Paul McIvor's Friends

  • Penny Summers
  • Morley Chalmers
  • Carter (PDN Admin)
  • Erin Ferguson
  • Lisa Hill
  • Kobai Scott Whitney
  • Ekō (Joshua) Goldberg
  • carlos s.
  • Idris Cox
  • Mark Maxey
  • Fleet Maull
  • sarah gurganus
  • Kate Crisp (PDN Director)

Paul McIvor's Discussions

mental illness in prisons

Started this discussion. Last reply by Janna Feb 23, 2011. 18 Replies

talking to university students

Started this discussion. Last reply by Paul McIvor Apr 4, 2008. 5 Replies

 

Paul McIvor's Page

Profile Information

Country
Canada
How you are involved in Prison Dharma
Volunteer, Pen Pal
My Prison Dharma Group or Organization
Have worked with people on the inside and one through the last three years of his sentence and through to release. Volunteering at Maplehurst CC (Milton, Ontario, Canada).
Tell us about yourself & your interest in prison dharma: (answer required) .
Born, educated, live and expect to die in Toronto
Day job is communications/PR, mostly in health sector
BA in East Asian and Religious Studies, U Toronto
Plodding through my MA in Religious Studies, UNISA (thanks to everyone at PDN for inspiring and helping me!)
Practicing in Zen tradition for about 6 years

Paul McIvor's Blog

Prison Dharma Rsearch Project

Posted on September 29, 2009 at 8:30am 1 Comment

Many folks know I am doing research on Buddhist prison outreach (update: my MA thesis is almost done as is the article drawn from it). I've put up a quick survey on Survey Monkey. If you are part of an organization that provides Buddhist support to inmates could you please take the survey? It's 10 questions and should take 5 minutes. I'll have another one up for individual volunteers shortly. Thanks to all! Here's the… Continue

Prisons vs. hospitals

Posted on January 10, 2009 at 10:37am 1 Comment

One of the more interesting facts I found when trudging through my MA thesis is this:

ratio of prisons to Americans 1:63,000
ratio of hospitals to Americans 1:53,000

The difference of course is that (in the absence of a health care system worthy of the name) prisons are accessible to all Americans.

Odd but indicative of national priorities I suppose.

Comment Wall (20 comments)

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At 4:48pm on October 26, 2012, Irene Mathias said…

Hi Paul. Glad to chat with you about what I do, and look forward to hearing more about your research and your work at Maplehurst.  Email me at imathias@magma.ca.

Irene 

At 7:07pm on November 6, 2010, Penny Summers said…
Greetings Paul; would love to talk with you. Email neoma69@hotmail.com
At 11:25am on September 11, 2010, Irene Mathias said…
Hi Paul
I would be happy to share info with you about what I am doing (and would be interested in knowing more about your research). You can reach me at imathias@magma.ca
Irene
At 4:45pm on January 13, 2009, Morley Chalmers said…
Discovered PDN earlier today. You can find a lengthy introduction to myself in the Introductions section of the Forum. I'd be interested in meeting up with someone who has become involved in this work. I'm in the Yonge/Bloor area of Toronto.

416/926-9296
morley@boxbe.com
At 10:08am on July 24, 2008, Diane Wilde said…
Hi Paul. Happy to talk with you regarding your research. Email me at dwilde09@yahoo.com and we can set up a time. Thanks. Diane
At 10:31pm on July 21, 2008, Bonnie Shoultz said…
Hi, Paul,
I am just beginning a five-day sesshin, but we could talk further about a time/date after that. Can you get back to me next week?: bshoultz@syr.edu is my email.

Jikyo
At 1:30pm on February 13, 2008, Kobai Scott Whitney said…
Paul:
Good to see your posts. Take a look in my book at the discussion about "just showing up" practice. Sometimes we just show up and go through all the bother of getting in only to have no one show. That's how all groups start. Just keep showing up and someone will show up to check you out. If you appear ok--as opposed to smelling unsavory--word will get out and before long you'll have a group. Look at it as a nice break from your routine.
/Kobai
At 8:48am on January 29, 2008, Paul McIvor said…
Hi Dennis

Glad to meet you. I typically work through the chaplain, Nick Swirski and, to a lesser degree, Frances Pedder (the volunteer coordinator... I guess you've met her). Communications are generally OK but I find that they are so busy that things fall to the side unless you are persistent. Seeing Nick work I would think that only a little bit of his time is with a computer; most of it looks like hands-on stuff at the prison. If you want, I can mention your DVD to him. Sarah G. here at PDN mentioned a video called Dhamma Brothers, which might also make good viewing. Here's the link. http://www.dhammabrothers.com/ I am trying to get a copy.

Paul
At 8:31pm on January 28, 2008, Dennis Froese said…
Hello Paul:
My name is Dennis Froese and I am in London, ON. I had made contact with the Dep. Supt. Programs at Maplehurst. We were to have a meeting with him, the volunteer co-ordinator and perhaps the chaplain to discuss bringing a DVD program called "Words of Peace" into Maplehurst. The day before the meeting I got a email postponing due to an urgent situation which had developed. A couple of weeks has now passed and although they were going to contact me with some other perspective meeting dates, nothing has happened.

What has your experience been in regards to communicating with the administrators there and who have you primarily communicated with?

My email is dennisfroese@gmail.com if you would like to contact me outside of this forum.

Thanks for your comments.
At 2:36pm on January 23, 2008, Paul McIvor said…
Hey folks. Just an update on the Ontario situation. I dropped off scads of books at Maplehurst and sorted them for the chaplain to distribute to inmates (basic and advanced piles). I went up to see another prisoner who was a no-show. This is the second prisoner to bail on me and I am beginning to think I smell or something :) Oh well, things go on and I continue to show up.

On another note, I spoke to a group of students at the University of Toronto today on prison dharma. Interested crowd (I think) and some good questions. Just wanted to get the word out.
 
 
 

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