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Dialogue: The Challenge of Crossing Divides 9:00 am
Dialogue: The Challenge of Crossing Divides @ The Salon
Jan 28 @ 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Dialogue: The Challenge of Crossing Divides @ The Salon
Tickets
Our country is currently experiencing what feels like for many a deepening and widening of social and political divides.  The effects for these divisions are being experienced within and between individuals and groups at all[...]
29
Exploring Goshen’s Third Side: “When spider webs unite, they can halt even the lion” 2:00 pm
Exploring Goshen’s Third Side: “When spider webs unite, they can halt even the lion” @ The Salon
Jan 29 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Exploring Goshen's Third Side: "When spider webs unite, they can halt even the lion” @ The Salon
Tickets
Building on Saturday’s workshop on Dialogue, Philip Thomas will facilitate a workshop in which participants will explore together creative ways of promoting and strengthening the following core principles and values that many residents of Goshen[...]
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2016 Dec January 2017 Feb 2018
Agenda
Agenda
January 2017 Jan 2017
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Jan
28
Sat
Dialogue: The Challenge of Crossing Divides @ The Salon
Tickets
Jan 28 @ 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Dialogue: The Challenge of Crossing Divides @ The Salon
Our country is currently experiencing what feels like for many a deepening and widening of social and political divides.  The effects for these divisions are being experienced within and between individuals and groups at all levels — in our families, our schools, and other institutions, across our communities, states and country.   It is becoming increasingly more difficult for good, well-intentioned people coming from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to  communicate across differences in ways that enable understanding rather than misunderstanding, tolerance rather than intolerance, hope rather than cynicism.
In this workshop, Philip Thomas, born and raised in Goshen, will be introducing dialogue and the importance of taking a “dialogic approach” to bridge the divides that separate us in our community and to enable more inclusive ways for addressing the challenges we must face together.  This workshop will focus on the following questions:
  • What is dialogue and why is it important?
  • When is it needed?   If not possible, what alternatives do we have?
  • What are the conditions and process considerations for achieving effective results?
  • What are some examples of innovative methodologies that could be relevant for local use?
Philip Thomas has spent the last 25 years supporting change processes in a number of highly polarized contexts across the globe (over 20 countries spanning 5 continents).  Much of his work has focused on helping create the conditions for enabling divided war-torn societies to work together on reconstructing the social fabric through long-term dialogue processes.   Together with his colleague, Bettye Pruitt, he wrote the book Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners, a joint publication of the United Nations and the Organization of American States.  This book is available in five different languages and can be downloaded at no cost on his website d3associates.net.
This workshop is free and open to anyone interested.    We would appreciate RSVP in order to have a sense of how many will be participating.
Read more
Categories: Workshop Tags: advocacy dialog Philip Thomas
Jan
29
Sun
Exploring Goshen’s Third Side: “When spider webs unite, they can halt even the lion” @ The Salon
Tickets
Jan 29 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Exploring Goshen's Third Side: "When spider webs unite, they can halt even the lion” @ The Salon

Building on Saturday’s workshop on Dialogue, Philip Thomas will facilitate a workshop in which participants will explore together creative ways of promoting and strengthening the following core principles and values that many residents of Goshen have affirmed through the work of the Community Relations Commission in 2009:

  • Respect for each other and respect for each other’s rights
  • Open communication and engagement
  • Honesty
    A safe community
  • Acceptance that change has positive and negative consequences
  • Tolerance of differences
  • Support for equality and freedom from discrimination

In social change processes, there are often many different roles that are required to effectively achieve lasting change. In this facilitated forum, Philip will present a short video and overview of the concept of “the third side” developed in the fields of peace building and conflict transformation. This then will be used as an orienting framework for participants to engage in brainstorming and planning potential strategies for continuing to ensure Goshen remains a community known for its capacity to preserve unity while respecting its rich diversity through the practices of tolerance, hospitality, equity and dialogue.

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Categories: Workshop Tags: dialog Philip Thomas
January 2017 Jan 2017