This is the first installment of an online mini-course about social science research methods relevant to the Stone Soup Dispute Resolution Knowledge Project. When considering whether to develop a database, some people expressed concerns about the value and validity of the case reports we contemplated. I think that some of these concerns were based on … Continue reading Introduction to the Stone Soup Project Mini-Course
The Stone Soup Dispute Resolution Knowledge Project encourages faculty to assign students to collect qualitative data about actual dispute resolution practice. Many faculty require students to conduct interviews of practitioners or parties. You may require students to write papers analyzing their interviews, though you may discuss the interviews in (and out of) class without requiring … Continue reading Stone Soup Documents For Interview Assignments
In a series of posts, particularly this one, I wrote that the University of Missouri had tentatively planned to develop a database of reports about actual cases. As described in my post, Creating Knowledge Together, the underlying goal was for faculty, students, scholars, practitioners, educational institutions, and professional associations to collaborate to produce, disseminate, and … Continue reading Creating Knowledge Together, Part 2: Revised Plans for The Stone Soup Project
My colleague, Rafael Gely, and I are developing the University of Missouri “Stone Soup” Case Database project as I previously mentioned. This post includes links to some short documents with more detail about the content and process of our planning. And it invites you to respond with your comments, suggestions, and commitments to participate. Overview … Continue reading Developing the University of Missouri “Stone Soup” Case Database
Several years ago, I had the chance to tag along on a European tour with Missouri’s University Singers. My friend, Paul Crabb, the choral director, talked with his students in the group about the pleasure of “making music together.” The idea that they were “making” the music may seem odd at first considering that they … Continue reading Creating Knowledge Together: Rationale for Building a Social Science Case Database
In January, I described how my colleague, Rafael Gely, assigned his negotiation class to interview people about actual negotiations and write papers with detailed accounts of the cases. This assignment has intrinsic value as an educational experience for the students and it served as a test run for the University of Missouri “Stone Soup” Project … Continue reading Real Negotiations
TPKATVT is back. It actually hadn’t gone away, though I hadn’t seen signs of it for a while. TPKATVT, aka The Phenomenon Known as the Vanishing Trial, got started by a 2004 report written by Professor Marc Galanter, The Vanishing Trial: An Examination of Trials and Related Matters in Federal and State Courts. Each year … Continue reading TPKATVT
You probably are familiar with the Stone Soup fable. Some travelers come to a village with only an empty cooking pot and they find that the villagers won’t share any food. The travelers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One by one, villagers ask … Continue reading Stone Soup Case Database
Missouri’s 2016 Tower of Babel symposium resulted in a set of excellent articles. My introductory essay synthesizes insights from the symposium. The following is the conclusion from that essay, without footnotes. Our current negotiation theory needs improvement. As we develop better negotiation theory, we should start by appreciating the valuable work that has been done by our … Continue reading Moving Negotiation Theory from the Tower of Babel Toward a World of Mutual Understanding
Tis one of the least fun seasons of the year for faculty: Time to grade stacks of exams and papers. While it is exciting to see signs that some of our wards have learned a lot from our instructional efforts, it is depressing to see evidence raising doubts that we inhabit the same galaxy as … Continue reading A Cool Course Assignment for Next Semester — and A Scholarship Opportunity
