I danced in Trafalgar Square the day Nelson Mandela was released from Robbens Island. After twenty seven years in prison, much of that time in solitary confinement, Nelson Mandela was released. The whole world rejoiced, and watched. In prison, Mandela was a symbol of resistance to tyranny. His life was a statement of willingness to sacrifice everything, […]
Read MoreThe Madiba Lives, by Barbara Love
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by Steph • December 11th, 2013
Creatives versus Doomers: WE Are the Planet
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by Steph • October 13th, 2013
Neal Stephenson has said that he is interested in “the attention span of our society” and comments that we have “350 years of perspective” on the scientific process. In the face of climate disruption, can Cultural Creatives prove the Doomers and Deniers wrong? This week, a symposium at UMass Amherst aims to “Harvest Hope.”
Read MoreSlow Learning vs Fast Living
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by Steph • July 8th, 2013
I can only offer what I know, what I have learned, slowly and at the cost of many dear relationships. Diversity matters. The differences among us are more important than the similarities, because they enable creativity. Here we are, thrown into consciousness and connection. What shall we make of this precious chance?
Read MoreThe ANSWER . . . is DIRT (the question is irrelevant)
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by Steph • July 6th, 2013
One of the challenges of inspiring people to care about transforming land to better grow food is making the lifestyle appealing. So far, no go! The aesthetic is monotone: white people playing folk music. This is seriously problematic! Forging alliances is not easy work, but it is meaningful labor.
Read MoreSpontaneous Action Research: Interrogating Intersectionality
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by mjd • July 2nd, 2013
The challenge of making the invisible visible, of bringing those aspects of relationships and identities that have been silenced into awareness and open conversation, was a common problem across seven international research projects explored at a workshop on “intersectionality” hosted by the Center for Gender in Organizations at the Simmons College School of Management.
Read MoreGrowing Pains: Emergency Management Interpreting
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by Steph • June 9th, 2013
One of the legacies of persistent discrimination is pent-up emotion. Lack of services and humane consideration adds up and seeks outlets. Get a group of sign language interpreters and Deaf people together to work on solutions to bad or absent communication and inevitably a flood of frustration will arise. This energy was very effectively re-directed toward […]
Read MoreListening for Action and Engagement
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by Steph • May 30th, 2013
The capacity of people with disabilities (or, as FEMA says, “functional needs”) to contribute to emergency response and emergency recovery begins with listening. Participants in a focus group outline a sequence of creative interaction stemming from high quality and careful listening.
Read MoreBeing Meaningful: Everyday Practices of Resiliency
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by Steph • May 23rd, 2013
“We need to practice how we’ll play.”
Practicing how we’ll play means identifying gaps and weaknesses and moving to fill them. Washington DC Fire Chief John Sollers’ message is “We need to practice how we’ll play.” His message is aimed at fellow firefighters and professional first responders who have not yet been in a situation of needing to communicate with and understand a Deaf person who uses American Sign Language. Practicing how we’ll play means learning how to work with ASL interpreters to recognize differences in meaning and co-construct mutual understanding without erasing those differences or artificially forcing a meaning that is not actually understood. Learning how to communicate with the involvement of a third party is a skill that transfers to all kinds of communication situations, including cross-discipline communication in English as well as intercultural communication with non-English speakers of all kinds.
Read MoreSign Language Interpreting and Emergency Management
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by Steph • November 2nd, 2012
Language for the Eyes It has only taken decades of advocacy and complaints to the FCC, FEMA, and State governments for public officials to respond to Deaf Americans who rely on sign language for communication. The outburst of public response to professional simultaneous interpretation of a signed language during Hurricane Sandy reveals an astonishing range of […]
Read MoreEmpathy: The Ultimate Design + Systems Challenge
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by Cameron D. Norman • July 1st, 2012
Empathy is a central feature of good human-centred design, yet is often practiced narrowly. Visualization with systems thinking and mindfulness are three additional features that can transform empathy from a simple tool to a vehicle for transformation by connecting us less to absolute problems and more to relative ones. In today’s Globe and Mail newspaper […]
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