I strongly encourage all of you to watch/record Traces of the Trade next Tuesday (June 24th). It premieres on PBS next week, and I especially encourage anyone who’s joining us in Austin for the 2008 NCDD Conference to watch this film. We’ll have representatives from Traces at the conference — showing the film, working with Eastern Mennonite University’s Coming to the Table program on race dialogue-focused workshops, and helping us connect all we’re learning and experiencing related to race, bias and oppression at workshops and plenary sessions at the conference.

Those of you who attended NCDD 2004 in Denver may remember that our friends at Animating Democracy gave conference participants the opportunity to view the rough cut of the film, and played it again during the Open Space because so many people were talking about it that many who missed out demanded another opportunity to see it.

Supported by Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts supported by the Ford Foundation, the film follows director Katrina Browne and nine of her relatives as they retrace the voyage and industry of their ancestors—the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history—from the former mansion and wharf in Bristol, RI, to slave forts in Ghana, to former plantations in Cuba. Step by step, the family uncovers the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling through the minefield of contemporary race relations. In this bicentennial year of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, Traces of the Trade offers powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide.

Traces of the Trade will be a catalyst for heart-to-heart dialogue, education and action through screenings in communities and classrooms. There are many steps you can take, on your own or with others. For a full list of these types of opportunities, visit www.tracesofthetrade.org/get-involved.

Check your local listings to see when the film will debut in your area. You can also go to www.tracesofthetrade.org to learn more about this amazing film.

In their latest email offering, NCDD members Len and Libby Traubman share the story of University of Pennsylvania sophomore Sam Adelsberg and his work at his school to bring Jewish and Muslim students together…

My freshman year at Penn was marred by controversy between the Jewish and Muslim and Arab communities. Distrust and animosity stood in the way of a provocative dialogue as numerous incidents further exacerbated the already existant isolation between the communities. I could only speak for my own feelings, but I saw many who have since become dear friends as “the other.” A year later, it is not uncommon to see Muslims eating at Hillel or Jews attending MSA events.  What happened? An initiative sparked by some student leaders on both sides attempted to “bridge the gap” that we all saw. Are all barriers broken down? Hardly. Through joint musical performances, joint panels, cultural events and a trip together to help rebuild New Orleans together, student leaders from both communities began to see each other as friends and not as others. Though there were times when it got tense, many beautiful friendships formed. While there is a long way to go, this is an exciting first step as many of these students who participated have tremendous potential to take this even further in the coming years.

Along with Sam’s story, they highlight other examples through articles from UPenn’s student newspaper.

Breaking the Ice via Stereotypes by Alex Melamed
Interfaith organization PRISM debunks common religious slurs in first fall meeting.

Mending Their Ties Through Music by Nandanie Khilall
Jews, Arabs and Muslims seek fresh cultural dialogue.

Religion and Rebuilding down South by Lara Seligman
Jewish and Muslim students come together for spring break trip.

Two Unlikely Groups Join Forces To Host An Event by Lara Seligman
“We are not on the West Bank; we are in West Philadelphia.”

Fielding Graduate University’s fifth graduate level Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement is being held this fall (August 15, 2008 through January 15, 2009). I have heard only great things about this program, and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to earn some credentials in D&D but isn’t quite ready for a doctorate.

This distinctive program focuses on recent innovations in dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement featuring outstanding faculty who have played key roles in developing these approaches. It strives for the development of mastery in our practice of dialogue and deliberation.

Designed and delivered in collaboration with The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, the Kettering Foundation, and the Public Dialogue Consortium, the program features an outstanding faculty of scholar-practitioners (Hal Saunders, Barnett Pearce, Phil Stewart, Keith Melville, Jan Elliott, John Dedrick, Linda Blong, Kath Fisher). It also features guests in phone dialogues who are widely recognized scholars and innovative practitioners. Previous featured guests have included Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Juanita Brown, Martha McCoy, Bob Stains, Shawn Spano, Frank Barrett, Joe Peters, Janette Hartz-Karp and Jim Fishkin.

Come join us and learn with others from different backgrounds and countries who share your energy and enthusiasm for this work. Learn in two face-to-face workshops, online, and on the phone with world renowned practitioners. To help make it easy for those attending the NCDD conference, the first face-to-face workshop will take place in Austin, Texas immediately after the conference.

Here’s what a few previous participants had to say:

• “The DDPE certificate program is exceptional.”
• “Altogether an outstanding experience.”
• “The Program was extremely valuable.”
• “This program has had, and continues to have, a huge impact on my thinking and the way I do my work.”

For a course outline and to check out other testimonials, see www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html. You can also check on the website to see when the next informational conference call is being held.

Tuition is US $3490 if you register by the early bird deadline of July 15, 2008. NCDD members’ tuition is only US $3,140 (10% discount). Registrants enrolling after July 15 will be charged US $3,740 ($3,390 for NCDD members). Register at https://www.fielding.edu/forms/ce/ce_registration.htm.

Addendum Added 7/1/08…

Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement
Certificate Program (DDPE)
August 15, 2008 – January 15, 2009
Developing Mastery in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement

Call for Sponsorship Applications—Deadline:  July 15, 2008

The Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University announces $2,500 partial sponsorships for professionals who are interested in improving their practice and beginning a project in the area of dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement.  We are particularly interested in partially sponsoring participants who have the opportunity and interest in supporting dialogic, deliberative and engagement practices in their organizations or communities through projects which have the potential to build civic engagement capacity.

With support from the Kellogg Foundation, we are offering partial sponsorships for our 19 week certificate program which provide participants with the opportunity to develop towards mastery of dialogue and deliberation processes by working with a scholar-practitioner model of reflective practice. An exceptional faculty of scholar-practitioners, who do real world work in diverse contexts and cultures, will support your learning and provide coaching for a culminating capstone project.   This program uses blended learning: two face to face sessions, online, and phone and is available for academic graduate credit.  These sponsorships provide about half of the total cost of the program. (For DDPE info www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html)

Applicants must have organizational support in the form of commitment to dialogue, deliberation and public engagement.  Applicants with financial support from their organization/community will be given preference.  Applicants can be from any sector of society: non-profit, government, or for-profit.

The review team is accepting applications until July 15, 2008.  If you are interested in submitting an application, please send the following by email to krogers@fielding.edu.

1. Two page description of how you intend to use this certificate in your work; a description of a potential project opportunity which would help to build civic engagement capacity using dialogue and deliberation in your organization or community.
2. An email letter of support from your organization with an indication of financial contribution.

For questions, please contact: Dr. Katrina Rogers, Fielding Graduate University at (805) 898-2924 or krogers@fielding.edu.

The city of Bilbao will be the scene of an international seminar “Innovation in the Move towards Peaceful Coexistence: New Methods for Conflict Management and Social Dialogue” that will be held between the 21st and 24th of July.

This course provides a framework for learning how to establish productive dialogue and to participate in conversations that promote change, inspire innovation, generate supportive and cooperative coordination and enable us to cope with difficult situations or conflicts, channelling them towards creative solutions. It also aims to help participants recognise and expand existing resources and opportunities for peaceful coexistence. The resources provided change the way in which we establish personal, interpersonal, social and political dialogue, and offer new opportunities for joint activities and the communal building of a new future.

It will be led by high representatives of the field such as Kenneth Gergen, Sallyann Roth, Dora Fried Schnitman, Nelson Molina Valencia, Jorge Sanhueza and others. It has been organised by Gizagune Foundation and the Elkargunea Network for Promoting Peaceful Coexistence in Local Government in collaboration with Fundación Interfas and The Taos Institute.

You can request more information at info@fundaciongizagune.net.

I received Donna Zajonc’s Politics of Hope e-newsletter this morning, and was captivated by Donna’s main article, which is about which parts of the brain are used (and most tellingly, NOT used) when partisans hear negative or contradictory information about the candidates they support. Definite implications for D&D practitioners. Here’s the article…

New brain research is giving us insight in to our political positions and may explain why we have become so politically polarized. Dr. Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University, and his colleagues used a MRI brain scan to study a sample of Democrats and Republicans who were strongly committed to their individual candidate.

Democrats and Republicans were asked to evaluate negative information that had been published about their favorite candidate. During the evaluation, participants underwent MRI scans to see what parts of their brains were active. The purpose of the study was to research people who said they strongly identify with their political party (called “partisans”) and evaluate how they respond to contradictory information about their candidate. (more…)

Generated from our “About Us” text using the “word clouds” tool at Wordle (wordle.net)…

On May 20th, Andy and I drove over to Philadelphia to meet with Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff - co-founders of the Future Search Network and co-creators of the future search method. For those of you not familiar with it, future search is a great planning method that allows people to discover a set of shared values or themes (common ground) and build new dynamics such as inclusion and collaboration into their organization or community.

Future search is not trademarked and is not owned by anyone (I can’t tell you how much I respect that!) and all are encouraged to use the process and experiment with it. It is an open system process, which means it considers anyone a necessary participant who can affect, is affected by or has important information or experience related to the task at hand.

We had a great visit with Marv and Sandra (pictured), who are super-nice, intelligent, thoughtful people. We visited at Marv’s beautiful house and then had lunch nearby at an Indian restaurant. We learned about the origins of future search and the underlying philosophy of the process.

I left our meeting with a lot more respect for the future search process, and I recommend that everyone involved in change management become familiar with the process. If you want to learn more about future search, here are some things you can do…

• Go to the Future Search Network site
  
• Get trained in future search (they provide great discounts for paid NCDD members!)
• Buy Marv and Sandra’s most recent book, Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! Ten Principles for Leading Meetings that Matter
• Check out the resources we have in the Learning Exchange on future search

An article about NCDD member Judith Mowry’s Restorative Listening Project was featured on the front page of Friday’s New York Times. The article by William Yardley, entitled Racial Shift in a Progressive City Spurs Talks, covers how Judith’s Portland, Oregon dialogue project has opened people’s eyes to the pain and hardship caused by the city’s rampant gentrification. Her Restorative Listening Project uses uses dialogue, storytelling and restorative justice to engage the city in race dialogue.

We’ve already posted about the great multimedia coverage Judith got on the Oregonian website. I was impressed with that, but now I’m just floored! Congratulations, Judith!! (Click “more” to see the full article.) (more…)

The Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (sdcampusnetwork.org), a project of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (sustaineddialogue.org), is currently looking for an Executive Director…

Colleges and universities increasingly pledge an institutional commitment to diversity; yet, relations among diverse student communities are often dominated by racial and cultural tensions. Young people across the country frustrated with campus tensions have been drawn to a process called Sustained Dialogue (SD), first used to improve campus climate at Princeton University in 1999. Formed in 2003, the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (SDCN) trains, mentors, and connects students seeking to build more cohesive, diverse, engaged campus communities through dialogue. A project of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, SDCN seeks a passionate self-starter to serve as Executive Director and to lead its expansion nationally while building a strong and sustainable organization.

For more information please visit the SDNC Job Openings page on the SDCN website.

Mitch Saunders, a past presenter at our conferences, is presenting a new Learning Lab with Craig Fleck entitled Co-Creating What’s Next at the University of California at Berkeley on July 16-18, 2008 along with guests Rod Bacon and Mathew Frazer, CEO’s from Silicon Valley. At the workshop, you will experience new perspectives on previously hidden forces acting on individuals and the organizations in which they work, engage at a deeper level and learn repeatable ways to influence personal and organizational change. Join fellow leaders and practitioners exploring how the principles of living systems and dynamic, co-creative practices are used for sensing and influencing the development of people, innovations, and organizations. While working on real issues, you will learn principles, practices, and practical tools for discovering and influencing what’s emerging and needed next. Learn more at www.actionlearninglabs.com or register at www.actionlearninglabs.com/about/programs/.

from the Canadian Policy Research Networks (cprn.org) press release…

Connecting with Canadians, a new five-year public policy research and dialogue program that will engage Canadians to address key issues such as citizenship, diversity and skills barriers, has been launched by Canadian Policy Research Networks. A unique feature of Connecting with Canadians is its commitment to greater engagement of young Canadians in policy issues, says Manson Singer. Young people will participate in the research and dialogue. “We want to leave our young leaders with a legacy of skills and interest in Canada’s public affairs.”

Connecting with Canadians draws on a framework of expectations and obligations: what Canadians say they expect from government, business and community organizations and what they believe, as citizens, we should give back to society. Together, this set of expectations and obligations represents a vision of the Canada that Canadians want. CPRN identified from its deliberative dialogues and research five challenges to address in public policy research that are critical to achieving this vision: citizenship; diversity; productivity and skills; health and our aging population; and the environment. Connecting with Canadians will address these challenges to find innovative policy ideas to move Canada forward.

The policy challenges were discussed with leaders from across Canada and reviewed at CPRN’s Leadership Summit 2008 in Ottawa in February. Summit participants, community, business, government and young leaders confirmed their importance and identified key barriers and opportunities to address them.

You can read Connecting with Canadians, Shaping Our Future on the CPRN website, where you can also find more information about the Connecting with Canadians research and dialogue program.

from the latest Mobilize.org press release on the event…

Mobilize.org has announced the application launch for its Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit, Money in Politics, to be held July 18-21, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. In partnership with The Sunlight Foundation and Common Cause, Mobilize.org is seeking innovative projects focused towards clean election practices at the local, state, and national level.

Mobilize.org is focusing efforts on empowering members of the Millennial Generation to develop innovative clean elections practices, emphasizing the creation of public finance reforms at the local and state level. These types of reforms are intended to give voters more control over the government by making politicians accountable to voters rather than wealthy campaign contributors. Their Money in Politics Grant Summit presents members of the Millennial Generation with the opportunity to identify a need for clean elections practices, and through the use of interactive key pad voting technology and peer to peer dialogue, develop an idea or solution that would address that need, and present a proposal for funding at the summit in Denver in July 2008.

Their grant summit winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000 and more importantly, will receive the support of Mobilize.org and its extensive partner network to champion their proposal and create systemic and long lasting change in the way elections are run.

Please see the Democracy 2.0 Issues Brief “Money in Politics” and the Grant Summit Rules and Application form (deadline is June 15th) for more information (both pdf files).

You’ll find all relevant information related to the Summit on the Mobilize.org website.

The International Peace and Development Training Center (www.patrir.ro), working in cooperation with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and PATRIR, has announced that their Designing Peacebuilding Programmes (DPP), a five day international training program for practitioners, policy makers, international and national agency staff and NGOs working in peacebuilding, gender, development, conflict transformation, violence prevention and post-war recovery, will be held September 22 – 26, 2008 in Cluj - Napoca, Romania. A complete and detailed guide in PDF format is available and more information can be found on their website.

We just received a press release for an interesting course offered by Brooklyn Nonviolent Communication (brooklynnvc.org) that I’d like to share (full press release after the break)…

Shifting Conflict to Compassion

Mindful Communication: Zen and the Art of Conflict
A Course in Compassionate Nonviolent Communication (NVC)

Beginning June 1st at the Breathing Project in Manhattan

Who doesn’t encounter conflict at some point? While most of us have found ways to “deal” with conflict, it is truly an art to find the opportunities for connection and compassion hidden within conflict. By learning to listen to our own needs and the core concerns of others we can come up with solutions and strategies that foster a mutual sense of understanding.

This is the focus of an upcoming course, “Zen and the Art of Conflict,” offered by Brooklyn Nonviolent Communication on 3 Sundays beginning June 1st at the Breathing Project in Manhattan.

(more…)

Here’s some great news for D&Ders in California…

Common Sense California is offering $125,000 total to municipalities, school districts, and non-profits that wish to engage the public in policy decisions through their new “Citizen Engagement Grant Program.” The grants are divided into two levels and will be awarded in two timeframes. CSC is offering four “Common Sense Grants” up to $25,000.00 each for use in developing campaigns that involve the public around issues pertaining to city/regional and/or K12 policy. Applications for these grants will be received through September 12, 2008, with recipients notified in early October. “Catalyst Grants” in amounts up to $7,500.00 will be awarded on a rolling basis, beginning in late June. Click on “more” for the full press release. (more…)