: Preserving Community at the Internet’s Margins, explores approaches to resisting the damaging forces of high-tech capitalism that impact all who live and work in today’s information society, as deployed in Old Order Amish communities. Suggested Reading: Article: “Amish Workarounds: Toward a Dynamic, Contextualized View of Technology Use” by Lindsay Ems (JAPAS article) Book: Virtually Amish: Preserving Community at the Internet's Margins by Lindsay Ems (MIT Press)

Topic: JAPAS Volume 10 Panel Discussion on “Cultural Moorings and Policy Considerations” Panelists: - Ronald Jantz, Rutgers Universities Libraries - Krista Evans, Missouri State University - Scot Long, Marion Technical College - Beth Graybill, Millersville University Abstract: This event will feature a panel of authors from the spring issue of JAPAS. The works described in this issue discuss cultural dynamics of plain people but from different perspectives. Ron Jantz analyzed how and why Holdeman Mennonites have shifted their theological thinking and religious practices over a generation. Krista Evans examined the intersection of Amish culture and land use planning practice. Trudy Metzger identified specific latent cultural dynamics that could create increased vulnerabilities or silencing of survivors of sexual abuse. Beth Graybill explored how qualitative methodological techniques can inform ethnographic research with gender-focused mini-studies addressing patriarchy, women’s businesses, and COVID-19. Read the Articles from JAPAS Volume 10 Issue 1 Here: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/amishstudies/vol10/iss1/

December 2022 APASA Café: Topic: Genetics of Glaucoma Evaluation in the Amish Presented by Jessica Cooke Bailey, Jonathan M. Skarie, and colleagues Description: Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness throughout the world. To better understand glaucoma and inform new treatment strategies, we study the genetics of people with glaucoma. We think that, by studying glaucoma risk in the Amish, we can uncover genes and pathways that influence this disease. With the Genetics of Glaucoma Evaluation in the Amish pilot study (GGLEAM), we study glaucoma in an Amish population concentrated in Holmes County, Ohio. Our recruitment is participant-facing: we visit homes and advertise in newspapers that are commonly read among Amish communities. Upon informed consent, participation in GGLEAM includes undergoing detailed medical, environmental, and lifestyle history questionnaires, a blood draw, and an eye exam. We organize for participants to travel to Mansfield to receive a comprehensive eye examination by our Ophthalmologist collaborator. We extract DNA from blood samples for genome-wide genetics analysis wherein we apply techniques that are specifically useful for large family studies. We send study updates via newsletters to participants. We recognize the importance of engagement with the Amish community. By understanding glaucoma risk in the Amish, we can learn more about the complex risk for this disease and apply this knowledge to better inform prevention and treatment strategies. Suggested Reading: Waksmunski AR, Song YE, Kinzy TG, Laux RA, Sewell J, Fuzzell D, Fuzzell S, Miller S, Wiggs JL, Pasquale LR, Skarie JM, Haines JL, Cooke Bailey JN. (2021). The GGLEAM Study: Understanding Glaucoma in the Ohio Amish. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(4):1551. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041551. PMID: 33561996.

November 2022 APASA Café: Topic: Utilizing the “Anabaptist Thing” in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century German Historical Fiction Presented by Berit Jany Description: The talk explores images of early Anabaptism in selected Austrian, Swiss, and German fictional writing. Through a critical reading of the movement’s representations in historical fiction dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the presenter takes inventory of chief characteristics of Anabaptist life and piety and observes which of these aspects are selected for portrayal in fictional texts. This includes an investigation of how authors have fictionalized the Anabaptist movement, its commitment to theological precepts and non-resistance, and its separation from society. The reading of these selected texts is also concerned with underlying programmatic aims and ideological convictions cloaked by literary articulations of encounters between society and fictional representatives of the early movement.

September 2022 Café: Panel Discussion: “On the 50th Anniversary of Wisconsin v. Yoder: Assessing the Complexities of this Milestone Amish Schooling Decision” Panelists: David Cheng (Cheng Law, Inc.), William Fischel (Dartmouth Univ.), Emma Rosenberg (New York Univ.), and Mark Strasser (Capital Univ.). Description: In 1972, the Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder ushered in a new era of legal freedoms for the Amish and other plain people, namely, the ability to operate their own schools and the ability to cap educational attainment at eighth grade. Yet, across the past half-century, the Yoder decision’s complexities, even contradictions, have routinely triggered academic and legal debates. To acknowledge 50 years of the Yoder decision, this APASA Café features four law and society scholars who will discuss some of the legal and cultural intricacies of Yoder today. Suggested Reading: Cheng, David Gan-Wing 2012. "Wisconsin v. Yoder: Respecting Children’s Rights and Why Yoder Would Soon Be Overturned." Charlotte Law Review 4:45-. Fischel, William. 2012. "Do Amish One-Room Schools Make the Grade? The Dubious Data of Wisconsin v. Yoder." University of Chicago Law Review 79(1):107-29. Rosenberg, Emma. 2020. "Amish and Hasidic Litigation: A Survival Strategy." Journal of Church and State 63(3):485-505. Strasser, Mark P. 2019. "Yoder's Legacy." Hofstra Law Review 47(4):1335-57.

August 2022 Café: "Why Amish Parents Choose to Send Their Children to Public Schools" (Annual JAPAS Award Lecture) Presented by Steven Thalheimer Abstract: In the 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder case, the Supreme Court codified the right of Amish parents to withdraw children from compulsory attendance after 8th grade. Yet, 50 years later, Amish parents still send their children to public schools. This study identifies factors that contribute to Amish families choosing to do so. The researcher, doubling as the superintendent of a district in Elkhart County, IN, where one K-8 Amish-supported public school is located, conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 randomly-selected Old Order Amish parents. Thematic coding revealed that parents consider institutional, instructional, and social factors when deciding to send their children to public school. Amish parents do relinquish control on some issues, including no prayer or religious songs amid modern music, information-communications technology, and exposure to non-Amish influences. However, the utility of learning skills and dispositions for the future makes pragmatic negotiations with the public education system worthwhile. Ultimately, parents felt that if they instill faith-based values in their children at home, their children will benefit from public education while still selecting to remain in their faith, dually equipped with reason and skill sets for a changing world. Read the Award-Winning Paper Here: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/amishstudies/vol9/iss1/4/

May 2022 Café: "Pious Pioneers: Mennonite land-use dynamics in Latin America" Presented by Yann le Polain de Waroux Abstract: Low-German Mennonites, in a hundred years of existence in Latin America, have created over 200 colonies covering a total land area greater than that of the Netherlands. In this talk, I will explore some of the geographical dimensions of this impressive expansion and present some of the pathways, patterns, causes and impacts of the expansion of Mennonite colonies in several Latin American countries. Working at the continental scale, I will look at these land dynamics to understand how cultural and religious specificities have shaped where and how Mennonites acquire land for expansion.

April 2022 Café: "Book Discussion on Blessings and Burdens: 100 Years of Hutterites in Manitoba" Presented by author Ian Kleinsasser Abstract: In June 2019, the Jacob D Maendel lecture series was inaugurated. The lectures were named in honour of Jacob Maendel (1911-1972), one of the author's grandfathers, who was a teacher, pastor, and community leader credited with pioneering the movement in Manitoba to have Hutterite teachers certified to teach in the public schools on Hutterite communities. The book Blessings and Burdens was born out of these lectures. Blessings and Burdens is unique as it marks the first time since settling in the Canadian prairie provinces that a Hutterite attempted to interpret and present part of the Hutterite story (1918-2018) in front of a public audience. The lectures seek to view Hutterite history (1918-2018) through four major lenses. The first lens looks outward and explores the Hutterian relationships with their host countries in the U.S. and Canada. The second lens turns inward and explores the struggles within Hutterian society, particularly between the three Leut, the Dariusleut, the Lehrerleut, and the Schmiedeleut. The third lens explores the relationships of the Hutterites with the Bruderhof beginning in the 1920s and ending in 1995. The final lens focused on the historical and contemporary struggle of Hutterites as they attempted to educate their own children in Hutterian ways while national and provincial governments pursued a public-school educational policy of assimilation into Canadian society.

March 2022 Café: "The Collaborative Amish Aging & Memory Project" Presented by Jonathan Haines Abstract: The Collaborative Amish Aging & Memory Project (CAAMP) started 20 years ago to learn more about the influence of genetics on the processes of aging and aging diseases. Over the past 20 years, our research team has worked with the Amish communities of central Ohio and northern Indiana to learn more about how genetic variation may promote successful aging or increase the risk of memory problems and dementia. The results of our studies have identified potential new genes for memory problems and dementia, and we are now applying new methods to identify which genes are most likely to be important. In this presentation, we will provide a history of our efforts and discuss our current findings.