Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
By Gary Friedman and Amanda Ripley Want some truth? The two of us, we lie. We bet that you do, too. While lying is not one of humanity’s more virtuous characteristics, it is part of what makes us human. As journalists and mediators, we are faced with special...
Power: Understanding or Coercion?
By Gary Friedman Whether we are a mediator, lawyer, or parties, power is woven into the dynamics of conflict, and coercion is the most common form of power. Coercion hardly brings an end to the biggest problems fueling conflict; however, there is an alternative that...
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Book by Oliver Burkeman Review by Jennifer Sullivan One doesn’t so much read Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, as experience its clarifying power. While booksellers may shelve it alongside the self-help books intended to teach mere...
Media Review » Summer of Soul
Review by Laurie Phuong Ertley Summer of Soul (Searchlight pictures, 2021) is a riveting documentary about Black joy, Black power, and Black music. You might wonder how something so massive as a music festival headlined by the likes of BB King, Stevie Wonder, and...Meet Our Interns!
We have five fabulous members of our team who will be working on a variety of projects with the Center for Understanding in Conflict from January to April 2022. Meah GilliamVideo Production Based in Aurora, Colorado Hello everyone! My name is Meah Gilliam and I’ll be...
Top Tips for Starting an ADR Practice
By Catherine Conner and Melanie Rowen You may have left your Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) trainings motivated to add Consensual Dispute Resolution (CDR) to your mix of work—or perhaps even inspired to start your own ADR/CDR practice—but not sure where to begin...
Neutrality and Objectivity
By Gary Friedman and Katherine Miller There is no such thing as objectivity, and it is impossible to relate to another human being without the filter of our own subjective experiences. When working with people in conflict, what if we lean into this truth instead of...
Remembering bell hooks, Her Body of Work and its Impact
Review by Heba Nimr bell hooks died last month. I first encountered her work in the1980s, through her book Feminist Theory from margin to center. “To be in the margin is to be part of the whole, but outside the main body” is the opening...