Dignity Letter — Spring 2025 | |
Dear Linda,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
“Honoring dignity is love in action."
— Evelin Lindner, MD, Ph.Ds.
In this edition of the Dignity Letter, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) invites you to join us in strengthening community connections during these dark times. Together in solidarity, we can keep moving toward a world where love — not love of power — becomes the driving force for justice, peace, and dignity.
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Contents
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Our 2025 Dignity Conference: Pakistan in October — You're Warmly Invited!
- Welcome to Our Annual Dignity Workshop in December
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Please Save These Dates: 44th Dignity Conference, Germany, August 2026
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A Daily Dose of Dignity: News From Our Community!
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World Dignity University Initiative: Resources for Research and Action
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DigniFunding: Thanks to All of Our Sharegivers
| | Please note: Rather than sending numerous Dignity Letters throughout the year, HumanDHS sends fewer, longer letters. Since we are a global community, if you have trouble accessing links on our website, please let us know. We warmly welcome your feedback . | | 2025 Dignity Conference: You're Warmly Invited! | |
42nd Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
"International Conference on Mental Health,
Human Dignity, and Climate Change: Mitigating Global Psychological Risk"
in Lahore, Pakistan, and online
Monday – Tuesday, 27th – 28th October 2025: Dignilogues
Wednesday – Thursday, 29th – 30th October 2025: Academic Dignity Conference
This International Conference on Human Dignity, Climate Change, and Mental Health will be organized collaboratively by the Department of Psychology at the University of Central Punjab (UCP) in Lahore, Pakistan, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (Human DHS), and The World Dignity University (WDU) initiative.
This conference aims to foster a global dialogue on human dignity, humiliation, and the intersection of these themes with pressing global challenges, such as mental health and climate change. The conference will be an opportunity to reflect on the global mission of advancing human dignity and preventing cycles of humiliation that might cause psychopathology at the global level, particularly in regions like South Asia that are experiencing social, environmental, and mental health-related risks for individuals and communities.
This conference is designed to have an enduring impact, contributing significantly to understanding, preventing, and managing global vulnerabilities.
Please visit the conference webpage regularly for the latest information
as plans for this gathering unfolds.
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Registration is Free
Registration Closes 22nd October 2025
Whether you join us in person (seating is limited), online, or are with us in spirit, your kind support is invaluable!
We look forward to welcoming you!
Please know that you are invited to spend the entire conference with us, so that true dignity-family-building can emerge!
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| | | Welcome to Our Annual Dignity Workshop! | |
Welcome to Our 2025 Workshop!
Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, “The Courage to Protect and Nurture Dignity in Times of Humiliation.”
This annual gathering is dedicated to fostering global dialogue to end cycles of humiliation while strengthening the dignity of all people.
Through interactive sessions, we will explore strategies to transform cycles of humiliation into opportunities for reconciliation and healing, contributing to a culture of dignity in both personal and global contexts.
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Our Hybrid Workshop
Zoom Participants: Doors open at 10:45 am (New York time)
In-Person Participants: Doors open 9:00 am (New York time)
Columbia University, Teachers College,
Gottesman Libraries, 306 Russell Hall
525 West 120th Street, New York City, NY 10027
(Please remember to bring your workshop confirmation and ID)
The workshop begins 11:00 am and concludes at 4:00 pm (New York time)
Registration in advance is required (please see below).
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This special event emphasizes collaborative learning and community building. We strongly encourage participants to join us for the entire time. By nurturing a “global family of dignity,” the workshop aims to inspire participants to become lifelong advocates for peace through dignity.
Organized by the HumanDHS network, partnering with the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (MD-ICCCR), this workshop brings together scholars, practitioners, and advocates from diverse fields to address the root causes of humiliation and its role in perpetuating violence.
We invite you to visit our workshop website for details about the location and the latest updates.
We look forward to welcoming you!
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Registration is Free
Registration Closes December 1, 2025
Whether you join us in person (seating is limited), online, or you are with us in spirit, your kind support is invaluable!
We look forward to welcoming you!
We are eager to have many conversations that will contribute to our continuing journey toward a more dignified world.
| | | Save These Dates: Hamburg, Germany, in 2026 | |
44th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
"Maintaining Human Dignity in the Midst of Crises"
Hamburg, Germany, and online
26th August 2026: Public Event
27th – 29th August 2026: Dignity Workshop
(including Two Global Village Sessions and excursions to interesting places in Hamburg)
This Dignity Conference in Hamburg, Germany, will be linked to the annual summer school of the trans-disciplinary "Peace Education/Peacebuilding" initiative at the University of Hamburg. Both teachers and students from the university will partake in the conference.
In the summer semester 2026 immediately preceding the conference, students of the "Peace Education/Peacebuilding" curriculum will develop stories or other arts-based activities for (and with) children and young people that address a constructive overcoming of humiliating experiences in childhood and adolescence. These students will share their results with other participants of the conference in the usual Open Space format.
Please visit the conference webpage regularly for the latest information
as plans for this event are unfolding.
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Registration is Free
Registration Closes:
Friday, 23rd October 2025
Whether you join us in person (seating is limited), online, or you are with us in spirit, your kind support is invaluable!
We look forward to welcoming you!
Please know that you are invited to spend the entire conference with us, so that true dignity-family-building can emerge!
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A Daily Dose of Dignity: News From Our Community!
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A Call to Action:
Upholding Human Dignity in a Changing World
His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal
"In an era of rapid technological, social, and geopolitical change, the fundamental principle of human dignity has never been more vital."
"As the world confronts new challenges, from widening inequality to the erosion of democratic norms, compromised implementation of international law, the inherent worth and rights of every individual must remain at the forefront." (Modern Diplomacy, February 11, 2025).
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan is a pluralist and staunch campaigner for the rights of all to live in peace and dignity. HRH has established the Arab Thought Forum, the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, the Higher Council for Science and Technology, The Royal Scientific Society, the West Asia North Africa Institute (WANA), and the Regional Security Centre in Jordan. Please read more...
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New Article:
Globalization as We Know It Is Dead:
What Next?
By Kamran Mofid
Kamran Mofid's recent article calls for urgent change: "Economics once again must find its heart, soul, and spirit. Moreover, it should also reconnect itself with its original source, rooted in ethics and morality."
"Today’s huge controversy which surrounds much of the economic activity and the business world is because they do not adequately and appropriately address the needs of the global collective and the powerless, marginalized, and excluded. This, surely, in the interest of all, has to change...a revolution in values is needed, which demands that economics and business must embrace both material and spiritual values (Globalization for the Common Good Initiative, April 9, 2025). Please read more...
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Respecting Human Dignity Through Law
David Yamada
David Yamada contributed to The University of Illinois Chicago School of Law Symposium on Therapeutic Jurisprudence, hosted by the editors of the UIC Law Review. He shared his new law review article, "Designing Trauma-Informed Legislation: Drafting the Workplace Bullying Accountability Act."
The symposium offered the opportunity to watch presentations by legal scholars contributing to a special issue of the journal. All articles are gathered in the published symposium issue of the journal, which may be freely accessed here.
Please read more on David's blog here...
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To access the YouTube recordings of the symposium presentations, go here for the presentations of “lead” article authors (i.e., pieces written by academics and attorneys), and go here for presentations of articles authored by student members of the UIC Law Review. | | | |
The Humiliation Is the Point
Essay by Alex Hobson
This essay by Alex Hobson discusses the contentious meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where Zelenskyy’s attire was criticized and deemed insufficient for meeting with the current U.S. president (New Lines Magazine, March 7, 2025).
The encounter reflects a broader strategy of humiliation in international politics. An approach, termed “humiliation entrepreneurship” (a term coined by Evelin Lindner), involves leveraging victimhood narratives to justify dominance. As affirmed by more than two decades of study by the HumanDHS community, the use of humiliation as a political tool highlights an escalation in how power is exercised globally. Please read more...
Alex Hobson teaches history at Mississippi State University.
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Poetry for Peace Practitioners
From Kim Stafford
In the HumanDHS community, our collaborative endeavors are frequently characterized as a “labor of love.”
A poignant reflection of this spirit can be found in the work of writer and poet Kim Stafford, who encapsulates our dedication to fostering mutually dignifying connections while “serving a worthy cause.” Our community strives to embody an economy of love and dignity that deepens and enriches our collective efforts.
Most recently, Allison deFreese and Kim Stafford published a book with a vital message for the world, "A Proclamation for Peace." Working in collaboration with the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters, the book provides links to recorded audio and printed translations of this message in 50 different languages. Please read more here...
We are deeply grateful to Kim Stafford for donating copies of this book to our HumanDHS friends at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan, the UN Mandated University of Peace in Costa Rica, and the International Institute on Peace Education by way of its Education Director Janet Gerson.
Kim Stafford is Emeritus Professor at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. He writes, teaches, and travels to raise the human spirit through poetry.
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Honors for Our HumanDHS Global Ambassador
Evelin Lindner, MD, Ph.Ds
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On January 29th, we celebrated a remarkable milestone as Founding President Evelin Lindner was honored by the esteemed Chancellor of Renaissance University, Swapnil Kothari, with the Outstanding Contributions to Education and Community Development Award in Indore, India.
This recognition is not just a testament to Evelin's unwavering commitment to fostering dignity in education and community development, but also a reflection of the collective efforts of all those involved with HumanDHS!
| Evelin also had the honor of being welcomed into the wonderful Dignity Dialogue Home of Dr. Amita Neerav and Dr. Rajesh Dixit in Indore from January through February 2025. | |
On January 30th, Evelin Lindner was honored with a Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa (D.Litt. Hon.), from SAGE University in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, presented to her by Professor (Dr.) Ankur A. Kulkarni, Vice Chancellor.
A Doctor of Letters is a special doctoral degree typically awarded during a university's convocation ceremony to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to literature, arts, or culture.
This prestigious recognition is bestowed upon accomplished individuals who have made significant impacts in their respective fields.
Congratulations to HumanDHS Founding President Evelin Lindner!
| | | | We are always delighted to learn about dignity news, even when we can't include everything in this Dignity Letter. If you would like to share your dignity news — positive progress, courageous action, promising practices, new publications, and the like — we warmly invite you to send it to our attention: humandhs@humiliationstudies.org. | |
World Dignity University Initiative: Research & Action
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Work in Progress!
Dignity Resources Database
Thanks to the truly remarkable efforts of HumanDHS Senior Project Leader Becky Tabaczynski, the Dignity Resources Database now includes over 9000 entries!
This database documents references to books, chapters, articles, papers, presentations, or other resources authored, co-authored, or initiated by members of the HumanDHS/WDUi community. To see a preview of this project as it evolves, please click here.
We are committed to maintaining this database to support educators, scholars, researchers, and other collaborators on topics related to advancing dignity, ending cycles of humiliation, and working for peace in dignity.
If you have feedback about this project, we would love to hear from you.
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Please join us in expressing our deepest gratitude to Becky Tabaczynski
for her tireless research!
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We are also profoundly grateful to renowned peace linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos, the co-founder of ABA Global Education and the World Dignity University initiative. His visionary leadership has been instrumental in sparking this exciting new Dignity Resources Database project There are simply not enough words to adequately convey our heartfelt appreciation for his invaluable contributions toward promoting peace, education, and human dignity worldwide.
| | | | | DigniFunding: Thanks To All of Our Sharegivers! | |
We are deeply grateful to all who generously sustain HumanDHS through 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:
| | | | Wishing You a World of Dignity! | | | |
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
Jane Hilken, MA, Publication Advisor
Fatma Tufan, Senior Partner and Advisor
Rebecca Tabaczynski, Senior Project Leader
HumanDHS Board of Directors
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