Dignity Letter — September 2021
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The future of humanity
will depend on our humility
On our globalizing serenity
Our sustaining environment quality
Our implementing spirituality
Our committing to equality
Ensuring the right to healthcare
For people in need everywhere
Advocating nonviolence and nonkilling
as the dignifying way of living.
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Dear Friend,
In the face of the cascading crises around the world, we struggle to find the right words.
Our collaborative work challenges us to move beyond simplistic
analyses of complex events. Instead, we strive for a "deep ecology of
thought" that requires asking crucial questions that lead to dignifying
action during these dark times — as Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss taught us when we met for our first Dignity Conference in 2003.
Thank you for joining us in our
efforts to cultivate a world of dignity. We hope the news in this letter
adds to your courage to keep moving forward.
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Contents
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Welcome to Our 18th Annual Workshop in December — Join Us Online!
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Dignity Press Publications — New Books
- Our Global Dignity Conferences
- News to Get Us Through Troubling Times
- Dignifunding: Our Deep Gratitude
Please note: Rather than sending numerous Dignity Letters throughout the year, HumanDHS sends fewer, longer letters. We warmly welcome your feedback about this approach.
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Welcome to Our 18th Annual Workshop
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Welcome to Our Workshop!
Encouraged by our wonderful experience last year, we will be hosting our workshop on Zoom again this year! This allows us to connect with a diverse community of new and returning friends from around the world.
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Our Collaborative Approach
HumanDHS workshops are co-created
and organized to explore mutual concerns while strengthening our
relationships as advocates, practitioners, and scholars.
If you are new to our community, we warmly invite you to visit our workshop webpage
to see last year's agenda as an example of how we go about hosting this
gathering. We strive to cultivate an engaging experience that grows out
of the intellectual contributions and mutually dignifying collaboration
of all who join us.
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Registration: There
is no registration fee; if you wish to participate, please kindly email
your inquiry, name, contact information, and brief introduction to: workshops@humiliationstudies.org.
You will be sent an electronic Registration/Appreciative Introduction form at the end of September to confirm your participation. Space is limited. Thank you for letting us know of your interest early.
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Many Ways to Join In
This workshop is a highly participatory gathering, and there are many ways to participate, including:
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Supporters: Everyone is warmly invited to join us as a supporter throughout the workshop by sharing your presence and active listening. This is the most important way to participate. Your presence is a present to all of us!
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Careholders: We welcome all who
would like to be part of our Careholder Team to help with logistics,
including welcoming participants, overseeing our electronic connection,
photography, reading chat messages, and more. We warmly welcome
returning friends to help with these vital leadership roles that make
this workshop possible.
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Pre-Planned Dignilogue Contributors: Again
this year, we are organizing Pre-Planned Dignilogues that will act as
portals to thoughtful conversations about crucial topics of concern.
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Connection and Reflection Groups:
We welcome everyone to participate in small groups throughout the
workshop to help deepen the dialogue in response to the Dignilogue
topics.
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Important Note: As all of our
returning friends know, we never have enough time to say all that needs
to be said or do all that needs to be done in support of dignity in the
world. Rather than a one-time event, we invite everyone to think of our
gatherings as opportunities to engage in lifelong conversations.
Ideally, we encourage all participants to find ways to build enduring
relationships and continue collaborating long after the workshop.
If you have an interest in contributing in one of these special ways, thank you for letting us know and send us your request to register.
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Moments of Music, Movement, Poetry, and Creativity
Every year we look forward to including gifts of creativity during this event.
If you would like to share your talent, we would love to hear from you.
We especially encourage contributions of prerecorded music, readings,
or activities (2 – 3 minutes) that we can share on Zoom as the workshop
unfolds.
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Co-Creativity/Deepening the Dialogue Bonus Sessions
If you have your own Zoom account and would like to organize and
lead an afternoon "Co-Creativity/Deepening the Dialogue Group" on a
topic of your interest, we warmly welcome your proposal. These groups
will convene immediately following the workshop schedule on Thursday and
Friday at 3:45 – 4:30 PM (New York time). Please send us your proposal for a shared activity or a hosted conversation.
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Welcome to Our Workshop Everyone!
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Dignity Press Publications — New
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Dignity Press books
explore the dynamics of human dignity and humiliation from diverse
standpoints and global perspectives. Contributing authors are from all
over the world. In addition to these books below, we invite you to visit
dignitypress.org for a complete list of publications.
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Coming in November!
Economic Theory and
Community Development:
Why Putting Community First
Is Essential to Our Survival
Foreword by Evelin Lindner
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In their new book, Howard Richards
and his co-authors critique not just neoliberal economic theory but the
fundamental separation among humans that all economic theories
presuppose. Excessive reliance on economic assumptions and practices has
created a world bent on self-destruction while serving the true
interests of no one.
This book celebrates community-based approaches now blossoming on
all continents. Unbounded organizing, together with moral and ethical
realism, offers a field-tested philosophy and methodology to provide
dignity for all while nurturing the biosphere. Available in early November.
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New Book!
DenkZettel
[A Tag to Reflect Upon]
Petrus Ceelen,
author of several Dignity Press books, was a pastor for prison
inmates, homeless people, substance addicts, and others. He stood with
them during illness and despair. At the end of their lives, he insured
that they received dignifying funeral services, often being the sole
witness.
The title of this book alludes to the toe tag that identifies a
corpse when life has ended. Written in German, this book offers poignant
short stories and poems about people on the fringes of society.
Proceeds from this book go to projects helping homeless people and other
vulnerable communities. To order or read more...
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Coming Soon!
From Humiliation to Dignity:
For a Future of Global Solidarity
The central question of Evelin Lindner's newest book is: How must we, humankind, arrange our affairs on this planet so that dignified life will be possible in the long term?
This book is a "must read" for all who care about the survival of all
life on this planet. We invite you to read a downloadable synopsis here.
Evelin is looking forward to resuming her life of global research
and community building whenever the pandemic subsides and travel safety
increases. If you would like to host Evelin in your " Dignity Dialogue Home," she would love to hear from you! She appreciates having extended opportunities to connect and collaborate with HumanDHS friends in regions all over the world.
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Recent Books for Strengthening Courage in Troubling Times
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News to Get Us Through Troubling Times
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Do you have dignity news? We
love sharing news that grows out of the global efforts of our HumanDHS
community! If you would like to share your dignity news — positive
progress, courageous action, promising practices, and alike — you are
warmly invited to send it to our attention: humandhs@humiliationstudies.org.
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Promising Practice
Dignity Court:
Replacing Punishment with Compassion
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We are deeply thankful to longtime Global Advisory Board Member Michael Perlin for introducing HumanDHS to Ginger Lerner-Wren,
County Court Judge. Judge Lerner-Wren pioneered America’s First
Problem-Solving Mental Health Court, in which human dignity is the
centerpiece of the Court. It is dedicated to the decriminalization and
jail diversion of persons arrested with mental illness.
Please read Meaghan Winter's article in the Psychotherapy Networker describing Judge Lerner-Wren's groundbreaking efforts!
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New Book
Cotidiano e pandemia no Brasil:
emoções e sociabilidades
[Daily Life and the Pandemic in Brazil:
Emotions and Sociabilities – Electronic Book]
Mauro Guilherme Pinheiro Koury’s
new book reflects on the relationship between urban life, forms of
sociability, and emotions. It focuses on the lived experience in Brazil
with the Covid-19 pandemic spreading for almost two years and as it
continues to spread throughout the world.
The book explores the feelings of personal and family
disintegration and the powerlessness of the average Brazilian during
social isolation, feelings that motivate expressions of fragility in
relation to uncertainty in the present and in the future. Written in
Portuguese, you may download this book for free here.
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New Article
“Some Mother's Child Has Gone Astray”: Neuroscientific Approaches to a Therapeutic Jurisprudence Model of Juvenile Sentencing
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Congratulations to Michael Perlin and Alison Lynch on the publication of their article in Family Court Review, "Special
Issue: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Family Law" (Vol. 59, Issue 3,
July 1, 2021). The article discusses therapeutic jurisprudence as a
framework for advocating for juvenile clients to maximize and preserve
their psychological well-being and to mitigate trauma.
The authors offer important recommendations for how experts can
work with attorneys to make the most comprehensive, scientifically
persuasive case in support of their juvenile clients. For more
information, please visit Wiley Online Library.
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New Book
डॉ धर्मवीर भारती के साहित्य का समग्र अनुशीलन
[A Holistic Study of Dr. Dharamvir Bharati's Literature]
Dr. Rajesh Dixit's
new book offers a portrait of Dr. Dharamvir Bharati (1926–1997), a
well-known novelist, poet, and story writer in Hindi literature. He was
the editor of the famous Hindi magazine Dharmyug for 27 years until 1987.
Dr. Bharati translated poems of many poets from all around the
world and wrote more than 20 books, among them the very popular novel Gunahon ka Devta and a poetic drama Andha Yug. Written in Hindi, please read more here.
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Coming Soon
Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People
How Caregivers Can Meet the Challenge of
Alzheimer's Disease
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Stephen Post
offers new perspectives on the worth and dignity of people with
Alzheimer's and related disorders despite the negative influence of
"hypercognitive" values that place an ethically unacceptable emphasis on
human dignity as based on linear rationality and strength of memory.
At a time when medical advances to cure these conditions are still
out of reach, Stephen Post argues that focusing discussion and resources
on the relational dignity of these individuals and the respite needs of
their caregivers is vital. Available in May 2022, but you can preorder a
copy from Amazon.
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Welcome to Our Global Dignity Conferences!
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Global Dignity Conferences:
Continuing Our Connections
and Collaborations!
Due to the coronavirus, we are continuously adapting the schedule
of our upcoming Dignity Conferences. We are deeply thankful to all of
the hosts for their ongoing support and generous flexibility!
You are warmly invited to any or all of these conferences. Thank you for visiting our conference webpage regularly to follow the latest plans as they unfold.
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A Warm Welcome to Our Upcoming Dignity Conferences!
Please click on the links and pictures below to see the latest information on each of these gatherings.
If you would like to participate, there is no registration fee. Please send us a message introducing yourself. Please include your contact information and tell us more about your interest.
(Images courtesy of Wikipedia)
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Dignifunding: Our Deep Gratitude!
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We are grateful to all who sustain HumanDHS with action gifts and economic support!
HumanDHS
does not have a paid staff, administrative assistance, or IT services.
We are an "extreme, lean, green, but not mean" community, essentially a
"do-it-together-with-dignity" community. We do not charge registration
fees for events, yet we appreciate thoughtful contributions (according
to one's ability).
If you would like to contribute, we warmly welcome your kind support:
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Wishing You a World of Dignity Through Solidarity!
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Thank you for staying connected during difficult times!
Uli Spalthoff, PhD, Director of Project Development and Systems Administration
Jane Hilken, MA, Publication Advisor
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Dear Friend, you
are kindly receiving this email because you have expressed interest in
the collaborative efforts of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
community. Thank you for adding humandhs@humiliationstudies.org
to your address book so these messages will be sure to land in your
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