2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
"The Globalization of Dignity"
representing the
28th Annual HumanDHS Conference
and the Thirteenth Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict


December 8 – 9, 2016
hosted by
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
(MD-ICCCR)
Columbia University, Teachers College (TC), Horace Mann room 150
525 West 120th Street, New York City, NY 10027
subway 1, exit 116th Street

in cooperation with the World Dignity University initiative

 

This workshop series has two parts:

•  Public Event
Thursday, December 8, 5 pm – 7 pm, TC, Horace Mann room 150
Open to everyone, free entrance, see
the flyer


•  Two-Day Workshop

Thursday and Friday, December 8 – 9, 10 am - 5 pm (registration at 9 am), TC, Horace Mann room 150, with breakout room HM 148
See the program
Only upon invitation,
no registration fee, we always use a dignity economy approach


If you wish to participate in our workshops, please send an email to workshops@humiliationstudies.org! Please know that you are always invited to spend the entire workshop with us, so that real dignity-family-building can emerge. All our events are part of an ongoing effort to nurture a global dignity community. This workshop series follows a format of organic growth, and is thus different from mainstream conferences. In all our events, our aim is to create a community, rather than having an "audience" listen to "speakers."
All participants are warmly invited to fill out our Appreciative Introduction form, print it out, and bring it with you.
There is no registration fee, we always share minimal cost according to ability at the end.

Please see:
•  Our post-workshop thank-you message, sent out on February 13, 2017.
•  Our "Take A Look" invitation sent out on October 17, 2016, your personal invitation letter, your reminder sent out on November 14, 2016, your last reminder sent out on November 28, 2016 (see it also on MD-ICCCR)
•  Public Event Poster
•  Short Program of the Workshop
•  Announcements of our News, including the Dignity Press flyer
•  This workshop was the thirteenth in a series that began in 2003: see the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 workshops, and a compilation of all NY workshops
• Newsletter Nr. 28, compiled subsequent to the workshop



Honorary Convenor
Morton Deutsch
First HumanDHS Lifetime Commitment Award Recipient
deutsch

Linda Hartling & Morton Deutsch & Evelin Lindner
EveLinda
Linda Hartling and Evelin Lindner are the conveners of the annual workshops at Columbia University since 2003, together with honorary convener Morton Deutsch (click on the pictures above to see them larger; the photo with Morton Deutsch is from 2014).


Tonya Hammer
Tonya Hammer has kindly agreed to lead the team that organizes this workshop, thank you, dear Tonya!

All
Day One

All

Day Two

Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016
We very much thank Mariana Ferraz for making this wonderful mini-documentary! Thank you, dear Mariana and also you, dear Gaby Saab, for inviting so many of us into this documentary, from Janet Gerson to David Yamada, Michael Perlin, Philip Brown, Kebadu Mekonnen Gebremariam, David Yau-Fai Ho! How great that you chose the song "A Wonderful World" in the background, the very song that David Yamada brought to us!

• Our Workshops on Humiliation and Violent Conflict are convened by The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), with Morton Deutsch, its Director Emeritus, as our Honorary Convener, on behalf of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and, since 2011, also the World Dignity University (WDU) initiative. MD-ICCCR was part of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), and co-founder, in 2009, of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). We are very grateful to our hosts!
• We thank Drew Pham and Sandra Afflick for so kindly arranging the venue for our workshop!
• To request disability-related accommodations and equipment, please contact OASID at oasid@tc.edu, (212) 678-3689, (212) 678-3853 TTY, (212) 678-3854 video phone.

 


 

Practical details

•  Where to stay
• For all our workshops, everybody is kindly asked to please arrange for your housing yourself. Please see here the subway map of NY.
• Please see Lodgings close to Columbia University, see particularly: TC Guest Housing (Tel. +1 212 678-3235), International House, NYC (Tel. +1 212 316-8400), and Union Theological Seminary (Tel. +1 212 280-1313).
• See also AirBnB. We thank Erin Helfert for sending us this link. Thank you, dear Rosario Galvan, for informing us on April 14, 2016: Here's another searcher for homestay, appartment rental: Roomorama. And see booking.com for hotel rooms also reflecting special deals for hostels and shared accommodations, perhaps better suited for younger students (in the search function just click on under $50 per night). They rent beds in shared rooms with shared bathrooms but also other options with private room and shared bathroom.
• A very quiet place to stay would be the Community of the Holy Spirit on West 113th Street.
Tonya Hammer recommends Morningside Inn (very reasonable, but also very basic).
• Tomoko Ishii recommends On The Ave (more costly, but also less basic).
• The Milford Plaza Hotel is located in Broadway's Theater District (very reasonable).
• See furthermore the website for the NY City Hotel Trades Council, which will locate socially responsible hotels in the NY City area. We thank Floyd Rudmin for making us aware of this service.
• Please see also US SERVAS, hosting people for one to two nights. (This can be extended, but this is up to the host to extend, and the traveler to accept. Most NYC hosts do not host more than a week, except if the visitor is someone they really feel comfortable with and grow to like.)
• Please see also couchsurfing.com.
• Please see also craigslist.org.
• Please see furthermore Sara's New York Homestay, through which international students, visitors, interns or executives who come to New York City (this service exists also in Los Angeles, Paris, and London) for a short period of time (1 to 12 months) can find a place to stay (four weeks Manhattan cost ca. 1,500 USD, one week 900 USD, the cost is less outside Manhattan; when you write to them, convey greetings from Evelin: Evelin visited their office on November 19, 2007, and presented the HumanDHS initiative to Bernard Zagdanski, Sara’s husband).
• Some of our participants have used Aparthotels, such as Chelsmore Apartments, 205 West 15th Street, New York City, Tel. +1 212-924-7991. We thank David Bargal for this link.

•  Green conference and reinventing organization
We strive to organize our conferences as "Green Conferences". Lynn King kindly advises us. We also thank Vegard Jordanger for making us aware of Frederic Laloux's work on Reinventing Organizations (2014).

•  Please kindly note that...
• There is no registration fee for our conferences. To cover our expenses, we always summarize the costs during the conference and invite participants to contribute according to their ability. This collaborative approach to financing allows us to keep the conference affordable for all.
• We like to get to know participants prior to our conferences and workshops, and prior to issuing an invitation.
• All our gatherings are by invitation only, please approach us so that we can include you and register you. Only our Public Events are open to everybody without registration.
• The Non-Public Parts of our gatherings have limited enrollment.
• Participants are encouraged to find their own sources of funding or economic support to participate in our conferences. We offer our nurturing work as our gift of love and care to you, and we would like to lovingly invite everybody to contribute to this gift economy. If you need funding for your travels and housing, please inquire in your country and your university about possibilities. See, among others, for the US, www.supportcenter.org and www.foundationscenter.org. The Weinstein International Fellowship program, inaugurated in 2008, provides opportunities for individuals from outside the United States to visit the U.S. to learn more about dispute resolution processes and practices and to pursue a project of their own design that serves to advance the resolution of disputes in their home countries.
• Participants are kindly asked to handle all of their travel arrangements and required documentation, including requests for visas, on their side. HumanDHS is a volunteer initiative and does not have thestaff or resources to assist with visa requests.

•  Permissions
During our conferences, we always ask all participants for their permission to have their pictures or videos posted on our website, however, if you change your mind later, either in total or for specific pictures/videos, please let us know! Thank you! Since we wish to walk the talk of dignity, it is very important for us to do our utmost in respecting everybody's privacy. We refrain from gathering written permissions from you during our conferences, since we value the building of mutual trust in relationships, and we also would like to refrain from contributing to an ever more bureaucratic and legalistic society.

•  What happened in our previous conferences?
Please have a look at all our previous conferences and the newsletters written after these conferences.

 


 

 

Overview

Frame
•  Rationale
•  How We Go About
•  Frame
•  List of Conveners

Program
•  Public Event
(see flyer)
•  Program of the Workshop (Day One & Day Two see the program)

Pre-Planned Dignity Dialogues - Dignilogues:
•  Dignilogue 1: How are human dignity and humiliation relevant to destructive conflict? (Day One)
•  Dignilogue 2: How can we cultivate dignity? (Day Two)


Co-Created Dignity Dialogues - Dignilogues:
•  Co-Created Dignilogue Session #1 (Day One)
•  Co-Created Dignilogue Session #2 (Day Two)

Participants and Convening Organizations
•  Participants (in all New York City workshops so far)
•  Details of the Convening Organizations

•  Papers

•  Pictures

We so much thank Brandon Scott, Gabriela Saab, Mariana Ferraz, Noriko Ishihara, Hua-Chu Yen, and many others for taking such lovely photos!
The still photos of this workshop come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera, among others, by Gabriela Saab
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

• Videos

Thank you so much, dear Mariana Ferraz, for doing such wonderful video-taping! And thank you, dear Noriko Ishihara, for so kindly helping out during our Public Event! And thank you so much, dear Hua-Chu Yen, for your lovely snapshots!

Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016
We very much thank Mariana Ferraz for making this wonderful mini-documentary! Thank you, dear Mariana and also you, dear Gaby Saab, for inviting so many of us into this documentary, from Janet Gerson to David Yamada, Michael Perlin, Philip Brown, Kebadu Mekonnen Gebremariam, David Yau-Fai Ho! How great that you chose the song "A Wonderful World" in the background, the very song that David Yamada brought to us!

Day One:
•  01 Linda Hartling Welcomes Everybody
•  02 Danielle Coon Welcomes Everybody
•  03 Linda Hartling Introduces Our Appreciative Frame
•  04 Christine de Michele Brings Everybody Together
•  05 A Global Dignilogue with Evelin Lindner and Linda Hartling
•  05.1 Ljoba Jenče Shared Her Art in Dubrovnik on September 23, 2016
•  06 David Yamada Explains the Dignilogue Format
•  07 Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1 "How Are Human Dignity and Humiliation Relevant to Destructive Conflict?"
•  08 Christine de Michele Shares "Island"
•  09 Phil Brown, Gabriela Saab, and Linda Hartling Shape the Co-Created Dignilogues
•  10 Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making
•  11 Co-Created Dignilogue 1 "Being an Effective Ally"
•  12 Co-Created Dignilogue 2 "Mindful Communications"
•  13 Co-Created Dignilogue 3 "Systemic Humiliation"
•  14 Co-Created Dignilogue 4 "The Path of Forgiveness"
•  15 Co-Created Dignilogue 5 "Creating a Dignity Classroom"

Public Event:
•  16 Public Event: Fred Ellis and His Students Sing
•  17 Public Event: Michael Perlin: "Dignity and the Nobel Prize: Why Bob Dylan Was the Perfect Choice"
•  18 Public Event: Betty Reardon, the Mother of Peace Education, Honors Us with Her Presence
•  19 Public Event: Edna Adan Ismail: "Dignity Through Courage!" (Powerpoint)
•  20 Public Event: Sylvain Leroux, Magali Regis, and the Fula Flute

Day Two:
•  21 Bonnie Selterman Shares Her Poem "No Shoes" (Pdf)
•  22 Welcome and Practical Details
•  23 Michael Britton's Don Klein Celebration Lecture
•  24 Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2 "How Can We Cultivate Dignity?"
•  24.1 Christine de Michele's Interlude
•  25.1 Philip M. Brown Receives the Human Dignity (Half!) Lifetime Award
•  25.2 Philip M. Brown Receives the Human Dignity (Half!) Lifetime Award
•  26.1 David Yamada and Linda Hartling Shape the Co-Created Dignilogues
• 26.2 David Yamada and Linda Hartling Shape the Co-Created Dignilogues
•  27 Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making
•  28 Co-Created Dignilogue 6 "How to Respond in a More Dignified Way to a New Reality"
•  29 Co-Created Dignilogue 7 "DigniLego, or DigniPlay"
•  30 Co-Created Dignilogue 8 "The Dark Side of Empathy"
•  31 Co-Created Dignilogue 9 "The Bright Side of Empathy"
•  32 Co-Created Dignilogue 10 "A Dignifying Experience"
•  33 Evelin Lindner Shares the Story of the Jewelry from the Oasis Siwa
•  34 Closing Thank-You Round
•  35 Closing Ceremony
•  36 Good-Bye Snapshots by Hua-Chu Yen
•  37 Good-Bye Snapshots with Linda and Rick
•  38 Good-Bye Snapshots with Janet and Bhante
•  39 Good-Bye Snapshots with Zsuzsa, Martha, Glyn, and All
•  40 Good-Bye Snapshots with Sharon and Evelin
•  41 Good-Bye Snapshots with Naoko and Evelin
•  42 Interview with Evelin Lindner - Challenges of our Time; Learning to Connect, December 8, 2016

Video Messages for the World Dignity University (WDU) Initiative:
Day One, December 8, 2016
•  10 Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making
•  11 Co-Created Dignilogue 1 "Being an Effective Ally"
•  12 Co-Created Dignilogue 2 "Mindful Communications"
•  13 Co-Created Dignilogue 3 "Systemic Humiliation"
•  14 Co-Created Dignilogue 4 "The Path of Forgiveness"
•  15 Co-Created Dignilogue 5 "Creating a Dignity Classroom"
Day Two, December 9, 2016:
•  27 Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making
•  28 Co-Created Dignilogue 6 "How to Respond in a More Dignified Way to a New Reality"
•  29 Co-Created Dignilogue 7 "DigniLego, or DigniPlay"
•  30 Co-Created Dignilogue 8 "The Dark Side of Empathy"
•  31 Co-Created Dignilogue 9 "The Bright Side of Empathy"
•  32 Co-Created Dignilogue 10 "A Dignifying Experience"

•  Newsletters

•  Compilation of all New York City workshops

•  Workshop Notes & Documentation

 


 

Rationale, Methodology, and Frame

 

Rationale

This workshop series is part of a larger process. Each workshop is much more than a stand-alone event. It is part of the overall mission of our global dignity movement, which is to create an atmosphere in which people can meet on a plane of mutual friendship and equality in dignity. The workshop invites its participants to experiment with creating a new culture of global cohesion and togetherness, and to nurture a global family of dignity, a family that truly acts like a good family should act and protects and cherishes our unity in diversity. The workshop invites into enlarging and transcending concepts such private versus public, or family/friends/good neighbors versus "bad neighbors" (or even "enemies"), as well as concepts such as life mission versus job/hobby..

Given the current context of the field of international conflict, the impact of emotions on conflict has become one of the most important questions worldwide. However, there are only scattered publications in the research and applied literature that would address issues on conflict and emotion directly, as well as their relations and their impact on public policy.

The first one-day meeting was held at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2002, convened by Morton Deutsch personally, the first two-day workshop in 2004, hosted by the Columbia University's Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN, since 2009, AC4 stepped into the place of CU-CRN), with special help from SIPA – Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) and The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR)

Since 2004, CICR on behalf of CU-CRN and later AC4, together with the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and, since 2011, also the World Dignity University (WDU) initiative, invites selected groups of scholars, counselors, conflict resolution practitioners, mediators, and teachers among other professions for a two-day workshop every year to explore issues of conflict and emotions and its application to actual negotiations and diplomacy. The aim is to particularly probe the role of the notion of humiliation from the two different angles of conflict and emotion.

The workshops are envisaged as a learning community gathering, interactive and highly participatory. The purpose is to create an open space to identify and sharpen our understanding of the discourse and debate on emotion and conflict and the role that might, or might not be played by humiliation within this field. We hope to be able to continue this effort in follow-up workshops in the future.

We see humiliation as entry point into broader analysis and not as "single interest scholarship." We are aware that most participants focus on other aspects than humiliation in their work and have not thought about humiliation much, or even at all. We do not expect anybody to do so beforehand. We encourage that everybody comes with his/her background, his/her theoretical concepts and tools, and that we, during the conference, reflect together. We invite everybody to use their focus and give a thought to whether the notion of humiliation could be enriching, or not, and if yes, in what way. We warmly invite diverging and dissenting views.

How We Go About

In our conferences, we choose a dialogical methodology that stresses interaction and participation, because we wish to create an atmosphere of openness and respectful inquiry through "dignity dialogues" or dignilogues and, when appropriate, the use of Open Space Technology. We believe that notions such as dignity and respect for equal dignity are important not only for conflict resolution, but also for conferences such as our workshops. The name Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies attempts to express this. We wish to strive for consistency between what we think are important values for conflict resolution, and the way we conduct our work and our conferences.

We believe in "waging good conflict" (Jean Baker Miller). We believe that diverging opinions and perspectives need to be expressed and not avoided, because diversity enriches. However, diversity only enriches if embedded into mutual connection and appreciation. If not harnessed lovingly and caringly, diversity has the potential to divide, create hostility, and foster hatred and even violence. In the spirit of our vision, we, the HumanDHS network, wish therefore to avoid the latter and foster an atmosphere of common ground and mutually caring connections as a space for the safe expression of even the deepest differences and disagreements, and the toughest questions of humiliation, trauma, and injustice.

Every dignilogue is being opened by brief remarks by each participant to present their entry points into the inquiry. In order to facilitate feedback, we wish to make available a brief synopsis of 1 to 4 pages, preferably with references, from each participant, prior to the workshop through this site so that all participants can meet virtually before meeting in person. Longer papers are welcome as well both prior and subsequent to our workshops, not least for the envisaged publications of the results of our conferences. Please notify us, if you wish to submit any of your papers also as a book chapter or as a journal article in our Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies.

All participants are warmly invited to send in their papers as soon as they can. We would be grateful if you could help us by formatting your contribution as follows:
1. Title: bold and in a large font.
2. The author's name under the title, proceded by a copyright sign Creative Commona.
3. In case the text is longer than one page: A footer for the name of the author, and a header for the title and the page number (in Word, you can use View > Header and Footer > Page Setup > Different first page, etc.).
4. Spacing: Single-spacing.
5. For non-natural English speakers who need support to make a text readable, please let us know and we try to find help.
5. The final Word document needs to be transformed into a Pdf file (use, for example, convert.neevia.com), and given a name. Please use your family name, and then identify the conference, in case of the 2008 NY workshop, this would read as follows: "FamilynameNY08meeting."
6. Please send us both you Word and Pdf files. Thank you!

Peace Linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos commented on this format as follows (May 2, 2012): "It enhances RELATIONAL DIGNITY. Everyone will make the most of such dignifyingly used time! A great humanizing, interactive format: a little bit of MONOlogue, followed by much DIALOGUE, will help create DIGNILOGUE."

Frame

by Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., Director of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (until 2008 Associate Director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at Wellesley College in Boston, USA)

In our conferences we aim at creating a humiliation-free, collaborative learning environment characterized by mutual respect, mutual empathy, and openness to difference. The perspective of "appreciative enquiry" is a useful frame of our work. Our HumanDHS efforts are not just about the work we do together, but also about HOW WE WORK TOGETHER. At appropriate points during our conferences, for example at the end of each day, we take a moment to reflect on the practices observed that contributed to an appreciative/humiliation-free learning experience.

It is important to emphasize that an appreciative approach is not about expecting people to agree. In fact, differences of opinion enrich the conversation and deepen people's understanding of ideas. This could be conceptualized as "waging good conflict" (Jean Baker Miller), which means practicing radical respect for differences and being open to a variety of perspectives and engaging others without contempt or rankism. As we have seen in many fields, contempt and rankism drain energy away from the important work that needs to be done. Most people only know "conflict" as a form of war within a win/lose frame. "Waging good conflict," on the other side, is about being empathic and respectful, making room for authenticity, creating clarity, and growth.

Please see also the following background material, mainly created by Linda Hartling:
• A Summary of Our Dignilogue Format for you to download
An Appreciative Frame: Beginning a Dialogue on Human Dignity and Humiliation, written by Linda Hartling in 2005
Appreciative Facilitation: Hints for Dignilogue Moderators, written by Judith Thompson in February 2006 to support the moderators of our workshops
Buddhist Teachings on Right Speech, kindly provided to us by Thomas Daffern in 2006, relating to our quest for appreciative enquiry, caring and being
•  Please see also these videos on our Appreciative Frame, created by Linda Hartling:
- Appreciative Enquiry 1, a video that was recorded on October 30, 2011, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Evelin Lindner, for the World Dignity University initiative.
- Appreciative Enquiry 2, a video that was uploaded onto YouTube on August 11, 2012, in preparation of the 19th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, August 27 – 30, 2012, in Oslo, Norway.
- Our Appreciative Frame 3, a video created in December 2014 (see also Pdf), for the 2014 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 4 – 5, 2014.
- Appreciative Enquiry 4, a video recorded by Linda Hartling on May 27, 2015, in Portland, Oregon, USA, for the 25th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in Kigali, Rwanda, June 2 – 5, 2015.
- Appreciative Frame, by Linda Hartling on December 8, 2016, at the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 8 – 9, 2016.
•  Dignilogue Tips and Dynamic Dignilogue List, created by Linda Hartling on October 10, 2015, for the 2015 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 3 – 4, 2015.

 



List of Conveners

Honorary Convener: Morton Deutsch, E. L. Thorndike Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education, and Director Emeritus of The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), Teachers College, Columbia University

Morton Deutsch is one of the world's most respected scholars and the founder of The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR). MD-ICCCR was part of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), and in 2009 co-founded the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). Professor Deutsch has been widely honored for his scientific contributions involving research on cooperation and competition, social justice, group dynamics, and conflict resolution. He has published extensively and is well known for his pioneering studies in intergroup relations, social conformity, and the social psychology of justice. His books include: Interracial Housing (1951); Theories in Social Psychology (1965); The Resolution of Conflict (1973); Distributive Justice (1985); and The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (2000, 2nd edition 2006).
Morton Deutsch founded this workshop series in 2003 and is our Honorary Convener since. He is a Member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board since the inception of our dignity work, and, in 2014, he has accepted, "with delight," our invitation to be our Honorary Lifetime Member of the HumanDHS Board of Directors. Morton Deutsch is, furthermore, a Founding Member of the World Dignity University initiative. Please see Morton Deutsch's pledge titled Imagine a Global Human Community and its progress. Morton Deutsch is also the first recipient of the HumanDHS Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at the 2009 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict.

Evelin Gerda Lindner, Medical Doctor, Clinical and Social Psychologist, Ph.D. (Dr. med.), Ph.D. (Dr. psychol.), Organizer of the HumanDHS Conferences, Supporting the Local Conveners

Evelin Gerda Lindner is the Founding President of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and initiator of the World Dignity University initiative. She is a transdisciplinary social scientist and humanist who holds two Ph.D.s, one in medicine and one in psychology. In 1996, she designed a research project on the concept of humiliation and its role in genocide and war. German history served as starting point. She is the recipient of the 2006 SBAP Award, the 2009 "Prisoner’s Testament" Peace Award, and the 2014 HumanDHS Lifetime Award. She is affiliated with the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), which was superseded, in 2009, by the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4), at Columbia University, New York City. She is also affiliated with the University of Oslo, Norway, with its Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, and with its Department of Psychology (folk.uio.no/evelinl/), and, furthermore, with the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris. Lindner is teaching globally, including in South East Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Africa, and other places globally. [read more]
Please see:
Interview with Evelin Lindner - Challenges of our Time; Learning to Connect, December 8, 2016
Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016

Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., Social Psychologist, Organizer of the HumanDHS Conferences, Supporting the Local Conveners

Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2015 Human Dignity (Half!) Lifetime Commitment Award.
She is the Director of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) and contributes to the leadership and development of workshops, conferences, Dignity Press publications, and the World Dignity University initiative. She works in daily collaboration with HumanDHS Founding President Evelin Lindner and is the orchestrator and key creator of the Dignity Letter. She is also a member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board, HumanDHS Global Core Team, HumanDHS Global Coordinating Team, HumanDHS Research Team, and HumanDHS Education Team.
Linda Hartling's husband Richard Slaven, formerly Brandeis University, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is the Director of HumanDHS Dignifunding. Richard Slaven is a Member of the Board of Directors of HumanDHS, he is a member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board and a Member of the HumanDHS Planning Committee. He is the recipient of the 2014 HumanDHS Lifetime Commitment Award.
Prior to the founding of HumanDHS, Linda Hartling was the Associate Director the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Stone Center, which was part of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She worked closely with Jean Baker Miller, MD, and other colleagues on the development of Relational-Cultural Theory. She holds a doctoral degree in clinical/community psychology and she developed the first scale to assess the internal experience of humiliation in 1996, which has been translated into many languages. In addition, she has published papers and chapters on resilience, substance abuse prevention, shame and humiliation, relational practice in the workplace, and Relational-Cultural Theory. [read more]
Please see:
• Humiliation: Real Pain, A Pathway to Violence, the draft of Linda's paper for Round Table 2 of our 2005 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City.
Humiliation: Assessing the Impact of Derision, Degradation, and Debasement, first published in The Journal of Primary Prevention, 19(4): 259-278, co-authored with T. Luchetta, 1999.
• Shame and Humiliation: From Isolation to Relational Transformation, the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMIT), Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College No. 88, Wellesley, MA 02481, co-authored with Wendy Rosen, Maureen Walker, Judith V. Jordan, 2000.
• Humiliation and Assistance: Telling the Truth About Power, Telling a New Story, paper prepared for the 5th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies 'Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People', in Berlin, 15th -17th September, 2005.
•  Our Appreciative Frame, created on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
•  Our Open Space Dignilogue Format, created on August 12, 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
•  Our Appreciative Frame, created in December 2014 for our 2014 New York Workshop (Pdf)
•  Appreciative Enquiry 4, a video that was recorded on May 27, 2015, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Linda Hartling, for the 25th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in Kigali, Rwanda, June 2 – 5, 2015.
•  Appreciative Frame shared on December 8, 2016, at the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 8 – 9, 2016.
•  Dignilogue Tips and Dynamic Dignilogue List, created by Linda Hartling on October 10, 2015, for the 2015 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 3 – 4, 2015.
Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Aldo Civico, Ph.D., Andrea Bartoli, Ph.D.

Andrea Bartoli inspired this workshop series and helped design it in 2003. He was then the Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and Chairman of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN). Andrea Bartoli is a Member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board since its inception. Also his successor, Aldo Civico, kindly supported this workshop, as did his successor, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who became the President of the International Crisis Group in 2014. We wish to give special thanks to all three for their kind support. Since 2015, CIRC is dormant and the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies (SIWPS) at the School of International and Public Affairs offers courses in specialization in conflict resolution (ICR Concentration).
In 2009, the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) was co-founded by MC-ICCCR.
We also wish to give special thanks to Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Academic Director of a Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at The School of Professional Studies (former School of Continuing Education) at Columbia University, for her support since 2001.

Tonya R. Hammer, Ph.D.

Tonya R. Hammer is also a Member of the Global Coordinating Team, and the HumanDHS Research Team.
Since 2013, Tonya is Assistant Professor of Counseling at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. Prior to that, since August 2008, Tonya held the position of Assistant Professor with the University of Houston-Clear Lake, in Texas, U.S.A. She wrote her doctoral dissertation at the Counselor Education and Supervision department at St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas. Her Masters degree in Psychology and Counseling is from the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas and her bachelor's degree is in English from the University of Texas, Arlington. [read more]

 


 

Program

Day One, Thursday, December 8, 2016, Columbia University, Teachers College, Horace Mann room 150

All
The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

9.00 am Registration, Meeting, Greeting, Listening, Learning, and Digniloging


The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

We have no words to thank the President of Teachers College, Susan Fuhrman, together with Portia Williams and Samantha Lu, Joe Levine, Peter Coleman, Danielle Coon, Drew Pham, Charlott Macek, Kofi Asare, Hua-Chu Yen, Jasmine Ortiz, Kevin Waldron, James Kearney, Sandra Afflick, Jennifer Govan, to name only a few of those valued friends at Teachers College who are so kind to make our workshop possible! What a gift Teachers College gives to the world by hosting a global dignity workshop!

Rick Slaven courageously stepped up again to manage everything from our registration table to dignifunding! He was joined by Bonnie Selterman, who most lovingly took over whenever needed! See the photos above! Our gratitude goes to Tonya Hammer for helping to organize our workshop from Oklahoma, even though she could not be with us in New York City!

This was the second workshop with Dignigardeners! David Yamada, Michael Britton, Claudia Cohen, Mara Alagic, and Karen Hirsch kindly offered to hold, guard, and protect the most important goal of our work, namely, to place relationships first and nurture them so that diversity of opinions and conflict can enrich, rather than tear the fabric of the relationships apart. Please see an Introduction into the Dignilogue Sessions Format, created by Linda Hartling on August 12, 2012, for our 2012 Norway Conference, and read more about the Dignilogue format and what it entails. See also Linda's Dignilogue Tips and Dynamic Dignilogue List, created on October 10, 2015, for last year's workshop, and Gabriela Saab's Dignigardener Tips created on December 6, 2016. See, furthermore, our reflections on Appreciative Nurturing.

Our dear Gabriela Saab from São Paulo brought her wonderful friend Mariana Ferraz, who gifted her expertise in the field of video-recording to us. On Thursday and Friday, our dear Hua-Chu Yen from Teachers College came by to take lovely photos. And we would like to also to thank most warmly our friends working with media, facilities, and security at Teachers College!

10.00 am Welcoming All Participants by Linda Hartling, Director of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network (Video)


The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

10.10 am Welcoming All Participants by Danielle Coon, Associate Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR) (Video)

 

Building a World of Dignifying Dialogue: Introducing the Appreciative Frame of our Dignity Approach (2016 Video | 2014 Pdf)

Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., Director of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies network.



Linda usually sets the frame of our workshops and conferences within "Appreciative Enquiry" that takes the best from the concept of debate, and dignifies it by placing relationships first. We create a list of agreed upon norms having to do with the nature and tone of our dialogue.
Donald Klein used to support Linda in her efforts. To our immense sadness, our beloved Don passed away in June 2007. We are still heartbroken. We commemorate his memory with great love. Linda continues to keep our workshop together with her untiring caring interventions, while we remember Don's caring wisdom that always used to save our conferences in crucial moments!

It is important to note that our appreciative frame is a HumanDHS-defined version of AI. We emphasize "waging good conflict" (Jean Baker Miller). We believe that diverging opinions and perspectives need to be expressed and not avoided, because diversity enriches. However, diversity only enriches if embedded into mutual connection and appreciation. If not harnessed lovingly and caringly, diversity has the potential to humiliate, divide, create hostility, foster hatred, and even violence. In the spirit of our vision, we, the HumanDHS network, wish therefore to avoid the latter, and instead open a space of common ground and mutually caring connections, a space for the safe expression of even the deepest differences and disagreements, and the toughest issues of humiliation, trauma, and injustice to be aired safely.

Please see also:
•  Our Appreciative Frame, created on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
•  Our Open Space Dignilogue Format, created on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference
•  Our Appreciative Frame, created in December 2014 for our 2014 New York Workshop (Pdf)
•  Appreciative Enquiry 4, a video that was recorded on May 27, 2015, in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Linda Hartling, for the 25th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in Kigali, Rwanda, June 2 – 5, 2015.
•  Appreciative Frame shared on December 8, 2016, at the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 8 – 9, 2016.

10.30 am Introducing Everyone with Phil Brown


First round of introductions in five groups of identifications:
1. Higher Education: University - College
2. Pre-K-12 Education: Admin/Teachers/Student Support Services
3. Human Services: NGOs/Nor-for-Profits
4. Graduate Students/Others

Second round of introductions in five groups of identifications:
1. Spiritual Development
2. Reading / Writing
3. Physical Activity: Sports/Dancing/Gardening
4. Visual/Performing Arts

Christine de Michele Brought Everybody Together (Video)

11.00 am – 11.30 am A Global Dignilogue with Evelin Lindner and Linda Hartling (Video | Questions Prepared by Linda)

Evelin Lindner shared Ljoba Jenče's wonderful art, which she contributed to our 27th Dignity Dignity Conference in Dubrovnik, on September 23, 2016
See also:
Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016
Interview with Evelin Lindner - Challenges of our Time; Learning to Connect, December 8, 2016


 

11.30 am - 12.45 pm Dignilogue 1: How Are Human Dignity and Humiliation Relevant to Destructive Conflict?

Please note that this title is meant to serve only as an inspiration; the topic of humiliation is so new and multifaceted, as is dignity, that we do not wish to force it into too rigid and narrow structures

David Yamada explained how you can participate in a Dignity Dialogue (Dignilogue) (Video)

How we usually go about: Every contributor has ca. 7-10 minutes to present her entry point into the dialogue, then we have an open dialogue. We have 2 empty chairs in the circle that can be taken by participants from the audience who wish to introduce a question or comment. We have two moderators for each Round Table. In that way, the Moderators are not prevented from also being contributors to the dialogue: while one Moderator makes a contribution to the dialogue, the other takes over as Moderator, and vice versa (with only one Moderator, this kind of flexibility would be lacking). We kindly invite the Moderators to summarize the contributions immediately following the dignilogue, and identify three "Key Learning Points" from the dialogue."
Peace Linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos commented on this format as follows (May 2, 2012): "It enhances RELATIONAL DIGNITY. Everyone will make the most of such dignifyingly used time! A great humanizing, interactive format: a little bit of MONOlogue, followed by much DIALOGUE, will help create DIGNILOGUE."
Dignilogue Moderators introduce the contributors (including the moderators), manage time in a supportive and friendly manner, facilitate dialogue after presentations, and summarize highlights.
Dignilogue Contributors present their contributions within the alloted time frame and nurture a lively dialogue
Please see:
- A Summary of Our Dignilogue Format for you to download
- Appreciative Facilitation: Hints for Dignilogue Moderators, written in February 2006 by Judith Thompson to support the Moderators of our workshops
- Dignilogue Tips and Dynamic Dignilogue List, created by Linda Hartling on October 10, 2015, for the 2015 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, in New York City, December 3 – 4, 2015.

Honorary Convenor: Morton Deutsch
Moderators: David C. Yamada and Annette A. Engler
Seating Manager: Rick Slaven
See here a Summary of Our Dignilogue Format for you to download
For the history of Dignilogue 1, see our Past Workshops


The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

Participants in Dignilogue 1 (Video):

 

•  Michael L. Perlin (co-authoring with Alison Lynch)

- “She’s Nobody’s Child/The Law Can’t Touch Her at All”: Seeking to Bring Dignity to Legal Proceedings Involving Juveniles (2016)
- “Had to be Held down by Big Police”: A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective on Interactions between Police and Persons with Mental Disabilities (2015)



Alyson Lynch and Michael Perlin in addition kindly shared the Bellevue Report: In a joint investigation by Mental Hygiene Legal Service for the First Judicial Department (MHLS) and DRNY, evidence was uncovered demonstrating an unusually high usage of mechanical restraints on patients at Bellevue Hospital Center as compared to other public hospitals in New York City. The report, titled, “Investigation Report: Use of Restraints on Psychiatric Patients at Bellevue Hospital Center,” was published on November 1, 2016. Bellevue’s high incidence of mechanical restraint usage on psychiatric patients is a significant area of concern. As Bellevue’s own policy states, restraint use “has the potential to produce serious consequences, such as physical and psychological harm, loss of dignity, violation of an individual’s rights, feelings of isolation and even death.”

•  Claudia Cohen

- Is Dignity Possible During War Time? A Small Act of Humanity... (2016)

•  Daniel Rothbart

- Invading the Mind and Controlling Population Groups: The Power of Systemic Humiliation (2016)

•  Janet Gerson

- Bullying: Nuclear, Presidential, Patriarchial (2016)
- Janet also thinks of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah as having the pain, the humility, and the awe of being human, see 4'38'' or 7'21''

They planned to join us and were unfortunately hindered to be with us in 2016:

•  James Shanahan
 
•  Fonkem Achankeng I, and his wife Patience

- The Dignity of the Commons: Re-imagining Life Experiences from the Poor & Homeless to International Politics (2016, Pdf | Powerpoint)
- Human Dignity & A World Beyond War: Partnerships and Collaborations in Our Global Commons (2015)

Fonkem Achankeng and his wife could not join us due to the worsening situation in his homeland British Cameroon, whose quest is similar to the case of East Timor in Indonesia; Namibia formerly in South Africa; Eritrea, formerly in Ethiopia; or Western Sahara currently in Morocco. Dear Fonkem recommends for the workshop participants to see this video on Southern Cameroon Protests recorded at the end of November (and the situation got worse since). For background reading, see the book he has edited in 2014, British Southern Cameroons - Nationalism & Conflict in Postcolonial Africa, (Victoria, BC: Friesen), which shows how studies on the decolonization of Africa focus mainly on European colonization of African peoples, whereas intra-African colonization, such as British Southern Cameroons' colonial occupation, is ignored. See also English Speakers in Cameroon Demand End to Discrimination, November 23, 2016.

 

12.45 pm - 1.30 pm Lunch & Digniloging, Digniposters, Digniart, Dignibeing, Dignimovement & Announcements of our News, including the 2016 Dignity Press flyer

Lunch in the Cafeteria in the basement of Teachers College, or in the Everett Café at the entrance of the Gottesman Library, or you could bring your own food and eat it in our workshop room.

Christine de Michele shared her reflection "Island"

 

Afternoon: Turning Ideas into Action

 

1.30 pm - 4.45 pm Co-Created Dignilogues # 1 - Facilitated by Phil Brown, Linda Hartling, and Gabriela Saab (Video)

For the past decade, we have continuously worked to dignify the traditional institution "conference." The Open Space movement originally started from the observation that after mainstream academic conferences, the participants, when asked, often say: "Oh, I slept through the presentations, but the coffee breaks were wonderful!" In other words, the motivating impetus behind the Open Space approach is that academic conference can be rather boring; invited speakers might not be in tune with the audience; and reading papers aloud may be particularly uncommunicative. The creators of the Open Space approach thought: "Ok, why don't we create conferences that are structured like coffee breaks!" Please read more about the originator of the Open Space Technology, Harrison Owen. See also Open Space Tools by Peggy Holman.

In slight variation of traditional conferences, we therefore aim at co-creating our conferences. We have adapted the Open Space approach, added the term dialogue, and connected it with dignity to form the expression Dignilogue (see also our Video page for how peace linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos has inspired this linguistic creation). Please see an Introduction into the Dignilogue Sessions Format, created by Linda Hartling on August 12, 2012, for our 2012 Norway Conference, and read more about the Dignilogue format and what it entails. See also Linda's Dignilogue Tips and Dynamic Dignilogue List, created on October 10, 2015, for last year's workshop, and Gabriela Saab's Dignigardener Tips created on December 6, 2016. See, furthermore, our reflections on Appreciative Nurturing.

This format is very open, it means that a conference is self-organizing. However, when we tried this in our first workshops in New York (for instance, in 2004), it turned out that for our NY participants required more structure. Therefore, we waited until 2012, before we opened up the workshop to self-organize more. We invited participants to be with us without the ambition to "present" something, so that we all could get a feel for the dignity-family-building work that we wish to nurture first and foremost. So, from 2012 onward, the workshop is more open and requires our participants to bring themselves as they are, be prepared for everything, and use the flow to contribute in the most nurturing way they can. As background reading you might enjoy "Are College Lectures Unfair?" by Anne Murphy Paul, The New York Times, September 12, 2015, or When Nothing Is Cool by Lisa Ruddick, Criticism, 2015.

Since 2012, our afternoons were therefore more action oriented than in earlier workshops. Instead of three Pre-Planned Dignilogues, we have only two, and choose to dedicate the afternoons of both days to Co-Created Dignilogues. These Dignilogues focus on topics of interest proposed by the participants. Rather than planning a “presentation,” we encourage everybody to come as they were and enjoy the mutual learning experience of engaging in — or facilitating — authentic, creative conversations that can lead to new ideas and new opportunities for action. Everybody is invited to send an abstract or a paper they wish to share — or to develop a new paper as it might emerge from the inspiration that the workshop experience brings. Everybody is warmly invited to send it to us also after the workshop so we can publish it on this website.

The grand finale of each afternoon is to invite representatives from each Dignilogue to create a Dignivideo, where they document the highlights of their conversation and insights, and more than that, formulate a "message to the world" as it has cristallized in the dignilogue. These videos are treasured contributions to our World Dignity University Library of Ideas that will be shared with the world and will inspire future generations of our community. Please read about the way we work in our newsletter10.

There are two main ways to conduct our WDU videos:
1. Each group can choose two representatives (usually the initiator chooses one participant in the group) and they engage in a short dialogue (example).
2. The entire group can stand in front of the camera (example).

For our 2015 workshop, we created a new role in our workshop, namely the role of Dignigardener (dignity and gardener) for each Co-Created Dignilogue. This person has the responsibility to remind everybody of the "rules" for Dignicommunication (dignity + communication).

We always encourage all participants of our events to nurture mutually dignifying connections with the other participants and gather together afterwards to experiment with new forms of "conferencing" wherever you live in the world. New solutions are necessary and they need to be nurtured in dignified ways, ways which protect them from being destroyed by being framed in old paradigms (such as those of protest that simply ends in new dominators taking over). See our reflections on appreciative nurturing, or Charles Eisenstein's Reflections on the New Story Summit, or Evelin's text Is it Possible to "Change the World"? Some Guidelines to How We Can Build a More Decent and Dignified World Effectively: The Case of Dignifying Abusers.

These Dignilogue Topics Emerged (Video):


The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making (Video)

 

Videos of Co-Created Dignilogue Sessions #1

 

Co-Created Dignilogue 1 "Being an Effective Ally" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Adair Linn Nagata and Mara Alagic



Co-Created Dignilogue 2 "Mindful Communications" (Video)

- Inspirers, Conveners, and Facilitators: Chipamong Chowdhury (family name), or Bhante Revata (monk's name, as known in the monastic communities), and Noriko Ishihara



 

Co-Created Dignilogue 3 "Systemic Humiliation" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Qin Shao



Co-Created Dignilogue 4 "The Path of Forgiveness" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Russell Wilkie


Co-Created Dignilogue 5 "Creating a Dignity Classroom" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Anne Wyatt- Brown


 

Participants in Co-Created Dignilogues # 1 and # 2 on Day One and Day Two of the Workshop:

 

•  Becca Bass, MD-ICCCR

•  Aimee Lace, MD-ICCCR

•  Charlott Macek, MD-ICCCR

•  Harriet Jackson, Teachers College External Affairs

•  Kim Nguyen, MD-ICCCR

•  Eric Marcus

•  Judit Révész

•  Cornelia Zelter

•  Christine de Michele

•  Martha Eddy

- Please see Martha's new book Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action, and her book talk at Gottesman Libraries on December 6, 2016.

•  Talia Shafir

•  David Yau-Fai Ho and Guangdong "Nina" Shao

- David's Expressive Dance to Ambush from Ten Sides (2016)
Published on 26 Aug 2016: Yo-Yo Ma is my hero who champions intercultural fertilization in the musical realm. The Silk Road Ensemble he has created is indeed a meeting of strangers who will enrich the musical world across cultures. The piece “Ambush from Ten Sides” is a real success in intercultural fertilization. Its militant tenor invites an interpretation with martial arts as a central component.
- Madness, Violence, and Human Dignity: Transforming Madness for Dignified Existence (2015)

•  Bonnie Selterman, please see her 2015 Appreciative Introduction

•  Karen Hirsch

•  Holly O'Grady

•  Brandon Scott, and his mother Joni Baird

•  Gabriela Saab

- Empathy, or Why Humanity Cannot See Itself as One Group and How We Could Change That from a Local Perspective (2016)

•  Mariana Ferraz, please see her Appreciative Introduction

•  Zuzana Luckay

 



•  Poul Poder

•  Annette A. Engler

•  Mara Alagic and Glyn Rimmington


•  Adair Linn Nagata

•  Renée Monrose

See Renée Monrose's Face-to-Face exhibition at the Union Theological Seminary

•  Sister Gwen Hoeffel

•  Kathy Komaroff Goodman

 

•  Denyse Kapelus

•  Gay Rosenblum-Kumar

•  Laura McGrew

•  Anne Wyatt-Brown

- Learning and Creativity Throughout One’s Life (2016)
- Aging in the Right Place (2016) (see also Stephen Golant's book)
- Humiliation and Resilience in Higher Education (2015)

•  Chipamong Chowdhury (family name), or Bhante Revata (monk's name, as known in the monastic communities)

- Mindful Speech (2016)
Exploring, discussing, and reflecting on the power of wise speech, to bring peace, social harmony, and love into divided societies.

•  Tony Allicino

 

•  Petra Loewen

•  Eileen Barker and Russell Wilkie

- Forgiveness as a Path to Dignity (2016)


•  Kebadu Gebremariam

•  Sharon Ellison

•  Noriko Ishihara

•  Sarah Zagoury

•  Qin Shao

•  Domício Coutinho

•  Naoko Matsumoto

•  Anastasia Sarantos Taskin

•  Venera Kusari

 

•  Angelo Smaldino

•  Ye Chen

•  Raman Kaur and Lorraine Simmons

•  Ariel Lublin

 

They planned to join us and were unfortunately hindered to be with us:

•  Mecke Nagel

- Troubling Justice: Towards a Ludic Ubuntu Ethic (2016)

•  Lyndon Harris

- No Future Without Forgiveness: Strategic Aims and Considerations for the Gardens of Forgiveness Movement (Video) (2015)
Topics: 1. What Forgiveness Is/Is Not 2. The Science of Forgiveness 3. Forgiveness as a Tool for Conflict Transformation 4. The Gardens of Forgiveness Movement: From Beirut to the World 5. Tips for Starting Your Own Garden of Forgiveness

•  Azin Aliabadi, Ljubica Chatman, MD-ICCCR; Kristen Rucki, Meredith Smith, Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4), Earth Institute, Columbia University

•  Chris Straw and Pushpa Iyer

•  Michael Ott

•  Kofi Boakye

•  Michelle McGowan

•  Eunhee Jung

•  Vicky Jan Isler

•  Mary Mallavarapu

•  Rose-Anne Moore

•  Manal Radwan

•  Lucien Lombardo

•  Mariana Vergara

•  Steven Moffic

•  Rana Tanver

•  Molly Castelloe

•  Mehnaz Afridi

•  Elsy Mecklembourg-Guibert

•  Ana Jimenez-Bautista

•  Alanna Fisher

•  Carmela Benett

•  Bob Lenz

•  Floyd Webster Rudmin

•  Connie Dawson

•  Claudia Maffettone

•  Cyrien Kanamugire

•  Maria Lund

4.45 pm - 5.00 pm Wrapping up Day One

 

5.00 pm End of Day One of our workshop

 


 

5.00 pm - 7.00 pm Public Event, "The Globalization of Dignity," Columbia University, Teachers College, Horace Mann room 150
Everybody is always invited to our public events, entrance is free, since our work is a labor of love and we offer it as a gift!

 

•  Musical contribution: In the spirit of our motto of Unity in Diversity, the evening began with Fred Ellis and his children, sang songs from many cultural backgrounds (Video)


• Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

•  Linda Hartling, Director of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS)

 

•  Dignity and the Nobel Prize: Why Bob Dylan Was the Perfect Choice, by Michael L. Perlin, Professor Emeritus at New York Law School and co-founder of Mental Disability Law and Associates (Video| Pdf)


• Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

Thank you, dear Linda, for sharing this article with us: "How Does it Feel," by Patti Smith, The New Yorker, December 14, 2016.

 Betty Reardon, the Mother of Peace Education, Honored Us with Her Presence (Video)


• Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

•  Dignity Through Courage, by Edna Adan Ismail, Founder of the Edna Adan Hospital and Edna Adan University (Video | Powerpoint)


• Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

•  Evelin Lindner, Founding President, HumanDHS; 2015 - 2016 Nobel Prize Nominee

 

•  Musical Contribution by Sylvain Leroux and Magali Regis, Fula flute (Video)

Sylvain Leroux
• Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

•  7.00 pm Ending of our Public Event

 


 

Day Two, Friday, December 9, 2016, Columbia University, Teachers College, Horace Mann room 150



The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

Morning: Listening, Learning, and Digniloging

 

10.00 am Welcoming All Participants and Practical Details (Video)

Bonnie Selterman Shared Her Poem "No Shoes" (Video | Pdf)


 

10.15 am - 11.00 am The Globalization of Dignity (Video)
Michael Britton always holds our Don Klein Celebration Lecture in the place of the lecture that Don Klein held each year until he passed away in 2007, titled The Humiliation Dynamic: Looking Back... Looking Forward


Michael Britton is a Member of the HumanDHS Board of Directors, the HumanDHS Global Core Team, and a Member of the HumanDHS Global Coordinating Team, as well as Co-Director and Co-Coordinator of the HumanDHS Stop Hazing and Bullying Project. He is also the HumanDHS Director of "Global Appreciative Culturing."
Michael is concerned with integrative thinking across neuroscience, in-depth psychotherapies and historical/cultural living, Michael's work looks at how participation in the historical life of our times and interior life are deeply intertwined. See an introduction to Michael Britton and his work by Reinaldo Rivera (Video).

Donald Klein was a Professor Emeritus of the Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a Member of the HumanDHS Board of Directors, a Member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board and Global Core Team. To our immense sadness, our beloved Don Klein passed away in June 2007. We are still heartbroken. We commemorate his memory with great love. He spoke to us about Awe and Wonderment. About our human ability to live in awe and wonderment, not just when we see a beautiful sun set or the majesty of the ocean, but always. That we can live in a state of awe and wonderment. And we do that, said Don, by leaving behind the psychology of projection. The psychology of projection is like a scrim, a transparent stage curtain, where you believe that what you see is reality only as long as the light shines on it in a certain way. However, it is not reality. It is a projection. And in order to live in awe and wonderment, we have to look through this scrim and let go of all the details that appear on it, in which we are so caught up. When we do that, we can see the beautiful sun set, the majestic ocean, always, in everything. We will continue our work while keeping Don’s words at the center of our work and in our hearts.

In 2008, Michael Britton prepared thank-you cards for the workshop participants and helpers and he chose this picture of a scrim to honor Don's memory:


Please click on the picture to see it larger

The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

11.00 am - 12.15 pm Dignilogue 2: How Can We Cultivate Dignity? (Video)

Please note that this title is meant to serve only as an inspiration; the topic of humiliation is so new and multifaceted, as is dignity, that we do not wish to force it into too rigid and narrow structures

Honorary Convenor: Morton Deutsch
Moderators: Michael L. Perlin and Gabriela Saab
Seating Manager: Rick Slaven
See here a Summary of Our Dignilogue Format for you to download
For the history of Dignilogue 2, see our Past Workshops



The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

Participants in Dignilogue 2 (Video):

 

•  David C. Yamada

•  Beth Fisher-Yoshida

•  Christine de Michele's Interlude (Video)

 

•  Danielle Coon

•  Carol Smaldino

- As a Therapist: Cultivating the Dignity of Being Ourselves(2016)
- "In a Dialogue: In a Dignilogue," by Carol Smaldino, Huffington Post, December 20, 2016
- "Finding Dignity in Emotional Anguish," by Carol Smaldino, Huffington Post, December 29, 2016
- Vulnerability Protected: Respecting the Rawness of Vulnerability and Giving it the Protection it Needs (2015)

They planned to join us and were unfortunately hindered to be with us in 2016:

•  Ani Kalayjian

- Align with Mother Earth (2016)
- I Am a Syrian Refugee (2015) (Pdf | Video)
- Transforming Horizontal Violence in Haiti through 7-step Integrative Healing Model, and Forgiveness and Peace Gardens (with Lorraine Simmons, 2015)

•  Rita Anita Linger

- Enhancing Dignity and Reducing Humiliation through the Practice of Mind-Body Skills (2016)

•  Grace Feuerverger

- The Fairy Tale as a Pathway Toward Dignity for Children of War and Other Oppressions (2016)

 

12.15 pm - 1.00 pm Lunch & Digniloging, Digniposters, Digniart, Dignibeing, Dignimovement & Announcements of our News, including the 2016 Dignity Press flyer

Lunch in the Cafeteria in the basement of Teachers College, or in the Everett Café at the entrance of the Gottesman Library, or you could bring your own food and eat it in our workshop room.



Renée Monrose has created the wonderful Face-to-Face exhibition at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, an ecumenical seminary affiliated with Columbia University in Manhattan. Thank you so much, dear Adair, for introducing us to Renée! What an amazing gift it was that our workshop participants were able to visit your exhibition, dear Renée!
• Please click on the photos in the top row above or here to see more pictures of Renée in November 2016.
• Please click on the photos from December 8 and 9, in the rows below or here to see them larger.

1.00 pm - 1.30 pm Recognitions, Remembrances, and Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award Celebration

 

Philip M. Brown received the Human Dignity (Half!) Lifetime Award! (Video by Mariana Ferraz | Video Snapshots by Hua-Chu Yen)



The still photos come in several web galleries:

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Brandon Scott's 821 photos of Day One
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 75 photos of Day One taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 27 photos of Day One

• Thursday, December 8, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 49 photos of the Public Event taken with Evelin Lindner's camera

• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of the 348 photos of Day Two taken with Evelin Lindner's camera
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Mariana Ferraz's 72 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Hua-Chu Yen's 22 photos of Day Two
• Friday, December 9, 2016: Please click here to see all of Noriko Ishihara's 11 photos of Day Two

 

Afternoon: Co-Creating: Turning Ideas into Action

 

For the history of Dignilogue 3 see our Past Workshops
(until 2013, when it was replaced by co-created dignilogues)

 

1.30 pm - 4.45 pm Co-Created Dignilogues # 2 - Facilitated by David Yamada and Linda Hartling (Video)

Co-Created Dignilogues in the Making (Video)

 

Co-Created Dignilogue 6 "How to Respond in a More Dignified Way to a New Reality" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Petra Loewen, who kindly shared on January 5, 2017: "The overall lack of integrity, the use of rapid media, a sense of hopelessness and despair made room for sensationalism that gave way to a new reality, and it will keep changing since there is much fear on either side. We can only respond with accountability, clarity and trust in the universe and hope that more of us will raise to new heights with an encouraged heart in order to speak up and ignite sparks in every soul, into dignity and with humility for the greater good. There is hope, as we were made for these times."


Co-Created Dignilogue 7 "DigniLego, or DigniPlay" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Glyn Rimmington


Co-Created Dignilogue 8 "The Dark Side of Empathy" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Martha Eddy


Co-Created Dignilogue 9 "The Bright Side of Empathy" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Gabriela Saab: Empathy, or Why Humanity Cannot See Itself as One Group and How We Could Change That from a Local Perspective (2016)
- Creator of Poster: Kebadu Gebremariam


Co-Created Dignilogue 10 "A Dignifying Experience" (Video)

- Inspirer, Convener, and Facilitator: Christine de Michele

Closing Thank-You Round

We collected appreciative feedback and ideas for collective planning about how to cooperate during the coming year, until we meet again next year

Evelin Lindner Shared the Story of the Jewelry from the Oasis Siwa (Video)
Correction: Please note that Evelin was a medical student in Bangkok in 1981 (not in 1998)!

 


 

 

4.15 pm - 5.00 pm Closing Ceremony - Moving into the World (Video)

 

See also:
•  36 Good-Bye Snapshots by Hua-Chu Yen
•  37 Good-Bye Snapshots with Linda and Rick
•  38 Good-Bye Snapshots with Janet and Bhante
•  39 Good-Bye Snapshots with Zsuzsa, Martha, Glyn, and All
•  40 Good-Bye Snapshots with Sharon and Evelin
•  41 Good-Bye Snapshots with Naoko and Evelin



We thank Kathy Komaroff Goodman for sharing with us What A Wonderful World sung by Louis Armstrong!

We thank David Yamada for singing with us What a Wonderful World:
I see trees of green, red roses, too,
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shaking hands, sayin', "How do you do?"
They're really sayin', "I love you."
I hear babies cryin'. I watch them grow.
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world!

Linda brought this poem to us:
Outwitted, by Oregonian poet Edwin Markham (1852-1940):
He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in! .

5.00 pm End of Day Two of our workshop

 


 

Prior and Subsequent to our Workshop

What a gift to be with Joe Levine on December 12, 2016, for a lovely interview, together with Gabriela Saab and Hua-Chu Yen! Thank you all for such an intense time together!
• Please click on the pictures above to see them larger.


December 7, 2016, what a wonderful End Of Year Gathering at the MD-ICCCR Center! Linda and Michael were able to express our profound gratitude and thanks to Peter Coleman for hosing us as every year since 2003! So nice to catch dear Beth and Connie Sun on a photo!
• Please click on the pictures above to see them larger.
December 7, 2016, board meeting with our dear Linda was leading the meeting as lovingly as always, with dear Rick Slaven, our Director of Dignifunding, and our dear Uli Spalthoff participating from Ludwigsburg in Germany via Skype!
Please see:
Good News December 2016
• Ulrich Spalthoff: The Dignity Press flyer of 2015
• Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.
December 7, 2016 Evelin's book talk: Honor, Humiliation, and Terror
Please click on the flyer to see it larger.
• Please click on the picture above to see it larger.
• Please see the video created by Talia Shafir. Thank you, dear Talia, for such a marvelous job!

 


 

Participants in all NY workshops so far

 


 

Papers

All participants are warmly invited to send in full papers after the workshop.
Please notify us, if you wish to submit any of your papers also as a book chapter or as a journal article in our Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies.

Please see earlier submitted papers here:
•  List of all Publications
•  2004 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2005 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2006 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2007 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2008 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2009 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2010 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2011 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2012 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2013 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2014 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
•  2015 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict

 

Abstracts/Notes/Papers of 2016

Please see further down the papers/notes that participants send in prior to the workshop so that everybody can get acquainted with all others beforehand.

See here the work by:
Andrea Bartoli
Linda M. Hartling
Donald C. Klein

Victoria C. Fontan

Evelin G. Lindner

Michael L. Perlin (2016)
Dignity and the Nobel Prize: Why Bob Dylan Was the Perfect Choice (Video| Pdf)
Reflections shared at the Public Event of the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Daniel Rothbart (2016)
Invading the Mind and Controlling Population Groups: The Power of Systemic Humiliation
Contribution to Dignilogue 1 at the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Carol Smaldino (2016)
As a Therapist: Cultivating the Dignity of Being Ourselves
Contribution to the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Grace Feuerverger (2016)
The Fairy Tale as a Pathway Toward Dignity for Children of War and Other Oppressions
Contribution to the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Michael L. Perlin and Alyson Lynch (2016)
“She’s Nobody’s Child/The Law Can’t Touch Her at All”: Seeking to Bring Dignity to Legal Proceedings Involving Juveniles
Contribution to the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Fonkem Achankeng I (2016)
The Dignity of the Commons: Re-imagining Life Experiences from the Poor & Homeless to International Politics
(Pdf | Powerpoint)
Contribution prepard for the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8-9, 2016.

Eileen Barker (2016)
Forgiveness as a Path to Dignity
Abstract prepared for the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8 - 9, 2016.
What role can forgiveness play in bringing love forward in the world, and eliminating the root causes of humiliation? How can forgiveness help us heal the parts of ourselves that feel separate, isolated, and mistrustful? It is only by healing core wounds - both on an individual and societal level - that we can realize our full potential as human beings. Forgiveness is instrumental in releasing the past and enabling us to open to our full potential. As we experience the truth of ourselves as loving, caring, contributing human beings, we are able to recognize our inter-connectedness, and begin creating a new story for humanity.

Rita Anita Linger (2016)
Enhancing Dignity and Reducing Humiliation through the Practice of Mind-Body Skills

Abstract prepared for the 2016 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York City, December 8 - 9, 2016.

 


 

Ideas for More Dignilogue Topics

Your input is very welcome!

Ani Kalayjian kindly wrote (July 9, 2009):
Can we have a special section at the December Conference for highlighting both of these volumes, as well as the forgiveness book which will be in print on Aug 4th right at the APA Convention in Toronto. We could get some of the authors of the forgiveness book on a panel addressing: Slavery, denial, US prisoners, Sudan Genocide (these authors are living in this geographic area). We can also do the same another panel on the II volumes that you contributed in focusing on rituals to transform humiliation into empowerment.

Karen Murphy kindly wrote (November 25, 2009):
I was thinking that CBS’ 60 Minutes Investigation of Congo’s Conflict Minerals on November 29, 2009 (see Enough's new Conflict Minerals web portal), would be a very interesting opportunity/resource for a roundtable, evening event, that is, using the 60 Minutes episode to raise awareness and to provide a context for discussion about the ways that we can make a difference in our daily lives to improve (even, in this case, save) the lives of others. Wishing you well and very grateful for you and your work--Karen
60 Minutes Episode on Conflict Minerals
If you have a cell phone in your pocket or a gold ring on your finger, you are directly linked to the deadliest war in the world. How is that possible? For over a century, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plagued by regional conflict and a deadly scramble for its vast natural resources. The conflict in eastern Congo today - the deadliest since World War II - is fueled in significant part by a multi-million dollar trade in minerals. Armed groups generate an estimated $180 million each year by trading four main minerals: the ores that produce the metals tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. This money enables the armed groups to purchase large numbers of weapons and continue their campaign of rape and brutal violence against civilians, with some of the worst abuses occurring in mining areas. After passing through traders, smelters, and component manufacturers, these materials are placed in jewelry and electronic devices, such as cell phones, portable music players, and computers, and sold in the United States. See also www.enoughproject.org/conflict-minerals.

Karen Murphy kindly wrote (January 28, 2009):
I am writing with an idea for the conference.
Have you had the chance to read Samantha Power's book Chasing the Flame? It's about Sergio Vieira de Mello and his work in various countries emerging from mass violence. Based on his life's work, Power proposes several key principles. One of them is dignity.
The book is the first product in a campaign that focuses on foreign policy. There is also a documentary (premiering this month at Sundance film festival) and a feature film by Terry George. In addition, there is a website that explores the key issues, www.chasingtheflame.org, and www.chasingtheflame.org/2008/08/the-principle-o.html (for an example of one of my blogs).
I was thinking that it would be so interesting to loop your work into this campaign. Perhaps members of the conference could read the book and then discuss it at a roundtable. You could then post blogs on the site or write in other forums.
It would be so interesting to bring your research into this conversation on foreign policy, nation building, national reconstruction and reconciliation, etc. As you might know, Samantha Power has played and continues to play a key role in Obama's foreign policy - looping your work into the website would be a way to bring it to a wider audience and a way to help shape this emerging conversation.
January 29, 2009:
I'm sure we can get copies of the book at a discounted price for conference attendees - and I'd love to think about how you might take the foreign policy lens and apply your scholarship - and perhaps then post as blogs for www.chasingtheflame.org, thus broadening their audience and yours. Best, Karen

Floyd Webster Rudmin:
"Asymmetries in self-perceptions of being the humiliatee versus the humiliator"
"Archetypal humiliation in literature: A survey of English literature teachers"

Annette Anderson-Engler:
"Constructing Narratives after Violent Conflict"
Annette kindly wrote on March 31, 2006: "I would like to discuss how individuals construct their narratives after traumatic experiences or event."

Dharm P. S. Bhawuk:
"Theory, Method, and Practice of Humiliation Research"
This could also be a topic for our Open Space

Ana Ljubinkovic:
"Assistance and Humiliation"

Varda Mühlbauer:
"Humiliation/Dignity in the Workplace"
"Humiliation/Dignity in the Family"

Zahid Shahab Ahmed:
"Humiliation and Child Sexual Abuse"

Victoria C. Fontan:
"Terrorism and Humiliation" and
"Armed Conflict, Escalation and Humiliation"

Miriam Marton:
"Consequences of Humiliation"

Jörg Calliess:
"How to Prepare 'Non-Psychologists' (Human Rights Defenders, Peace Keepers, etc.) for Dealing with the Trauma of Humiliation in Victims"

Emmanuel Ndahimana:
"Ignorance and Humiliation"

Arie Nadler:
"Justice and Humiliation"

Alicia Cabezudo:
"Interlinking Peace Education and Humiliation Studies: A Bridge for Crossing Borders"

 


 

Material

"Conflict in the Workplace," ACResolution Magazine, Summer 2014.

Dutton, Jane E., Kristina M. Workman, and Ashley E. Hardin (2014). "Compassion at work." Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1 (1), pp. 277-304, doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-91221.

"Mass Nervous Breakdown: Millions of Americans on the Brink As Stress Pandemic Ravages Society," by Gabriela Segura, M.D., Sott.net: Signs of the Times, April 22, 2013: "Fully one-third of U.S. employees suffer chronic debilitating stress, and more than half of all "millennials" (18 to 33 year olds) experience a level of stress that keeps them awake at night, including large numbers diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder."