Newsletter Nr. 24 (December 2014, subsequent to our 24th Annual Conference, our 2014 NY Workshop)

Compiled by Evelin Lindner, in New York City, USA (December, 2014)
(Note: This newsletter is written in American English, since this conference took place in the U.S. In our outside-of-the-U.S. workshops, we often use British English.)


Contents

•  Pictures
•  Thanks!
•  Announcements
•  What Is the Aim of Our Work?
•  Messages from You
•  Welcome Again!


Pictures

(Important note to our conference participants: During our conference, we asked for your permission to include your pictures here. In case you have changed your mind since our workshop took place, please let us know! We want to make sure we have your permission. 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 could gather written permissions from you during our conferences, yet, since we value the building of mutual trust in relationships, we would like to refrain from contributing to an ever more bureaucratic and legalistic society. We encourage everybody who does not wish to have their pictures or videos on our website to take pro-active responsibility and inform the photographer to refrain from taking pictures of her, and stay out of any video-tape. This will make the post-workshop editing work feasible, as also this is a voluntary work of love that is already overstretched.)


December 4-5, 2014, Eleventh Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, representing the 24th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS), titled "Work that Dignifies the Lives of All People," at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City

The pictures come in several web galleries:
•  Thursday, December 4, 2014: Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 181 photos of Day One
Thank you, dear Anna, for taking such amazing pictures!
•  Thursday, December 4, 2014: Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 23 photos of Day One
•  Thursday, December 4, 2014: Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 38 photos of the Public Event
•  Friday, December 5, 2014: Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 photos of all of Day Two
•  Friday, December 5, 2014: Please click here to see all of Hua Chu's 32 photos of the morning of Day Two, see one of the photos on the Teachers College site
Thank you, dear Hua-Chu Yen, for taking such amazing pictures!
•  Friday, December 5, 2014: Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 38 photos of the morning of Day Two
• Thursday and Friday: Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop
Thank you, dear Hayal Köksal, for taking so many nice pictures!

The videos:
Thank you so much, dear Christine de Michele, for stepping up and doing such wonderful video-taping!
•  01 Linda Hartling and Claudia Cohen Welcome Everybody
•  02 Linda Hartling Introduces Our Appreciative Frame
•  03 A Global Dignilogue with Evelin Lindner and Linda Hartling
•  04 Beth Fisher-Yoshida Opens Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  05 Janet Gerson in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  06 David Balosa and Seif Sekalala in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  07 Tony Gaskew in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  08 Claudia Cohen in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  09 David Bargal Yair Ronen in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  10 Gay Rosenblum Kumar in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  11 Tzofnat Peleg-Baker Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  12 Lucien Lombardo Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  13 Susan Smith Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  14 Co-Created Dignilogue 1 "Improvisation"
•  15 Co-Created Dignilogue 2 "What America Are We Talking About?"
•  16 Co-Created Dignilogue 3 "The Size, or Scale of Belonging"
•  17 Co-Created Dignilogue 4 "The Problems of Females in Developing Countries"
•  18 Co-Created Dignilogue 5 "Healing Forgiveness"
•  19 Public Event: Fred Ellis and His Students
•  20 Public Event: James (Jimmy) Jones
•  21 Public Event: David Yamada
•  22 Public Event: George Wolfe and Eric Edberg
•  23 Linda Hartling Opens Day Two
•  24 Michael Britton's Don Klein Memorial Lecture
•  25 Geneviève Vaughan's Contribution
•  26 Michael Perlin in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  27 Anne-Wyatt Brown in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  28 George Wolfe and Eric Edberg in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  29 Lucien Lombardo and Ruth Thomas-Suh in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  30 Kingsley Okoro in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  31 Elizabeth Negrete and David Weksler in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  32 Hayal Köksal in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  33 Stephanie Heuer in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  34 Appreciations: Michael Perlin, Morton Deutsch, and Careholders & Sharegivers
•  35 Richard Slaven Receives the HumanDHS Half Lifetime Award
•  36 Evelin Lindner Receives the HumanDHS Half Lifetime Award
•  37 Co-Created Dignilogues: Chinwe Obianika's Contribution
•  38 Co-Created Dignilogue 1: "Shame and Humiliation"
•  39 Co-Created Dignilogue 2: "Power Concedes Nothing"
•  40 Co-Created Dignilogue 3: "Taking Violence out of Education"
•  41 Co-Created Dignilogue 4: "The Integrated Healing Model"
•  42 Hayal Köksal and Evelin Lindner Post-Workshop


Linda Hartling & Morton Deutsch & Evelin Lindner
Linda Hartling & Morton Deutsch & Evelin Lindner
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 to see them larger, thank you, dear Tonya and Anna for taking this nice photos!).
Morton Deutsch has accepted, "with delight," our invitation to be our Honorary Lifetime Member of the HumanDHS Board of Directors. 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). Morton Deutsch founded this workshop series in 2003 and is our Honorary Convener since. MD-ICCCR is part of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), and since 2009 co-founded the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). a series of workshops, of which he is the founder and convener since 2003). Morton Deutsch is, furthermore, a Founding Member of the World Dignity University initiative.
Please see his pledge Imagine a Global Human Community and the progress of this study.

All
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 181 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 23 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop
Pictures of all of us on Day One of the workshop, Thursday, December 4, 2014

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 181 still photos of Day One - thank you, dear Anna, for taking such amazing pictures!
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 23 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop -
thank you, dear Hayal Köksal, for taking so many nice pictures!

•  Videos:
•  01 Linda Hartling and Claudia Cohen Welcome Everybody
•  02 Linda Hartling Introduces Our Appreciative Frame
•  03 Linda Hartling and Evelin Lindner in Dignilogue

Dignilogue 1 on Day One of our workshop, Thursday, December 4, 2014

Honorary Convenor: Morton Deutsch
Moderators: Beth Fisher-Yoshida and Phil Brown
Seating Manager: Rick Slaven
Participants in Dignilogue 1:
•  Janet Gerson
•  David Balosa and Seif Sekalala
•  Tony Gaskew
•  Claudia E. Cohen
•  Ya'ir Ronen and David Bargal
•  Gay Rosenblum-Kumar
•  Beth Fisher-Yoshida

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 181 still photos of Day One - thank you, dear Anna, for taking such amazing pictures!
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 23 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop -
thank you, dear Hayal Köksal, for taking so many nice pictures!

•  Videos:
•  04 Beth Fisher-Yoshida Opens Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  05 Janet Gerson in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  06 David Balosa and Seif Sekalala in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  07 Tony Gaskew in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  08 Claudia Cohen in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  09 David Bargal Yair Ronen in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  10 Gay Rosenblum Kumar in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  11 Tzofnat Peleg-Baker Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  12 Lucien Lombardo Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1
•  13 Susan Smith Comments in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 1

Phil Brown led the Turning Ideas into Action session on Day One of our workshop, Thursday, December 4, 2014, in our new Co-Created Dignilogues # 1

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 181 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 23 still photos of Day One
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop

•  Videos:
•  14 Co-Created Dignilogue 1 "Improvisation"
•  15 Co-Created Dignilogue 2 "What America Are We Talking About?"
•  16 Co-Created Dignilogue 3 "The Size, or Scale of Belonging"
•  17 Co-Created Dignilogue 4 "The Problems of Females in Developing Countries"
•  18 Co-Created Dignilogue 5 "Healing Forgiveness"


On Wednesday June 24, 2015, Fred Ellis and his school Principal Laura Scott presented The Human Dignity Award In Music to Fred's students for their performance at The Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Conference at Columbia University on Thursday December 4, 2014. This was an experience that they will never forget! From left to right: Micah Fisher, Ysabel Peterka, Isis Cordero, Gabrielle Mollin, Aiden Nelson, Ella Flood and Ysabel Peterka.



•  Please click on the picture above or here to see all of the 89 photos of the Public Event that dear Anna Strout made for us

Public Event on Day One of our workshop, titled, "Work that Dignifies the Lives of All People," Thursday, December 4, 2014

•  Still photos:
•  Please click on the picture above or here to see all of the 89 photos of the Public Event that dear Anna Strout made for us
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop

• Videos:
•  Fred Ellis and His Students
In the spirit of our motto of Unity in Diversity, the evening began with Fred Ellis and his children, singing songs from many cultural backgrounds.

•  James (Jimmy) Jones
Jimmy Jones is Associate Professor of World Religions and African Studies at Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY. Over the last three decades, much of his personal and professional work has been focused on conflict resolution within families, communities and across national and cultural boundaries. He and his wife, Matiniah Yahya are active residents of an intentional Muslim community which is an integral part of a multi-cultural inner-city neighborhood near Masjid Al-Islam in New Haven, CT.

•  David Yamada
This talk examined how humiliation, abuse, and mistreatment have become all-too-frequent experiences in our modern work environments, and pose the question "“What will I do to nurture dignity, opportunity, and well-being in the workplace?”  It will draw in part on David's work in addressing workplace bullying and other workers' rights issues.

•  George Wolfe and Eric Edberg
George Wolfe, alto saxophone, and Eric Edberg, cello, December 4, 2014

Scrim

Michael Britton gave the Don Klein Memorial Lecture on Day Two of our workshop, Friday, December 5, 2014.
Michael uses Don's metaphor of a scrim, a transparent stage curtain, where one believes that what one sees is reality only as long as the light shines on it in a certain way: see Don's explanation.

•  Video of Michael Britton's Don Klein Memorial Talk

•  Geneviève Vaughan's Contribution

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 still photos of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hua Chu's 32 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 38 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop

Dignilogue 2 on Day Two of our workshop, Friday, December 5, 2015

Honorary Convenor: Morton Deutsch
Moderators: David C. Yamada and Tonya Hammer
Seating Manager: Rick Slaven
•  Michael L. Perlin
•  Anne Wyatt-Brown
•  George Wolfe and Eric Edberg
•  Lucien Lombardo and Ruth Thomas-Suh
•  Ani Kalayjian
•  Kingsley Okoro • David Weksler, Elizabeth Negrete, supported by Yvonne Dennis, Courtney Furlong, and April Frazier, brought together by Mariana I. Vergara
•  Hayal Köksal •  Stephanie Heuer

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 still photos of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hua Chu's 32 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 38 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop

•  Videos:
•  26 Michael Perlin in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  27 Anne-Wyatt Brown in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  28 George Wolfe and Eric Edberg in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  29 Lucien Lombardo and Ruth Thomas-Suh in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  30 Kingsley Okoro in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  31 Elizabeth Negrete and David Weksler in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  32 Hayal Köksal in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2
•  33 Stephanie Heuer in Pre-Planned Dignilogue 2




Recognitions, Remembrances, and Awards on Friday, December 5, 2014, Day Two of the 2014 Workshop of Humiliation and Violent Conflict!

•  Videos:
•  Appreciations: former award recipients Michael Perlin and Morton Deutsch reflect on their experience with the dignity movement, and the Careholders & Sharegivers of this workshop are being recognized

•  Richard Slaven Received the HumanDHS Half Lifetime Award
Linda Hartling announced the recipient of the 2014 HumanDHS "Half"-Lifetime Achievement Award Rick Slaven on the occasion of his 70th birthday!

•  Evelin Lindner Received the HumanDHS Half Lifetime Award
Linda Hartling announced the recipient of the 2014 HumanDHS "Half"-Lifetime Achievement Award Evelin Lindner on the occasion of her 60th birthday!

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 still photos of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop
Turning Ideas into Action session on Day Two of our workshop, Friday, December 5, 2014, in our new Co-Created Dignilogues # 2

•  Still photos:
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 still photos of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hua Chu's 32 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Evelin Lindner's 38 still photos of the morning of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop

•  Videos:
•  37 Co-Created Dignilogues: Chinwe Obianika's Contribution
•  38 Co-Created Dignilogue 1: "Shame and Humiliation"
•  39 Co-Created Dignilogue 2: "Power Concedes Nothing"
•  40 Co-Created Dignilogue 3: "Taking Violence out of Education"
•  41 Co-Created Dignilogue 4: "The Integrated Healing Model"
Closing our workshop on Friday, December 5, 2014
•  Please click here to see all of Anna Strout's 227 still photos of Day Two
•  Please click here to see all of Hayal Köksal's 203 photos of the entire workshop
Peter Coleman Peter Coleman
December 3, 2014, Board meeting with our dear Morton Deutsch. Morton Deutsch has accepted, "with delight," our invitation to be our Honorary Lifetime Member of the HumanDHS Board of Directors. 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, a series of workshops, of which he is the founder and convener since 2003). Morton Deutsch is, furthermore, a Founding Member of the World Dignity University initiative. Please see also his pledge Imagine a Global Human Community and the progress of this study.
Please see:
Good News December 2014
• Ulrich Spalthoff: The Dignity Press flyer of 2014
• Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos
On December 6, 2014, a guided tour at the 9/11 Memorial Museum was a wonderful birthday gift from Linda Hartling and Rick Slaven to Evelin Lindner. The guide, a young woman, was extremely authentic in the deep sincerity with which she explained the heroism and resilience that this museum honores, the heroism and resilience not only of victims and helpers, but as a symbol of American culture in general. The display of items connected with the killing of Osama bin Laden, she described as final "bookmark," a bookmark in a book starting with a nation facing an enemy and refusing to allow the enemy to weaken their resolve, to finally overcoming the enemy.
My comment: I personally would wish that resources were available to honor all victims of violence in the world in similar deeply touching ways, including those victims that had no strength left to be heroic. And I dedicate my life to work for a world where this kind of heroism no longer is needed, a world so united that there is no place anymore for "enemies." I am only too aware that so far, typically, all sides are moved by their heroism and resolve in refusing to give in to the other side.
Please see, for instance, my book Making Enemies: Humiliation and International Conflict. See also the text I wrote just after September 9, 2001, Build the "Global Village" on Ground Zero, Literally!, a draft written for publication in the New York Times, 2002, starting with the following words: "Ground Zero is a place of profound sadness and heart breaking sorrow. Its earth is filled with the blood of thousands who lost their lives. For what did these people die? Their deaths seem so meaningless. Could we, the living, give their deaths meaning, even if only postmortem?..."
• Please click on the picture or here to see more photos
December 7, 2014, it was a great privilege to be with our dear workshop participant who came all the way from Istanbul, nameley, Hayal Köksal. Hayal was the amazing host of our 2010 Dignity Conference in Istanbul! Dear Camilla, thank you so much for giving us the wonderful gift of two tickets!
• Please click on the picture on the left or here to see a few photos from Evelin's camera
• Please click on the picture on the right or here to see very many photos from Hayal's camera!
December 8, 2014, with brilliant Peter Coleman, Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), at its End-of-Year Celebration, together with Eric Marcus. Formal Launch and Re-Naming of We are infinitely thankful to Peter and his team for supporting also this year's Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, this year for the eleventh (!) time!
• Please click on the pictures to see them larger



 

Dear Friends!

We had a wonderful workshop in New York City! It was titled:
2014 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict
(representing the 24th Annual HumanDHS Conference
)!
All our events are part of an ongoing effort to build a global dignity community.

 

Thanks!

Linda and I would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of you who co-created our 2014 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict representing the 24th Annual HumanDHS Conference! You ALL contributed so that our workshop became a unique and exiting experience!

We would like to thank Morton Deutsch, Peter T. Coleman, Claudia E. Cohen, Founder, Director, and Associate Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR) at Columbia University, and their wonderful team. Morton Deutsch founded this workshop series in 2003 and is our Honorary Convener since then. MD-ICCCR is part of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), and since 2009 co-founded the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4). We particularly thank Liz Hernandez for so kindly arranging the venue for our workshop! We also thank our host Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who just became the President of the International Crisis Group and until then was the successor of Aldo Civico, and Andrea Bartoli as Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR). We also wish to give special thanks to Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Academic Director of the Master of Science Program in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the School of Continuing Education at Columbia University.

We would furthermore like to express special thanks to Philip Brown and Michael Britton, and to Tonya Hammer, Dee Sloan, Rick Slaven, and Kathy Goodman for so generously gifting their time and energy, as well as to Anna Strout, Christine de Michele, and also to Hua-Chu Yen, who so wonderfully helped to keep our workshop in shape, and documented the entire conference! You all simply were miraculous!

Tonya Hammer kindly accepted our invitation in 2010 to lead the organizing team of this workshop. Rick Slaven also always creates a unique atmosphere of humor, modeling our motto of "taking ourselves lightly, even when we take our work seriously." A profound thank-you goes to you, dear friends! We are overwhelmed by the generous support that you extended and would like to express our deep gratitude!

As always, our very special thanks go to Linda M. Hartling for first setting the frame of appreciative inquiry in and Donald Klein's spirit and then, throughout the entire workshop, keeping up the spirit of dignity, and weaving a web of connections, keeping us all together!

Our warmest thanks go furthermore to our "moderator of moderators," Philip Brown, who also moderated the first Dignilogue together with Beth Fisher-Yoshida. For the second Dignilogue, David Yamada and Tonya Hammer stepped wonderfully up to the task!

May we end by thanking the contributors to our Public Event on the afternoon of Thursday, December 5, for their wonderful inspiration! First came Fred Ellis with his students, then we had the privilege of having Jimmy Jones and David Yamada with us, who shared deep experiences with us, and George Wolfe and Eric Edberg rounded up the evening with their amazing saxophone and cello improvisation! THANK YOU ALL for your amazing gifts!

Finally, Michael Britton moved us all again deeply on Friday morning with his Don Klein Memorial Lecture that he gives in the place of Don's originally planned lecture titled The Humiliation Dynamic: Looking Back... Looking Forward. Don showed us how to live in awe and wonderment. We will always need your wisdom, dear Don!

Richard Slaven and Evelin Lindner were honored with the 2014 HumanDHS (Half!) Lifetime Achievement Award.

Please join me in expressing deep gratitude to Linda Hartling. Without her wisdom, love, care, and huge investment of time since 1999, when we met via email, and then, in full intensity, since our first conference in 2003, our network and our conferences would not be there. Please celebrate Linda’s leadership! In November 2008, Linda relinquished her administrative responsibilities at Wellesley College to devote more time in service of HumanDHS and she is our new HumanDHS Director! (Evelin remains the HumanDHS Founding President). A big welcome to you, dearest Linda! Rick and Linda moved across the North American Continent and found a physical home for the Pacific Rim Branch of HumanDHS and the first HumanDHS Dialogue Home in Portland, Oregon. Everyone is invited to visit! And please send Linda all of your relevant books to be included in the HumanDHS library!

Now, we would like to extend a special thanks to those of you who completed the Appreciative Enquiry note cards at the conclusion of the workshop. As Linda explained, this information is important for us as we begin to reflect on what we could do differently next year and in future years. Your willingness to participate in this process is very important for us, as we very much want this workshop to continue to be a collaborative effort. We extend our warm thanks to each of you for being part of this co-creation.

Please be reminded that our events differ from traditional conferences where speakers are invited and funded by organizers and audiences pay a registration or entrance fee to listen to the speakers. Usually, organizers gather speakers who "market" their knowledge to an audience. We wish to transcend the separation between speakers and audiences and nurture our gatherings in the spirit of what we call Dignilogue (dignity + dialogue). There is no monetary remuneration involved in our events. Participants join the workshop because they wish to share their work, their experiences, and their insights. The main point of our work is the nurturing of a global dignity community. Our events are a labor of love, just as is everything else connected with our network. None of us is being paid, including the organizers, there is no traditional fundraising and no profit involved. We share the minimal overhead in a dignity economy approach by everybody contributing according to ability.

We could have had many more participants and unfortunately had to say "no" to many of you who wrote to us and wished to participate. We would like to express our regret to all of you who did not have the opportunity to participate. We will try to broaden our activities in the future. Your help is welcome! Please bear with us and give us your support so that we can grow in constructive ways!

Our workshops are upon invitation. You are warmly welcome to contact us if you wish to join us next year in this workshop (December 3-4, 2015). Please know that we always invite you to spend the entire two days of our workshop together so that real dignity-family-building can emerge!

Please let us know as early as you can if you wish to join next year, particularly if you feel that you would like to share your experience and work in one of our Pre-Planned Dignilogues. They are often filled up by July. You can always participate in one of the Co-Created Dignilogues, or as a supporter or observer of the Pre-Planned Dignilogues, where you can also actively participate, for example, by using the empty chair in each round table. We usually recommend newcomers to be with us as supporters and observers first, so that they can familiarize themselves with the format, and envision to participate more deeply in future workshops.

For the past decade, we have continuously worked to dignify the old institution "conference." Our conferences and workshops are designed to widen space for collaboration, conversation, and mutually energizing connection. Because we have such a richly diverse community of contributors, we have learned that there will never be enough time to say all that needs to be said nor enough time to do all that needs to be done. Consequently, we strive to move beyond the conventional lecture/presentation format, to meet in a spirit of sharing in humility and equal dignity.

This year, we wish to particularly acknowledge everybody who gave us the privilege of their presence throughout the entire workshop. As mentioned above, in traditional conferences, "helicopter" speakers (who come, speak, and leave) seek an audience as a stage to give visibility to their message. Sometimes audiences pay to hear speakers, and often speakers compete for "airspace." This is part of the traditional hierarchical culture of "leaders" who have "followers." We have come to the conclusion that this format needs to be transcended for our purpose, as it is violates the concept of equality in dignity. We emphasize dialogue and connection, rather than having "speakers" speaking to audiences. We wish to build a dignity family during the two days of our workshop. We use the language of "sharing" in dialogue (we call it Dignilogue from dignity + dialogue) because we wish to include everybody and decrease the difference between "audience" and "speaker." We even no longer use the language of "speakers" "presenting."

In our out-of-NY conferences we use our adaptation of the Open Space approach, and this is what we have dubbed Dignilogue. See the video on our Dignilogue adaptation of the Open Space format, created by Linda Hartling on 12th August 2012 for our 2012 Norway Conference. This format is very open, it means that a conference is self-organizing. In our NY workshop, we tried this in the beginning (like ten years ago), but it turned out that for our NY participants we needed more structure. This year, it was the first year that we dared again to leave the workshop to self-organize at least partly. 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, this time, the workshop was more open and required our participants to bring themselves as they were, be prepared for everything, and use the flow to contribute in the most nurturing way they could.

This year, our afternoons were therefore more action oriented than in earlier workshops. Instead of three Pre-Planned Dignilogues, we had only two, and chose to dedicate the afternoons of both days to Co-Created Dignilogues. These Dignilogues focused on topics of interest proposed by the participants. Rather than planning a “presentation,” we encouraged everybody to come as they were and enjoy the mutual learning experience of engaging in — or even facilitating — authentic, creative conversations that could lead to new ideas and new opportunities for action. Everybody was invited to send an abstract or a paper they wished to share — or to develop a new paper as it might have emerged from the inspiration that the workshop experience brought. 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 was to invite representatives from each Dignilogue to document the highlights of their conversation and insights in a Dignivideo. These videos will be 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.

Next year, we plan to create a new role in our workshop, namely the role of Dignigardener (dignity and gardener) for each Co-Created Dignilogue. This person will have the responsibility to remind everybody of the "rules" for Dignicommunication (dignity + communication). Please allow me to take myself and my own efforts as an example further down. I find it always useful to remember these "rules," because they are rather difficult to follow and require a great amount of restraint and effort.

Furthermore, we encourage all participants of our workshop to nurture mutually dignifying connections with the other participants and forge plans of your own to gather together during the coming year 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 and avoid destroying them through framing them in old paradigms (such as those of protest that simply ends in new dominators taking over, see our reflections on appreciative nurturing, that we last updated in 2013, or Charles Eisenstein's Reflections on the New Story Summit written in 2014, 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, 2006).

Dear participant in our workshop! You contributed to bringing dignity and love into our workshop in unprecedented ways! Due to your presence, it was an unforgettable experience! Your contributions spoke to the need to begin with ourselves if we are serious about bringing more dignity into the world. The motto of unity in diversity provides a path toward dignity, and the diversity of expressions that you brought to the workshop, the diversity of ways in which we touched and moved each other, was stunning!

We thank YOU more than words can express!

Evelin & Linda, on behalf of our entire network.

PS: Dearest All! As you know, we would need your permission to place pictures and videos on our website. Please let us know if you would not wish to be included, thank you very much!

 


 

Announcements

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Reflections from Evelin (November/December, 2014):

As mentioned above, next year, we plan to create a new role in our workshop, namely the role of Dignigardener (dignity and gardener) for each Co-Created Dignilogue. This person will have the responsibility to remind everybody of the "rules" for Dignicommunication (dignity + communication). Please allow me to take myself and my own efforts as an example. I find it always useful to remember these "rules," because they are rather difficult to follow and require a great amount of restraint and effort.

- I attempt to use words such as "and" as much as possible, rather than words such as "but" or "not." In other words, when I wish to express an opinion that differs from the opinion of my communication partner, I would always make an effort to first strengthen what connects us, I would first strengthen the love that enables us both to feel empathy for each other. We all know from marriage counseling, for instance, that it is an illusion to believe that my partner will learn to love me by me shouting at him or her. The other person will merely be disabled to resonate with me and my thoughts, and will have great problems with feeling empathy with me, if I were were to simply blow out with "YOU, YOU, YOU": "YOU are wrong! YOU must be put in your place! YOU must be crazy! I am sure YOU want to hurt me!"

- When I feel hurt or angry, I attempt to cool down first. I write about that in my book Making Enemies. If I where to blow out angry feelings immediately, it would simply prove that I am seeing my own isolated "me" only, that I am caught in my own inner world, and that I overlook, for example, the fact that I might have misunderstood the other person, or that the other person might have arguments I am ignorant of. In other words, when I feel hurt or angry, I try to cool down so as to give myself the chance to consider that my interpretations of what happens are far from necessarily the only "true" interpretations, and that my views are far from necessarily the only true ones. I also give myself the chance to deeply appreciate the other person, and deeply take it in when she has the best of intentions and harbors no wish to hurt me. It gives me the time to understand that differences in opinion are something that have the wonderful potential to connect people in the spirit of unity in diversity, and that we have to avoid letting them split us in the spirit of division without unity. This means also that I attempt to refrain from acting like a child who uses un-mediated emotional expressions as communication style, such a pouting, sulking, tantrums, or angry outbreaks. Traditionally, leaders have often used such methods, they would shout and throw their weight around in order to manipulate, bully, and terrorize their followers in line. We wish to abstain from such out-dated leadership styles.

Dearest All, as I wrote above, I find it always useful to remember these "rules," because they are rather difficult to follow and require a great amount of restraint over one's own ways of being, a restraint that flows from humility, namely, the humility to recognize that it is inherently arrogant to believe that it will increase dignity if I relate to other people by blowing out my unreflected "me-only" emotions....

Dear All, I am deeply grateful to you for your loving gift of listening!

 


 

Messages from YOU
(with the authors' permission, listed chronologically)

Blog by David Yamada (December, 2014):

Workshopping human dignity

It’s not often that one can attend an academic/professional gathering that includes separate sessions on improvisational expression and the distinctions between shame and humiliation, but that’s one of the compelling qualities about the annual Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, held in December by the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and hosted by Columbia University in New York City.

HumanDHS, as I’ve written before, is an international assemblage of educators, practitioners, activists, and students devoted to advancing human dignity. I’ve been devoting this week’s posts to the workshop held last Thursday and Friday. I’ve become a regular participant, and for various reasons, this year’s offerings really struck a chord with me.

Open “dignilogues”

Among the highlights for me were the open “dignilogues,” participant-driven breakout sessions on topics generated by the group. The two I participated in could not have been more different, and both were immensely rewarding.

On Thursday I joined a session on improvisation, led by music educator and performing artist Christine de Michele. I must admit that I wasn’t quite sure what Christine meant when she proposed this topic, but it sounded intriguing enough to give it a try. For the next hour or so, our small group jumped right in with improvisational exercises, mixing sounds, music, movements, storytelling, and drawing. It’s hard for me to describe in words just how freeing and “un-conference like” this was, but suffice it to say that it was a fun, creative, and energizing experience. Here you see the video!

On Friday I joined a session devoted to exploring the differences between shame and humiliation in our society. It was an earnest, heartfelt exchange, mixing theoretical ideas with personal experiences. Although it wasn’t required that the group reach a consensus on such complex matters, it’s fair to say that many of us agreed that while the experience of shame can, at times, lead to personal growth, the experience of humiliation is more often a diminishing one.

Dignity at work

One of my contributions to this year’s workshop was a Thursday evening talk on advancing dignity at work. It gave me a chance to share many topics that I’ve raised here on this blog, such as workplace bullying, the low-wage economy, and the ravages of globalization. I tied together these topics under the overall rubric of worker dignity.

I then asked participants to consider our respective roles in promoting worker dignity. At the very least, I suggested, we can do our best to practice the Golden Rule at work, treating others as we would have them treat us. That’s not always easy, but it’s an especially good starting place. Please see the video!

***
Related post
For a closer look at the work of HumanDHS, here’s a post I wrote earlier this fall, “Creating an intellectual framework for human dignity.”
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Talia Shafir (December, 15, 2014):

Dear Evelin and Linda,

Thank you for your warm greetings, encouragement and the gift of your writing, Evelin. Inevitably, I return from each conference infused with renewed hope for the state of humanity and proof that one person can make a difference. While many of us write books and publish articles that reach large numbers of people worldwide and others work with groups of victims of often unimaginable humiliation and cruelty, I mainly interact with individuals on a journey to both overcome self-sabotaging humiliation and find the grace of humility within their own hearts. I walk alongside people grasping for dignity in their personal interactions and intimate relationships many times a
day. The lessons I glean from the Dignity and Humiliation Studies gatherings and connected resources both sustain me and help provide a focus for those who walk the healing path. Spending those couple of days with you reminds me that healing is a mobius of give and take. I honor, appreciate and embody gratitude for what you give and what you take away from every borderless encounter to pass on to those waiting at the next station.

May the lights of this season shine brightly for you into the new year.
Love, Talia

 

Blog by Hayal Köksal (December, 15, 2014):

Dear All,
I participated in the “Eleventh Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict” which was convened by Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) and World Dignity University (WDU) in collaboration with the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR) on 4-5 December, 2014 at Columbia University in New York City. Morton Deutsch is the honorary convener of that annual workshop series since 2003. It was an extraordinary professional journey and life experience for me. I met old friends and I have added new ones. I am thankful to my dearest dosts below for inviting me to the workshop:
* Evelin Lindner, MD, Ph.D.s, Founding President, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies,
* Linda Hartling, Ph.D., Director, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies,
* Tonya Hammer, Ph.D., Conference Coordinator.
* I also feel honored to mention the name of the executive Director of MD-ICCCR, Prof. Dr. Claudia Cohen, who was the host of the event. She made one of the opening talks of the event. Thus, we learned a lot about the important role of MD-ICCCR for Teachers’ College and for the other organizations.

The theme of this year was: “Work That Dignifies the Lives of All People”. For more than a decade, HumanDHS has cultivated innovative ways to work as a global community. This year, the aim was to explore not only the work that we are doing to transform humiliation and violent conflict, but also how we do our work. How do we design our lives for equal dignity as we work for equal dignity? What energizes our efforts? What sustains and replenishes our efforts?

There was a Public Event on 4th December in Horace Mann Hall and it was open to public as we did the same during the 15th Annual Conference in Istanbul on 28-30 April 2010. David Yamada and James E. Jones were the speakers of it. The afternoons were set aside for the “Co-created Dignilogue Groups”. Those groups focused on topics of interest proposed by participants. Instead of making traditional presentations, we were encouraged to enjoy the mutual learning experience of engaging in and also facilitating the authentic, creative conversations that led us to new ideas and new opportunities for action. I was one of the recommenders for topics to be studied. The proposed 11 topics were voted on and my topic was approved as one of the themes to be studies as a group. The theme was: "The main problems of females at the developing countries". The most important problem was "violence to women", as is easily understood. We tried to bring solutions and the main solution was "training, educating people".

We also presented our papers during the video sessions. I shared the reflections of my “Nonviolence in Education” and "Conflict Resolution" courses which I have been giving at the Faculty of Education at Boğaziçi University since 2010. I was at this workshop on behalf of the "Boğaziçi University Peace Education Research Center (BUPERC)," and as a result, I shared the aims, activities and achievements of our Center. I learned and also enjoyed a lot during those sessions. The warm atmosphere of the workshop gained new meanings through the lovely photographer Anna Strout, lovely music by George Wolfe and Eric Edberg, and also birthday parties of Rick and Evelin. I will never forget all those lovely sharings. I realized how important dignilogue grouping is for all countries including Turkey. All sharings were very impressive. However, I should emphasize some which impressed me a lot:
– Michael Britton’s and Stephanie’s talks created waves within me.
– “3 Vs”, mentioned by Michael Perlin was very practical to learn for conflict resolution issues: Voluntarism, Voice and Validatization.
– The talk of dearest Anne Wyatt-Brown about “Aging and Care-Giving” was so touching. I could not stop my tears. She pointed out the significance of "sitting next to elders" which is nowadays very popular in USA, instead of sending them to nursing homes.
– Lucien Lombardo’s talk on “Dignity in Work” was one of my favourite talks. The important question in the talk was this: “Why do universities not provide opportunities to study ”work”? This is one of my main issues in quality management, too. I believe in the necessity of exchange programs for teachers from schools to factories or to business from time to time to teach them what is expected from their students in the future business world.
– The talk titled “The Dust never Settles” was one of the interesting talks. I admired Safa’s talk and her comment about finding a healthy space for healing and learning to walk freely with one’s traumaor challenges we meet. She said: “Be an arrow; from revenge to respect, from resentment to renewal, from resisting to reconciliation, from refusing to regrouping. The most important problem for girls was pointed out as rape and/or incest relations from the males at home or nearby, like fathers, uncles, brothers, etc. We all know that it is also a big problem for my country along with “Child Brides”. The sad thing was pointed out, namely, the words of mothers to their daughters who were the victims of rape: “Don’t tell anybody. Otherwise he will be taken into prison!” So, we must be "the wind" to disperse trauma, says Stephanie Heuer.

Another important thing in my New York Workshop was my three visits to different important sites of New York City. They were;
1. Our visit to Memorial Museum with Evelin, Linda and Rick . It  was built and designed  to the memories of the 11th September dead people. It has impressed me a lot.
2. Our visit to MoMA with Evelin was unforgettable. There I saw many World-famous Works of art. We also took the video of a post-workshop talk with dearest Evelin. During the talk we mentioned my last book which was published by Dignity Press.
3. My visit to the Saint John Cathedral near my Hotel where I saw the “Phoenix Birds” of a Chinese architecture. They were magnificent.

As a result I must say that, the 11th Workshop of HumanDHS was one of the most productive and joyful events of my life. I am thankful to those WHO made that participation possible for me. My special thanks go to; Prof. Dr. Fatoş Erkman, Prof. Dr. Evelin Lindner and to Prof. Dr. Linda Hartling.
With love, peace and dignity.

Hayal KÖKSAL
See more here

Article by David Yamada (February, 2015):

Academic Conferences: When Small is Beautiful, by David C. Yamada, Suffolk University Law School 2015
Suffolk University Law Review Online, Vol. III, p. 9, 2015
Suffolk University Law School Research Paper No. 15-11

Abstract: This essay makes a case for organizing and hosting smaller academic conferences, workshops, and symposia that promote genuine dialogue and move at a slower, more contemplative pace. Although the main purpose of an academic gathering is not to create and experience a "feel good" event, smaller scale programs may better facilitate spirited, respectful dialogue, intellectual exchange, and an ethic of fellowship that nurtures connections and friendships. In addition, in offering post-program publication opportunities, we may consider packages of shorter essays as less burdensome alternatives to full-length symposium issues of journals. This essay grew out of the author's hosting of, and participation in, a small conference on therapeutic jurisprudence at Suffolk University Law School in 2014.
10 Keywords: legal education, legal scholarship, therapeutic jurisprudence, law and psychology, higher education, academic conferences Accepted Paper Series



 

Welcome Again!

We would like to end this newsletter by thanking you again for all the wonderful mutual support. You contributed so generously, therefore let us give our warmest thanks to ALL OF US! We very much look forward to our upcoming two conferences in 2015!

Please let us know as early as you can if you would like to join us, particularly if you wish to be part of a Dignilogue in December 2015 in our next Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict in New York City! Thank you!

In the meantime, please be warmly invited to our next HumanDHS conference in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2015!

Linda & Evelin, December 2014