A World Cafe for fellow Fielding doctoral students and faculty

My friend and fellow doctoral traveler Bart Buechner hosted the November San Francisco Fielding Cluster meeting at the VA center in Yountville just north of Napa Calif. We had two faculty that came in to deliver a workshop on Critical Theory and I was to host a World Cafe after lunch. I did make it down but it was an arduous trip. I got to the airport in Redmond Oregon at 5:30 am and the plane was delayed and did not leave until 9:15. I got lots of reading in at least. I did make it down to the Bay Area and after picking up a car made it to the meeting at just after 1 pm, 4 hours late. But I did make it in time for some of the workshop, lunch, conversation, and then the delivery of the World Cafe. Most of the participants, 14 in all, had not experienced The World Cafe and one of those who had did not have a good experience so I was excited to introduce the fantastic dialogic process to the group.

We as a group came up with a question which focused on power differentials and the Obama election and whether Obama could make a difference and what our hopes and dreams had been in supporting the Obama election. We had a short amount of time so I did a quick philosophical introduction to The World Cafe as a dialogic process and then set 15 minute rounds and a 10 minute harvest. The conversation was outstanding and again based on the results it was clear that the power of dialogue is what can drive the healing of the world. Although it was a short meeting for me, the trip down was invaluable.

At 3:45 I hit the road to go to Woodside to have dinner and visit with my friend Deborah and her husband Stephen at the home of one of their dear friends. After driving in pouring rain the whole way I got there at 6 pm and stayed until just after 8 pm. Wonderful conversations with Deborah and the hosts. Let for the airport and got to the terminal at 9 pm. Noticed that my flight was delayed, thank God, as it had been scheduled to leave at 9:05. I have no idea how I thought that it left at 10. Well it was delayed until 10 and then until 11 and by the time I got home it was 1:30 am and I was exhausted. But it was well worth it.

The trip although a busy, was a reminder of how important dialogue is and how important gathering in friendship is to us. Have wonderful conversations and a great holiday season.

John

Using Dialogue Deliberation and Public Engagement for social justice

As I get closer to defining my dissertation, I am beginning to focus in on how to use dialogic practices to increase social justice in the world. I am currently working on a knowledge area for my doctorate in social change and my recent research has helped me focus on world-systems theory and gender and globalization. These tie closely together. First to explain a knowledge area. Fielding Graduate University is not a bricks and mortar framework where you go and sit in class, listen to a lecture, and test out. We have knowledge areas that we must research and demonstrate in the form of scholarly papers and projects our deep understanding of that knowledge area. There are many required and then others that can be added to inform the thesis. We contract with faculty, we have 40 or so, that specifically have the background to help us with our chosen direction. We chose our topics and focus, it is not dictated to us. We are a multi-disciplinary PhD program and I can draw off of multiple fields of social science to further my practice and studies. A very powerful paradigm.

World-systems theory is interested in economic inequality in the world and gender and globalization is concerned with women and girls and their role in the world. These are very important research topics to me and I am combining them and exploring how dialogue can help create social justice for women and girls in the world. Critical theory and feminist epistemology are also closely related to this work and I will draw heavily off of them.

Keep up the conversations to help heal our world.

John