I used to give my Negotiation students at Harvard a set of fieldwork experiments, assignments to go try out this or that concept in real life and report back.  In my mind, I had pedagogically sound reasons for doing so.  And for some years, it went either fine or great.  And then one year, it went disastrously, … Continue reading Students Experimenting in the Field, or “The Pedagogical Value of a Can of Beans” (From David White) →

This comes from an email from Andrew Lee, negotiation professor extraordinaire in Beijing.  I asked and received permission to post–I think it’s a great example of cross-cultural similarities and differences–let alone parenting challenges! With Wondermum Vivian taking daughter Meimei on a girl’s day, I was tasked with bringing little infant son Tintin to the toy store. … Continue reading Andrew’s Excellent Adventure in Toy Shopping →

If you are interested in an career in dispute resolution and have an interest in academia, I encourage you to apply to become Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law’s next Langdon Fellow. You can apply at jobsatosu.edu. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2015. The position description follows. Please let me know if … Continue reading Langdon Fellow Position at Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law →

A really, really interesting blog post by Brian Ganson on the HNMCP blog site.  I have known Brian since my earliest days in mediation, and he has reliably challenged many of my assumptions about just what it is we do and how we ought to do it. An excerpt (but really you should read the … Continue reading Brian Ganson on Mediation and Advocacy →

Now that all of the episodes of Friends have been released on Netflix, I am really enjoying watching them with my kids.  Still very funny.  And, apparently, filled with good negotiation advice on team negotiations.  Hat tip to the Program on Negotiation for tracking how the cast successfully negotiated their last two seasons of $1 million … Continue reading Friends Negotiation Tips →

From Charlie Pillsbury at Quinnipiac who has promised to send some of his stories our way for the blog and is interested in collecting more of these: As a person of faith, I’m drawn to sacred stories about peacemaking and dispute resolution.  As a Christian, I’m most familiar with the Hebrew texts that we Christians … Continue reading Sacred DR Stories →

The New York Times reported today here that Taliban justice is becoming more popular with Afghans as they see the formal justice system as corrupt and inefficient. This is the system that the international community, including the United States has invested large amounts of money and effort in building. When it became clear that just … Continue reading Not a surprise when a bad idea fails →

In July of 2013, I blogged about the Marissa Alexander case here .  Ms. Alexander was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to twenty years in prison after firing a “warning shot” at her estranged, and reportedly abusive, husband.    Last week Ms. Alexander was released after entering a plea deal to … Continue reading Update on Marissa Alexander →