Author Archives: conversationsnewyorkblog

Beyond Resilience and PTSD: Flexibility and Heterogeneity Following Potential Trauma – Dec 8

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Beyond Resilience and PTSD: 

Flexibility and Heterogeneity Following Potential Trauma

Presenter: Prof. George A. Bonanno, Ph.D.

Columbia University

Monday, Dec. 8, 7-9  pm
Teachers College, 525 West 120th St.,Room 305, Russell Hall
RSVP to by REPLY to this e-mail (grossassoc@aol.com) and http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/218998484/

Please bring photo ID for entry to building.

 

Most of us  are exposed to multiple potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during the course of our lives.  Such events are more common than is usually assumed.

Until recently, responses to such events have been understood using either psychopathological categories, such as PTSD, or measures of central tendency (e.g., average differences).

I demonstrate that although both approaches have been useful, neither approach captures the true heterogeneity of responses to aversive events. Recent advances in latent trajectory modeling following such events have identified prototypical trajectories of outcome, including chronic dysfunction and a resilient trajectory of stable health.

In this talk, I will describe studies from our research program that examine individual differences in response to demanding life events, including terrorist disaster, military combat, mass shooting, spinal cord injury, bio-epidemic, and cancer surgery. I will also describe our research on predictors of the resilience trajectory and place special emphasis on our recent research on flexibility in coping and emotion regulation as a resilience-promoting factor.

George A. Bonanno, Ph.D. is a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Professor Bonanno’s interests center on the question of how human beings cope with loss, trauma and other forms of extreme adversity, with an emphasis on resilience and the salutary role of flexible emotion regulatory processes. Professor Bonanno’s empirical and theoretical work has focused on defining and documenting resilience in the face of loss or potential traumatic events, including disaster, loss, terrorist attack, bio-epidemic, traumatic injury, and life-threatening injuries medical events, and on identifying the range of psychological and contextual variables that predict both psychopathological and resilient outcomes. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, and featured in various print, television, and radio media. He recently authored The Other Side of Sadness (Basic Books).

Websites:  Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab: http://www.tc.edu/LTElab/

The PURL II study: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/PURLII/

 

Dinner: To augment the fellowship among members, you are warmly invited to join other members for dinner at Faculty House at 5:30 PM.  (After dinner we will walk to Teachers College, 10 minutes away).   Dinner at Faculty House, a varied and ample buffet (including wine), is $25, which must be paid for by check at the beginning of the meal.  If you intend to join us for dinner you must let us know via email a week in advance (by Monday, December  1.  RSVP to either Ron Gross (grossassoc@aolcom) or Michael Schulman (mdschlmn41@yahoo.com).


Directions to Faculty House:  Faculty House is located on Columbia University’s East Campus on Morningside Drive and 117th Street.  Enter Wien Courtyard through the gates on the north side of 116 Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. Walk toward the north end of the courtyard, then turn right toward Morningside Drive.  Faculty House will be the last building on the right.

 

The Seminars: This seminar is jointly sponsored by the Columbia University Seminars on Innovation in Education and Ethics, Moral Education, and Society.

The Seminar on Innovation in Education is chaired by Ronald Gross, who also conducts the Socratic Conversations at the Gottesman Libraries. Founded in 1970, the Seminar explores the process of learning in individuals, organizations, and society throughout the lifespan and via major institutions.

The Seminar on Ethics, Moral Education and Society, chaired by Michael Schulman,  brings together scholars from psychology, philosophy, sociology, political theory, education, religion and other disciplines to explore issues in ethics, moral education, moral development, moral motivation, moral decision making and related topics.

 

Future meetings for the 2014-2015 academic year: Jan. 26, Mar. 2, Apr. 13, May 4.

 

Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities.  University Seminar participants with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about physical access may contact the Office of Disability Services at 212-854-2388 or disability@columbia.edu.  Disability accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, are available on request.  Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance.  On campus, seminar participants with disabilities should alert a Public Safety Officer that they need assistance accessing campus.

___________________________________________

Michael Schulman, chair, Ethics, Moral Education, and Society, mdschlmn41@yahoo.com

Ron Gross, co-chair, Innovation in Education, grossassoc@aol.com

Six Ways to Enhance Your Thanksgiving with Great Conversation!

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As you look forward to bringing your family and friends together for the holidays, consider serving up some delectable conversation along with the victuals! Here are a half-dozen plus ways you can spice up your celebrations by adding a dash of provocative, entertaining, and illuminating talk.
What Do You Most Relish in Conversation?:
To start with, remind yourself of what you most relish in conversation. Recollect the most interesting conversation you had in the last week. (If you can’t think of one, get some new friends–fast!)
Ask yourself what made this conversation so enjoyable or valuable. When I ask this question, people usually say:
  • Sincerity/Caring
  • Wit or humor
  • Relevance
  • Charm
  • Originality
  • Clarity
  • Informativeness
Now think: which of the folks you’ll be having over are strong on one or another of these, and how can you give them a chance to express it? Who else might you invite who would bring delightful strengths to the conversation?
Holiday Thoughts:
Serve up some stimulating thoughts about the holidays themselves, easily available for a 30-minute Google search.
Try a Conversation Café:
Want to invite a few of your more thoughtful guests to go deeper? Try a “Conversation Café”, a simple but powerful way to enrich your sharing by passing around a “talking stick” (can be any object), which gives the person holding it the floor to express themselves fully on the topic of discussion. For the easy how-to, visit the Conversation Café.
Turn Your Party Into a Fascinating Salon:
Tap the riches in your circle by specifically asking two or three of your guests to tell the group about something exciting and interesting that they are passionate about: a civic project, a recent unusual journey, a newsworthy aspect of their profession.
Ask them in advance to be prepared to talk about it for 6 minutes, then hear others’ responses and questions. People need to be given permission to take the floor like this, but if they have something of real interest to talk about, others will welcome it. It turns your party into a fascinating Salon.
Really Listen to Your Guests:
Really listen to what your guests are saying when they touch on a subject of strong interest to them and to you, and make a point of asking for more. “Fred, that’s really interesting to me. Could you tell us more about how you learned that…how it works in practice…why you think it’s important…”
Avoid the “Organ Recital”:
Be on the qui vive to intervene when the talk gets turgid. Thoreau said, “We descend to meet.” Often there’s a tendency for people to head for the least common denominator in an effort not to seem pretentious. Nobody wants to be the one to offer a really stimulating, provocative, or informed thought. Some people even get mired in reciting their mutual aches and pains.  I call it the “organ recital.”
Consider it your responsibility as the host to move in at these points with a conversational pick-me-up. Your guests will bless you for it!
The Most Important Part of a Meal:
Conversation is your most readily-available, pervasive, and useful way to stimulate your mind and continue learning and growing. I was interviewed last week by a local talk-show host about how the right foods, exercise, etc. can keep our brains sharp. “What’s the most important part of a meal, for your mind?” the host asked.
My answer, “The conversation!”
Make that true at your table, too, and you’ll add a dimension to your holiday celebrations this year.

 

How Wise Are You? – Nov 20

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How Wise Are You?
Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross
Thursday, November 20, 4-5:15 pm,
Celebrating World Philosophy Day (UNESCO)Teachers College,Columbia University
525 West 120th St., Seminar Room 305, Russell Hall
There will be refreshments and a display of books on Wisdom.
Please bring photo ID for entry to the building.

Each year on the third Thursday in November, UNESCO invites friends of philosophy throughout the world to pursue “free, reasoned and informed thinking — thinking that works towards a better understanding of the world, promoting tolerance and peace.”

In response to that challenge, this session of the Socratic Conversations will examine ten behaviors associated with thinking and acting wisely, drawn from our world wisdom traditions and from scientific research on the subject.

Please come to share your ideas, experiences, and…wisdom! Among the topics we’ll discuss are:

  • How Do You Define Wisdom?
  • Who is Wise? How Can You Tell?
  • Is Wisdom Individual, or Collective?
  • Can Wisdom Be Taught? – or Learned?
  • Are you getting wiser?
  • If so, how? If not, why not?
  • Does Wisdom make us happier?
  • Does American culture value it?

This Conversation will be followed up by several sessions of the University Seminar which meets monthly, including sessions with Mark Brackett, of Yale University, on Emotional Intelligence (January 26th); George Bonanno, of Teachers College, Columbia University, on Resilience after Traumatic Loss ( December 8th) and Ursala Staudinger, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, on Wisdom(March).

 

Conversations New York Meeting Notice – Nov 20

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CONVERSATIONS NEW YORK 

www.conversationsnewyork.com 
You are warmly invited to the Monthly Meeting of CNY Members, Moderators, and Staff 
Thursday, Nov. 20, 5:30 – 7:00 pm 
(following the Socratic Conversation on “Wisdom” at 4:00 – 5:15 pm)
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th St., Gottesman Library, Room 104b
RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com and
http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/218168842/
Please bring photo ID required for entrance to building.

Please join us to celebrate CNY’s latest successes, including our upgraded website home-page (www.conversationsnewyork.com).

You’ll meet other CNY members, help plan for exciting new initiatives, receive new materials to enhance your conversations, and learn how to become a leader in this burgeoning movement!

“CNY is the most successful project I know of, to reclaim the peerless joys and infinite possibilities of life’s greatest, and most useful, pleasure!”, says Catherine Blyth, author of The Art of Conversation.

cny mtg

Conversations About Death: Halloween for Thinkers in New York

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For more information:
Ronald Gross
Conversations New York
grossassoc@aol.com
 

CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEATH:

HALLOWEEN FOR THINKERS IN NEW YORK

“Would It Kill You to Spend an Hour Talking About Death?”  

That’s the conversational challenge to New Yorkers in the period leading up to Halloween!

Conversations on the subject of Death will be hosted by organizations and institutions  including the New York Society for Ethical Culture, Trinity Church, and the Death Café of NY which has been featured on the front page of The New York Times.* 

In addition,  individuals and informal groups throughout the five boroughs are encouraged to organize their own conversations.   Easy-to-use instructions are available at www.deathcafe.com/how/ and www.TheConversationProject.org.

“These conversations will be celebrations of life,” says Ronald Gross, director of Conversations New York (CNY), the organization which is promoting the events.   “They are inspired by the classic dictum: ‘Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.’  (Bertolt Brecht)

Events will be listed on the CNY calendar at  http://www.conversationsnewyork.com starting October 5th.

Ninety percent of Americans think it’s important to have such conversations, according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine earlier this month, but fewer than 30% actually have them.  

Gross will conduct a final event  at Columbia University on Thursday, Oct. 30th, the day before Halloween, at 4 pm, in 305 Russell Hall – to reserve a place, RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com.

 

Conversations New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com) is  a community of volunteers which organized a Conversation Day celebration in Bryant Park on August 30th,  in conjunction with similar events in San Francisco, London,  and  Paris, and earlier this year held a symposium on The Power of Conversation at Columbia University.

* Dates/times/locations (please check ahead to confirm that there’s been no change in scheduling):

Sunday, October 12,  1:30 pm – 4:00 pm, New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64th St., Ceremonial Hall – 4th Floor, Moderator, Barbara Simpson.  A gathering in a relaxed and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea, and eat delicious cake. $5 suggested donation,   Also offered on Wednesday, October 22,  same time/place.  RSVP: bsmpson@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 15,  6 pm – 7:30 pm, Death Cafe meets  at Hunan Manor, 339 Lexington (bet. 39th and 40th Street, Hosted by Nancy Gershman and Audrey Pellicano.   

RSVP to http://www.meetup.com/Death-Cafe-New-York-City/events/146245342/ 

Price $11:00 per person includes endless pots of tea and small plates of savory foods, vegetable soup and fresh fruit.

Monday, Oct. 20, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Trinity Church, 74 Trinity Place, 2nd Floor Parlor, Facilitated by Jane Gignoux.  Join us for an informal gathering where you can safely share with others your questions, concerns and/or experiences regarding any of the many aspects of death—our birthright.   There’s no intention of leading participants towards any particular conclusion, product or course of action. All are welcome.   RSVP: anehg@lifedeathbeyond.com

Thursday, October 30, 4 pm – 5:15 pm,  Teachers College, 525 West 120th St., Russell Hall Room 305, with Ronald Gross.

Halloween for Thinkers: Let’s Talk Back to Death — by Affirming Life!

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Halloween for Thinkers: Let’s Talk Back to Death — by Affirming Life!

with Ron Gross

 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 4:00 SHARP – 5:15 pm

Teachers College, Columbia University

525 West 120th Street  (bet. Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. – 116th St. stop on the #1 train)

Room 305 Russell Hall

 

RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com — space is limited

and CNY Meetup http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/210285442/

 

Please bring photo ID required for entry to building, and plan to arrive by 3:45 to be courteous to fellow participants.

 

Halloween is a holiday that makes fun of Death. At this Conversation, we’ll be inspired by death-defying mentors from Socrates to Woody Allen.  Let’s use wit, thoughtfulness, and conviviality to deal with the Grim Reaper!   (Costumes are Welcome but optional.)

 

Please join us to share your  convictions, feelings, and hopes.  We’ll be in good company: thousands of  Americans are attending Death Cafes, Death Dinners, and Death Salons (featured on the front page of The New York Times). A Showtime documentary series, Time of Death, focuses on “real people face to face with their own mortality.” An acclaimed recent book, The Death Class: A True Story About Life, reports that there’s a 3-year waiting list to enroll in this offering at Kean University in New Jersey; a similar on-line course, by Professor Shelly Kagan, is available from Yale University.

 

We are learning to talk about death more freely, frankly — and life-affirmingly! Come join the movement to demystify this taboo subject. It can be a significant step in learning how to live.

 

Among the topics we’ll discuss are:

 

  • Does your awareness of your mortality affect the way you are living your life? Should it? How?

 

  • What is one of your favorite novels, movies, TV shows, plays, musical works, or other art that deals with Death?

 

  • What happens after death? Do you feel that you are still somehow in contact with anyone you have lost?

  • Do you feel that you’ve thought enough about mortality, to sort out your ideas and feelings in ways that are satisfying to you?

 

  • Do you have any strong convictions about what you would like to happen at the end of your life? Should we have The Pill?

 

CNY Members please note:  This conversation will be followed at 5:45 by the monthly meeting of the CNY Steering Committee, which you are warmly welcome to join!

 

“Double-Header”! Conversation + CNY Meeting – Sep 18

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“Double-Header”! Conversation + CNY Meeting, 9/18, 4:00 – 7:00, Columbia University

Conversation on Your Values, with Ron Gross,

using video dramatizations, 4:00 – 5:15,

plus

CNY Meeting to plan pre-Halloween city-wide conversations on

“Would It Kill You to Spend An Hour Talking About Death?”

5:15-7:00.

Thurs., September 18th

Teachers College, Columbia University

Gottesman Libraries

525 W. 120th, Room 104b

COME FOR EITHER OR BOTH.

RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com

and Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/204369892/

The Conversation – 4:00 – 5:15

Lights! Camera!! Values!!?:

How Is Your Character Shaped by the TV, Movies, and Other Media You See?

Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Have your values been effected by portrayals of good and bad behavior which you’ve experienced via TV

dramas, movies, and theater?

At this Conversation we’ll view a stunning array of one-minute real-life incidents designed to inspire us to

practice major virtues like Honesty, Grit, Civility, and Commitment.

Do you feel that your ideals are strengthened when you see such enactments in the media?

Please come to share your experiences with the ways in which inspiring stories, images, and words have

shaped your character.

Conversations New York Meeting – 5:30 – 7:00

We will celebrate the success of our CONVERSATION DAY on 8/30 in Bryant Park, welcome your ideas and suggestions, and organize for our next initiative, below.

CONVERSATION VS. DEATH

October, 2014

Would It Kill You to Spend an Hour Talking About Death? is the rallying cry for a city-wide series of

conversations to occur this October, during the period leading up to Halloween, promoted by Conversations

New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com).

These free, open-to-all Conversations will be held in public spaces and places throughout the five boroughs,

including parks, churches, campuses, business building ground-floor atriums such as CityCorp at 53rd

and Lexington Avenue, and upstairs eating rooms of fast food restaurants such as those opposite Penn Station

on 6th Avenue and 33rd Street.  How-To at the website.  Anyone can self-organize their own conversation on this topic by using the easy

Organizations and institutions which are hosting conversations on the subject of Death during that period

include the New York Society for Ethical Culture, The Open Center, Trinity Church, and the Death Café of NY

which has been featured on the front page of The New York Times.

A culminating conversation will be held at Columbia University on the day before the holiday, Thursday, Oct. 30th, at 4:00 pm, hosted by Ronald Gross, founder/director of CNY.

“These conversations are celebrations of life,” says Gross, author of Socrates’ Way and other books. “They are

inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s dictum: ‘Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.’”

The sponsor of Conversation vs. Death is Conversations New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com), a non-

profit which earlier this year held a symposium on The Power of Conversation at Columbia University, and

organized a Conversation Day celebration in Bryant Park on August 30th

CONTACT:

Ronald Gross, grossassoc@aol.com; http://www.conversationsnewyork.com.

“Double-Header”! Conversation + CNY Meeting – Sep 18

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“Double-Header”! Conversation + CNY Meeting, 9/18, 4:00 – 7:00, Columbia University

Conversation on Your Values, with Ron Gross,

using video dramatizations, 4:00 – 5:15,

plus

CNY Meeting to plan pre-Halloween city-wide conversations on

“Would It Kill You to Spend An Hour Talking About Death?”

5:15-7:00.

Thurs., September 18th

Teachers College, Columbia University

Gottesman Libraries

525 W. 120th, Room 104b

COME FOR EITHER OR BOTH.

RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com

and Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/204369892/

 

The Conversation – 4:00 – 5:15

Lights! Camera!! Values!!?:

How Is Your Character Shaped by the TV, Movies, and Other Media You See?

Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Have your values been effected by portrayals of good and bad behavior which you’ve experienced via TV

dramas, movies, and theater?

At this Conversation we’ll view a stunning array of one-minute real-life incidents designed to inspire us to

practice major virtues like Honesty, Grit, Civility, and Commitment.

Do you feel that your ideals are strengthened when you see such enactments in the media?

Please come to share your experiences with the ways in which inspiring stories, images, and words have

shaped your character.

 

Conversations New York Meeting – 5:30 – 7:00

We will celebrate the success of our CONVERSATION DAY on 8/30 in Bryant Park, welcome your ideas and suggestions, and organize for our next initiative, below.

CONVERSATION VS. DEATH

October, 2014

Would It Kill You to Spend an Hour Talking About Death? is the rallying cry for a city-wide series of

conversations to occur this October, during the period leading up to Halloween, promoted by Conversations

New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com).

These free, open-to-all Conversations will be held in public spaces and places throughout the five boroughs,

including parks, churches, campuses, business building ground-floor atriums such as CityCorp at 53rd

and Lexington Avenue, and upstairs eating rooms of fast food restaurants such as those opposite Penn Station

on 6th Avenue and 33rd Street.  How-To at the website.  Anyone can self-organize their own conversation on this topic by using the easy

Organizations and institutions which are hosting conversations on the subject of Death during that period

include the New York Society for Ethical Culture, The Open Center, Trinity Church, and the Death Café of NY

which has been featured on the front page of The New York Times.

A culminating conversation will be held at Columbia University on the day before the holiday, Thursday, Oct. 30th, at 4:00 pm, hosted by Ronald Gross, founder/director of CNY.

“These conversations are celebrations of life,” says Gross, author of Socrates’ Way and other books. “They are

inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s dictum: ‘Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.’”

The sponsor of Conversation vs. Death is Conversations New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com), a non-

profit which earlier this year held a symposium on The Power of Conversation at Columbia University, and

organized a Conversation Day celebration in Bryant Park on August 30th

CONTACT:

Ronald Gross, grossassoc@aol.com; http://www.conversationsnewyork.com.

Conversations Day – Aug 30

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Let’s Talk, New York!

(OK, we know this rhymes only in New York!)

 

 

Saturday, August 30th is

CONVERSATION DAY

In Bryant Park (Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street) and throughout the City

   RSVP (required to reserve a place) to grossassoc@aol.com and RSVP to http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/176390172/

Website: www.conversationsnewyork.com

 

Conversation Day is a celebration of the joys and benefits of Good Talk.   Help us join with our  friends in Boston, Las Vegas, San Francisco,  London,  and as far afield as Kuala Lampur — by talking the talk here in the Big Apple!

 

Join us at 3 pm in Bryant Park, located between 40th and 42nd streets between 5th Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas (6th Ave.).  Look for us wearing colored hats (red/yellow/blue/green).  Exact location and details  will be provided when you RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com..

 

OR

 

Do-it-yourself!   You can hold your own  conversation anytime during that day or evening, anywhere in NYC, indoors or outdoors, with old friends or new ones.  

 

* The simplest thing you can do to show your support of the day is to simply have a conversation with someone you don’t know! 

* To go one step further,  just bring together a few people  (4-6 is ideal), and choose an enjoyable and meaningful  topic or two to talk about (suggestions below or on reverse of flyer).  

* If you like, partner with a friend to be co-convenors.  If you want to enlarge your circle even further,  consider using   MeetUp (www.meetup.com) to announce your event.

 

For more information, or to let us know what you did, and how it went, please contact us at grossassoc@aol.com; our website is www.conversationsnewyork.com. 

 

Conversation Day in NYC is inspired by Global Talk-to-Me Day, a project of

Talk to Me London (http://www.talktomelondon.org/home).

 

 

 

 

A FEW POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR YOUR CONVERSATION

(or create some of your own!)

 

Here are a few topics for consideration – or ask for suggestions from your participants, then vote, and talk about the top two or three choices.

 

* What is happiness and how can we make ourselves happier?

* What makes New York City great (for you) – and how might we make it greater (for all of us)?

* What is health and how can we achieve it?

* Who in history or nowadays do you most admire as a human being, and why?

* What’s on your bucket list: the things you’d most like to do in the rest of your life?

* What lessons does history teach us?

* What concerns do you have about privacy today, in areas ranging  from your health, your employment, your on-line life, your politics, your relationships, or….? 

 

 

SUGGESTED GROUND-RULES

FOR HAVING A GREAT CONVERSATION

(or create some of your own!)

 

Here are some “agreements” developed by Conversation Café (www.conversationcafe.org) which you may want to consider for your conversation:

 

Open-mindedness: Listen to and everyone.   Seek to appreciate  many diverse points of view.

Acceptance: Suspend judgment as best you can.

Curiosity: Seek to understand rather than persuade.

Discovery: Question assumptions, look for new insights.

Sincerity: Speak from your heart and personal experience.

Brevity: Go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on.

The Power of Conversation – Jul 24

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Teachers College, 525 W. 120th St., Gottesman Library, Room 104b
RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com
and Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/192621102/?a=co1.1_grp&rv=co1.1

This convening will consist of a Conversation at 4:00 – 5:15,
followed by a meeting of Conversations New York at 5:30 – 7:00.

COME FOR EITHER OR BOTH.

The Conversation – 4:00 – 5:15

“Look up, look at one another, and let’s start a conversation.” That is the powerful plea
of Prof. Sherry Turkle of MIT, author of the acclaimed Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other.  She urges us to transcend the digital gadgetry which has impelled us to “sacrifice conversation for mere connection….”

Let’s explore “Our Conversations, Ourselves” – the ways in which talking together can add even more to our joy in living – and strengthen our capacity to achieve common goals, in organizations or in our society.

Among the topics we’ll discuss:

** What’s one of the best conversations you’ve had in the last month?
What made it so good?

**  How satisfied  are  you with your conversations?  Do you
feel that more of them might be more like the BEST ones –
and wondered what makes the difference?

** Are there “design principles” for enhancing our conversations
for greater rapport, creativity, mutual understanding, and delight?

**  What’s your Conversational Style – and what do you feel are
its positive and negative consequences?  (Do such styles
typically differ between men and women, straight and gay,
or between different ethnic groups?)

** What role does conversation play in fostering participation
and engagement in a democratic society?   Is that role fulfilled
today in our communities?

** Where can you easily find enjoyable, illuminating
conversations in New York City – or create your own?

Meeting of CONVERSATIONS NEW YORK, 5:30 – 7:00

This session will share the findings of the Symposium on this topic held on July 10th, and welcome people interested in learning more about CNY’s vision and operations, and possibly joining to help enhance the quality of life in NYC through more and better conversations.