RockRose Institute Newsletter

RockRose Events	Letter from the President RockRose continues to promote interdisciplinary learning spaces for exchanging different perspectives and developing communication skills that do not suppress conflict but harness its energy for creative solutions. This Newsletter identifies some of those efforts. With the leadership of Deborah Goldblatt, the Youth Dialogue Project (YDP) is particularly active and will make substantial contributions to the inter-generational conversation at the bi-annual meeting of the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation in a few weeks. RockRose is also focusing more on working with programs such as Facing History and Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org) and the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) (www.teachingquality.org) that provide support for teachers in the classroom. As yet another example of the rippling effect of the World Forum last year, two Forum participants, Kilian Betlack and Emily Vickery, are part of CTQ’s Teacher Solutions 2030 Team funded by a grant from Met Life Foundation. Along with 10 other respected and active teachers, school reformers and futurists, the team is designing teaching models for the next twenty years. RockRose believes educational tools for building skills in conflict management for teachers and students is a necessary component. Recently RockRose has begun a discussion with The Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) on reaching out to teachers through its Teacher Leaders Network to explore how to assist teachers in transforming conflict in the classroom and in helping students develop a deeper understanding of justice – both locally and globally. All of this requires “effort of the spirit”; RockRose invites you to join us in that effort. RockRose Institute is dedicated to working with its partners and supporters to create learning spaces. Please keep us informed of your work, as we invite you to participate in ours. Rebecca Westerfield ROCKROSE WELCOMES YOUR DONATIONS Enable RockRose to continue its ongoing projects and its future programs. Please see www.rockroseinstitute.org.
HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER - UC BERKELEY. RockRose Institute will co-sponsor The Soul of the New Machine, an International Users Conference on Human Rights, Technology and the New Media with the HRC May 4-5, 2009 on the Berkeley Campus. Through panel discussions, workshops and more, conference participants will explore how new developments in science and technology can advance work in the areas of justice and human rights. Please contact Executive Director Camille Crittenden at ccrittenden@berkeley.edu for sponsorship opportunities and conference details. Due to the enthusiastic response and success of Steadfast: A Communication Practice with Horses held this past May, RockRose will hold this event again next spring. Watch for our Save the Date email next month.
Youth Dialogue Project
On October 3rd - 5th, in Austin, Texas, the Rockrose Institute Youth Dialogue Project (YDP) will be sponsoring three sessions at the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation's bi-annual conference. It's not too late to register for these exciting sessions focusing on the relevance of trans-generational relationship. Two workshops and a sub-plenary will be hosted by a team of six young adult leaders from the On the Verge program in partnership with mentors active in the Dialogue and Deliberation community. Abigail Joseph, a member of the On the Verge/YDP team, tells her story at http://abigailjoseph.blogspot.com. Other links: NCDD's conference: http://www.thataway.org/events/?page_id=6; Relevance of trans-generational relationship: http://www.thataway.org/events/?p=178; On the Verge program: www.onthemovebayarea.org. The Youth Dialogue Project would not be complete, or even perhaps understood, without the amazing gift Mariah Howard's Visual Recording brings to our work. Mariah is one of our young elders on the YDP inter-generational team going to the NCDD conference in October. For this trans-generational project, Mariah is mentoring her generational peers and visually recording our process simultaneously! Enjoy her blog as she draws and writes about our project and experience so far: http://arterior-motives.blogspot.com. For additional information please contact debgoldblatt@gmail.com.
Facing Violence: Justice, Religion & Conflict Resolution - World Forum 2007
San Francisco and Oakland Youth Study Abroad in Beijing World Forum 2007 participants Silena Layne and LeeAnn Mallorie are teaming up to send eight youth from underprivileged Bay Area communities to Beijing, China for language study, educational travel and cultural immersion. If you have any resources (financial, informational, training, etc.) to offer the project, or would like to be kept in the loop about its progress, please contact LeeAnn at lmallorie@gmail.com or Silena at silena@opportunityimpact.org. To read more about this exciting project, please click here.
Partner News and Future Partner Events
Facing History and Ourselves is presenting a Community Conversation entitled The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat is So Small featuring Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund on Sunday, October 26, 2008 at the Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center. The free presentation will examine ways to create a safer world for all children. To RSVP or for additional information contact www.facinghistory.org or call 510-786-2500 x 227. Islamic Network Group will host its annual dinner on October 5, 2008 in Santa Clara. Telling Our Stories, Transforming the World will feature speaker Dr. John Esposito, Professor of Religion, International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, and comedian Maz Jobrani. For information contact www.ing.org or call 408-296-7312. Professional BusinessWomen of California will hold its 5th Annual Sacramento Conference entitled Across the Generations on November 13, 2008. The conference will have 21 seminars, 50 speakers and over 100 exhibitors. For more information, visit www.PBWC.org or email pbwcreg@e2k.com. The Bali Institute for Global Renewal has several upcoming workshops: Working from the Heart: The Feminine Face of Activism; Finding Yourself, Finding Your Vision: Navigation for LifePath; and Facilitative Leadership for a Global World. Visit www.baliinstitute.org or call 415-331-7552.