From Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS)
HumanDHS World Dignity University Logo
-----  Take a Look  --  October 2016  -----
Warmest Greetings

 

We are celebrating all who shared in this year's wonderful Dignity Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia! This event was a great opportunity to welcome new friends into our "dignicommunity" and to reconnect with "forever friends" of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS). Thanks to everyone who was with us in person and in spirit!

We hope you enjoy this edition of  Take a Look highlighting new opportunities to connect and new publications that may support your efforts.
You are Warmly Invited!
2016 Workshop on Transforming 
Humiliation and Violent Conflict
"The Globalization of Dignity"
Thursday - Friday, December 8th - 9th, 2016

T eachers College at Columbia University 
525 W. 120th St., New York City
Horace Mann, Rooms 148 and 150

This year's American presidential campaign is only one example of the rising tide of humiliating forms of human engagement surging around the world. Almost daily we see unfolding disasters sparked by aggression and retaliation, institutionalized injustice, economic gaps between the rich and poor, polarized and paralyzed political systems, industrialized raiding of shared environmental resources, unprecedented forms of conflict and terrorism, in short, humiliation is seeping into all realms of human experience.

2015 Workshop Participants
In the face of these deeply worrying events, our direction is clear: We urgently need to globalize the message of dignity.

Our HumanDHS community is dedicated to dissolving all forms of humiliating practices while cultivating the seeds of dignity in every sphere, harvesting and replanting the best ideas that shape a dignifying future for all life on this planet.

Our HumanDHS workshops are part of our global efforts as a creative collaborative community -- united in our diversity -- to address the distressing dilemmas unfolding in the world today. We hope you will join us to share in our endeavor to transform the destructive dynamics of humiliation and conflict into life-enriching systems of equal dignity.

Our Collaborative Format: This workshop series follows a fluid, unfolding format grounded in mutually supportive engagement and insight-cultivating conversations. Rather than having an "audience" listening to "speakers,"  our aim is to create a community that builds ideas together through dignifying dialogue, or what we call " Dignilogues." P lease allow us to share this introductory handout on Digniloguing

If you wish to participate in this upcoming workshop, please kindly send your introductory information to:  workshops@humiliationstudies.
Morton Deutsch Honorary Convener

This event is hosted by HumanDHS and the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR)in cooperation with the   World Dignity University initiative . We are deeply grateful to all of our colleagues and friends at MD-ICCCR and especially grateful to our inspirational Honorary Convener Morton Deutsch.

Highlights from Our Annual Dignity Conference in Dubrovnik
"Cities at Risk - From Humiliation to Dignity"
September  19th -  23 th,  2016
Dubrovnik, Croatia, at the Inter-University Centre
2016 Dignity Conference Participants in Dubrovnik
(Our thanks to Rachel Aspögård for this photo)
Celebrating Creative Collaboration and Conversations...

Recent incidents have highlighted the vulnerability of cities to terrorist attacks. Continuing threats of terrorism intensify pressures already straining people's relationships and livelihoods in our urban centers. City populations worldwide are increasingly navigating a myriad of conditions that spark feelings of humiliation, fomented by persistent economic injustice, social conflict and unrest, unsustainable planning and development, and environmental degradation. 
 
This conference was designed to advance dialogue and encourage global partnerships to cultivate the knowledge we need to effectively address the risks our cities face. Our challenge is to join together in our efforts to create a world in which all people can enjoy a dignified life.
 
Kjell Skyllstad -  HumanDHS Lifetime Achievement Award 
Dubrovnik 2016
We are profoundly grateful to our esteemed inspirer and convener of this conference, Kjell Skyllstad, and our gracious host, the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik (IUC), with Nada Bruer Ljubisic as Executive Secretary.  The two Public Days of the conference, with its Town Hall Meeting and the Researcher Meeting, were wonderfully shaped by Kjell and deeply enriching for all.  We were especially proud to use this conference to honor Kjell with the HumanDHS Lifetime Achievement Award!
 
We were immensely grateful to Deeyah Khan for bringing her film Jihad to our conference and for sharing her thoughts and reflections on how to address social polarization and radicalization of urban and suburban youth. Deeyah is the Founder and Director of Fuuse - Art and Activism and Sister-hood.
 
During the first three days of the conference, we engaged in various Dignilogues, each of which culminated in a video message for the World Dignity University initiative. The remarkable range of topics that emerged from among the participants included: 
  • Writing systems and dignity 
  • Global business and fair trade 
  • World issues and aesthetics 
  • Dignity and humiliation in relation to conflict 
  • Music, migration, and minorities 
  • Altruism is not self-negation
  • Advancing human dignity in urban populations 
  • Indigenous knowledge and adaptive systems 
  • Cultural and community planning
  • The idea of a Dignity Star
We encourage you to visit the conference webpage to see the links to the videos of these Dignilogues. Congratulations to all the contributors!


Announcing Evelin Lindner's Upcoming Book and Talks!

Founding President Evelin Lindner is working night and day on her upcoming book: Honor, Humiliation, and Terror. S he wants you to know how grateful she is for your kind support and prolific patience during this challenging process. 

Early in 2017, Evelin Lindner will offer two talks at the University of Oslo sharing some of her latest work:
  • February 13th, 12.00 - 13.00: "Honor, Humiliation, and Terror," brown bag Monday lunch talk at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (this is an internal event, yet, you may contact cathrine.kullgreen@nchr.uio.no and inquire whether an exception can be made).
  • Beginning of March: Annual talk on dignity and humiliation at the Department of Psychology, Harald Schjelderups hus, Forskningsveien 3, part of PSY4506, with Nora Sveaass and Inger Skjelsbæk: www.sv.uio.no/psi/om/
Annual Dignity Conference
Dignity in Times of Globalization
August 16th - 19th, 2017 
Indore, India

We are thrilled to announce that our 2017 HumanDHS Conference will be convened in Indore, India! If you would like to join us, please submit your introductory information to: conferences@humiliationstudies.org

The World Dignity University Initiative Joins with the  Western Institute of Social Research to Offer "Dignity Studies"

The  World Dignity University (WDU) initiative and the  Western Institute for Social Research (WISR) are continuing to develop a promising educational collaboration. Working together, they will provide adult learners with the opportunity to pursue the multidisciplinary study of topics related to human dignity and social change, offering flexible, learner-centered graduate degree programs.

The WDU-WISR collaboration will allow students to pursue a WISR graduate degree based on multidisciplinary readings and learning projects and to develop a thesis or dissertation on topics related to human dignity. This will entail working with faculty from WISR's core faculty, including scholars from the WDU and HumanDHS communities who will be joining WISR faculty. Two current WISR graduate degree programs are eligible for this "Dignity Studies" specialization:
  • MS in Education and Community Leadership
  • EdD in Higher Education and Social Change
People may also pursue a BS degree (in Community Leadership and Justice), if they can demonstrate prior extensive experience and expertise in community and/or professional involvement.

All three programs have a small number of required courses with some required readings, but the programs primarily involve learner-defined action and/or research projects culminating in papers relating to the student's purposes and interests. Students pursuing a Dignity Studies specialization would take a five-credit course entitled, "Dignity Studies," as part of their required courses.

Students who would like to begin a degree program through WISR in partnership with the WDU do not have to wait until the end of a semester or the academic year. They can begin any month of the year. We are delighted that a member of the HumanDHS community will begin his doctoral studies this coming December.

For a recent example of the valuable work being realized through WISR, please see the description of the key role played by  Dennis Hastings and Margery Coffey's WISR dissertation in a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court!

To learn more about WISR, please visit:  www.wisr.edu/welcome

Dignity Press Publications
For more information about these publications, 
please visit our Dignity Press website:  dignitypress.org

To order copies of these publications, please visit our Dignity Press website: dignitypress.org
Quick Links

Thank you for all you do to create a world of equal dignity for all! 

 

Evelin Lindner, MD, PhDs, Founding President

Linda Hartling, PhD, Director

Uli Spalthoff , PhD, Director of Project Development and Systems Administration   

Michael Britton, EdD, PhD, Board Member  

Richard Slaven, PhD, Director of Dignifunding