Who knew that humor theory was a thing? Philosophical theory, no less. I sure didn’t. Not until I took Audible’s “Great Course,” Take My Course, Please! The Philosophy of Humor, taught by Gettysburg College Philosophy Professor Steven Gimbel. When I stopped teaching courses, it left a lotta empty time on my hands. So I decided … Continue reading Humor Theory and Dispute Resolution
Question: Where does conflict come from? Answer: Normal, unconflicted life. Building on Felstiner, Abel, and Sarat’s classic article describing the genesis of disputes, Naming, Blaming, Claiming, this overgrown blog post uses memoirs to analyze how people develop “perceived injurious experiences” (PIEs), some of which become grievances (when they blame others), and some of which become … Continue reading Slices of Conflict in Life
HBO recently presented a great two-part documentary, George Carlin’s American Dream. He started as a conventional, clean-cut comic in the 1960s, and evolved into a counterculture icon in the 1970s. He continued performing until shortly before his death in 2008. This post is another in my What I’m Reading series. Mr. Carlin really came to … Continue reading HBO Documentary on Social Critic George Carlin
In 2018, I wrote a post, Make Video History, describing my experiences creating videos – especially oral history videos – and encouraging others to do so. (In those quaint old days, I included a link to zoom, figuring that most people weren’t familiar with it.) In the 1980s, I conducted oral history interviews of my … Continue reading Making Video History, Revisited
I’m starting this What-I’m-Reading series with two books by Swedish author, Fredrik Backman. They are his first book, A Man Called Ove (OOH-vah), and his latest book, Anxious People. Backman has become quite a phenomenon, publishing a series of books, some of which have been made into movies, including Ove. Ove is a grumpy, get-off-my-lawn … Continue reading What I’m Reading – Frederik Backman Books
What’s sex education got to do with dispute resolution? If you have to ask, maybe you should go back to high school. Wait, that’s a terrible idea. Instead, you might watch the Sex Education series on Netflix, which just dropped its third season. The premise is that an unlikely duo of high school students set … Continue reading Sex Education
From the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution: The Section will sponsor the ABA Dispute Resolution Tech Expo on September 14-18. Working virtually is our new normal, but now what? Besides Zoom, what other tools are out there to make working online easier? Look no further than the ABA Dispute Resolution Tech Expo. Tailored to the … Continue reading ABA Dispute Resolution Tech Expo – Sept. 14-18
There are a lot of continuing professional educational programs coming up and here are the ones I have heard about lately. ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Conference For readers of this blog, the biggie is the virtual conference of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution all next week. Be there or be square. The Section … Continue reading Lots of Educational Programs
From TFOI Toby Guerin: I thought that I would share an exercise which we posted this week through the Workplace Mediation Service at University of Maryland, Baltimore. It can be easily adapted for classes and other environments. Several years ago Andrea Schneider and others wrote an article, “Cooking Up a Deal: Negotiation Recipes for Success.” … Continue reading Toby Guerin’s Negotiation Exercise
The coronavirus has disrupted the lives of almost everyone on earth. People are stopping much of our daily routines and canceling travel plans, large and small. Practically every sector of society is adjusting, with many canceling activities. As people’s time opens up, our options for spending time are drying up. March Madness and other sporting … Continue reading Dear Committee Members
