Past Coffee Talk Topics

Coffee Talk - Topic for February: Justice
​Thursday February 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th @ 11:00AM-12:00PM 
This month is Black History Month, celebrating the resilience and struggle of Black communities in America. In recognition of this long legacy and ongoing work, we will spend the month discussing the many facets of the topic of justice - is it an interest? An outcome? A process? A movement? Who receives justice and who dispenses it? What does justice look like? How do we know when justice is being done? What does justice mean in the context of "social justice" or "environmental justice?" Throughout the month we will be gathering recommended reading or watching that will add optional depth to our conversations. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts and resources! 

Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month: 
ACLU portal for Racial Justice 
Justice - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
what is and isn't transformative justice by adrienne maree brown
The Black Panther Party and Food Justice
"Justice" by Langston Hughes: 
That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.   
     
Additional Topics Mentioned in Discussion or Shared by Volunteers: 
The Controversy on "Brown Bag" Lunches - NBC News
Forum Discussion on the Acceptability of the Term "Oriental" 

Coffee Talk - Topic for March: Accessibility
What is accessibility? How many different kinds of accessibility can you think of? Accessibility is often discussed in terms of disability justice (we missed disability awareness month in Jan!) but barriers to access can include language, class, race, gender, and many other factors.  Who gets a seat at the table and why? What would need to change for more and different people to access mediation? What are the needs and values that support a desire for access? What would universal accessibility look like? Is that even possible? What happens when accessibility needs are in conflict? When there is no way to meet everyone's needs? 

Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month: 
Introduction to Accessibility and Universal Design in Learning 
What is Access to Justice? 
Understanding Competing Access Needs 
Who Gets a Seat at the Table? A Framework for Understanding the Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Peace Negotiations

Other things that came up in our conversation: 
Radiolab episode on gender and hormones in sports
Mini documentary: Kai Shappley; a Transgender Girl Growing up in Texas
Study on Barriers to Healthcare for Transgender People
Understanding Non-Binary People; an introduction 

April: Responses to Harm: Punishment, Justice, Vengeance and Forgiveness
When talking about conflict resolution there is a complex interplay of this handful of related topics. This month we are discussing responses to harm and the fine lines between justice, punishment and vengeance, and then the much-lauded forgiveness. Clients and mediators alike bring their own preconceptions and unexamined expectations about these topics to the mediation table. How do we delineate the differences? How does that inform our work as mediators and as citizens?

Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month:
Ted Talk: The Real Risk of Forgiveness
Ted Talk: Forget Forgiveness and Embrace Hate
Crime and Too Much Punishment
Just Punishment? Offenders' views on the meaning and severity of punishment
Prison as Punishment: A Behavior-Analytic Evaluation of Incarceration
When Forgiveness Seems Elusive
Other things that came up in our conversation: 
Life After Hate
​
May: Needs and Values
Thursday May 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th @ 11:00AM-12:00PM 
This month begins with May Day, which is International Workers' Day, commemorating the struggles and successes of the labor movement improving both the material lives and the dignified treatment of workers everywhere. We are talking about what we need, what we value, and what interests drive our hopes, fears, and behaviors. Our needs include the tangible and the intangible.
Who gets their needs met? How do dynamics of class, race, gender and other identities impact whose needs are valued and satisfied? What does it mean to have "enough?" 

Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month:
'Bread and Roses' by James Oppenheim, 1911, sung by Joan Baez
The Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow's Hierarchy 
List of Needs and Values 
Mythology of the Hungry Ghost
Introduction to Interest Based Mediation


June: Recognition and Acknowledgement
Thursday June 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th @ 11:00AM-12:00PM 
June is Pride Month, which commemorates the 1969 riot at Stonewall Inn in New York and the ongoing struggle by the queer community to gain acceptance and civil rights. It is a movement that addresses concepts like queer visibility, "the closet", coming out, and other aspects that involve recognition and acknowledgement. Individuals of all walks of life come to the mediation table with these same needs. This month we will be discussing the mediator's role in "seeing" the parties at the table, what it means to hear stories that usually go unheard, and in what ways mediation can encourage people to share their truth that might otherwise be silent. What aspects of ourselves do we want seen and heard? When is it safer or more appropriate to stay hidden? How as mediators do we recognize and welcome aspects of clients that are unfamiliar to us? 

Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month:
TED Talk: The Dangers of a Single Story
Why Celebrating Pride is Important...and Still Not Enough
Short quote: "The mortifying ordeal of being known"
TED Talk: Telling Your Stories Can Set You Free
The Troubling Resilience of the Queer Closet
Other things that came up in our conversation: 
Photo from 1990 Pride Parade (relevant to reclaiming slurs) 

August Coffee Talk: Transformation
When we teach about different kinds of mediation, we talk about evaluative, facilitative, and transformative mediation. Transformation is also sometimes included on lists of needs and values. What is transformation? In what ways is it valuable? What makes it possible or prevents it? As we examine the topic of transformation as it relates to mediation, it allows us the opportunity to ask ourselves "what is within our scope of mediation and what is not" - and to examine any exceptions that might exist. 
​
Optional reading to stimulate discussion for the month:
About Transformative Mediation from the Center for Conflict Resolution of Kansas City 
An in-depth dive on transformative mediation 
Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation 
​Other ​Things We Discussed: 
Book: "The Universe Has Your Back – Transform Fear to Faith" By Gabrielle Bernstein 
Podcast: "Highest Self; episode Sacred Feminine Rage with Maya Luna" 

August: Trauma
Even before the global pandemic, here at the DRC we were talking and learning about the impacts of traumatic events and chronic stress on the psyche and particularly on child development. We are aware that a majority of work takes place inside a common traumatic event in families - divorce. Over the last two and a half years that learning has become increasingly pertinent to all of us, no matter what our individual experiences are, as challenges in society and the world around us continue to arise and grow more acute. This month we will be not only sharing resources and knowledge about trauma but supporting one another in, so we can continue to do our essential work as mediators. 

What is Trauma Informed Mediation? 
Ted Talk on Trauma Informed Mediation by Dawn K
What are ACES?
PBS: Breaking the Cycle of Childhood Trauma in Rural Montana
Poem: Post Traumatic Rainstorm by Lisa Gill
CDC's Guidelines for Trauma Informed Care 

September: Managing Emotions
We move from our discussions on trauma last month to explore more deeply the multitude of emotions that come to the table in mediation. We talk about the paradox of emotion - that emotion is welcome, even necessary at the mediation table, and yet too much can get in the way of resolving a dispute. How do we manage emotion in ourselves and others to a degree that helps people be available for dialogue, without shutting down healthy and constructive emotional expression? Who decides what is healthy and constructive anyway? 
Optional readings to stimulate discussion for the month: 
Toolkit for Adults Managing Emotions
Managing Emotions in Mediation (a series of articles - at the bottom of the page you can click to the right for the next article) 
The Feelings Whale (an alternative to the feelings wheel, made by our very own Robyn) 
Emotional Intelligence from a Teenage Perspective - Ted Talk
Managing Emotions for Law Enforcement Officers 
​Other things that came up in our discussion: 
​The Awareness Triangle (Riskin and Wold) 
Megan Devine on Grief
Chinese Healing Arts Olympia