To resolve a dispute, one or more people need to change their minds. Negotiation and mediation involve techniques to help people do just that. Obviously, this can be very difficult. People have reasons for their positions and they may not change them easily. This post focuses on two approaches for changing minds, which are highlighted … Continue reading What I’m Reading – Changing Minds
Peter T. Coleman, professor of psychology and education at Columbia University, an award-winning scholar and a prolific author, recently published his latest book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization. He holds a joint appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute. In his spare time, he is the director of the Morton Deutsch … Continue reading Peter Coleman’s Outstanding Evidence-Based Work on Reducing Polarization
Jim Stark and Doug Frenkel just became scholars-in-residence with the International Academy of Mediators, following in the footsteps of Hal Abramson, Lela Love, and Dwight Golann. I have appreciated Doug and Jim’s work – actually of all the SiRs – and this post describes some of the things I appreciate about it. It also includes … Continue reading Appreciation of Doug Frenkel and Jim Stark
The Washington Post just published an article, Five Things Worth Knowing About Empathy. Take a look. Click on the title of this post to access the article.
Four social scientists who study empathy and political division think so. Take a look at their piece in the Washington Post, Our Divided Times Are an Opportunity for Empathy. Really. To access the article, click on the title of this post.
The good folks at the Association for Conflict Resolution of Greater New York and CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College invited me to give a talk as part of their monthly breakfast series. Last week, I gave a presentation, Helping Parties Make Decisions About What’s Really Important, which synthesizes ideas I have been … Continue reading Concepts That Can Help Practitioners Help Parties Make Decisions in Disputes
Reflecting on my They Should Call it Negotiation School and Law School Failures posts, I wrote the following message, which you may want to share with your students. Although they may be too busy to follow up on this now, you can plant a seed for them to pursue this during the winter break. ___________________________________________________________________ … Continue reading A Message for Law Students to Prepare Themselves for Legal Practice
Kris Franklin is a kindred spirit to folks in our community. I hadn’t heard of her until I was wowed by her conversation with Peter Philips, which you can see in this 42-minute video. She’s a professor at New York Law School and here’s an excerpt from her webpage: An academic innovator, Kris Franklin brings … Continue reading You Really Should Know About Kris Franklin
Here’s an inspiring message from TTFOI Rachel Viscomi: Dear friends and colleagues, As the United States engages a deeply consequential election, one thing I know for certain is that, whatever the final tally shows, we have a long road ahead of us. The election, while vitally important, can only do so much. It can tell … Continue reading Inspiring Message from Rachel Viscomi About Moving Forward
From the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution: The 23rd Annual Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference will take place on April 14 – 17, 2021 in Los Angeles and online. The 2021 Section of Dispute Resolution Annual Spring Conference will continue our tradition of excellent and innovative educational programs along with social and networking events. … Continue reading ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Conference – April 14-17, 2021
That’s the title of a provocative article by Michael Luo in the New Yorker. President Trump is a purveyor extraordinaire of nonstop toxic polarizing conflict, enabled by leaders in his party. Many people in our field understandably want him to leave office and stop (or reduce) his inflammatory words and actions. If Vice President Biden … Continue reading Could Joe Biden Actually Bring America Back Together?
The Boston Law Collaborative Institute will offer the following programs on implicit and systemic bias. October 15: “Assessing Workplace Bias in the Era of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter,” with Jody Newman, Esq. October 27: “Biased? Who, Me?!? A Candid Look at the Problem of Implicit Bias,” with Audrey Lee, Matt Thompson, and David Hoffman. … Continue reading Upcoming Educational Programs