Brains On Purpose™

Forthcoming Events in Mindfulness, Law & Dispute Resolution

From an e-mail compiled by Professor Leonard Riskin:

The Initiative on Mindfulness in Law and Dispute Resolution, University of Florida Levin College of Law
April 1, 2012
 
Forthcoming Events, News, and Resources Related to Mindfulness in Law and Dispute Resolution
(Note: This is not a comprehensive (or systematically prepared list of events related to mindfulness in law and dispute resolution. Other resources for information on events dealing with mindfulness in law and dispute resolution are listed at the end of this document.)
 
April 26-29, 2012, International Symposia for Contemplative Studies, Denver, Colorado. http://www.mindandlife.org/research-initiatives/sri/sri12/ [This is a better link.]
 
June 16-20, 2012. Mind and Life Summer Research Institute: The Embodied Mind, Garrison, N.Y. The Embodied Mind. http://www.mindandlife.org/research-initiatives/sri/sri12/
 
Tools of Mindful Awareness for Lawyers, Mediators, Negotiators, Judges, Arbitrators, and Managers
June 21-23, 2012. Malibu, CA
Oct. 14-16, 2010, Woodstock, VT.
Mar. 14-16, Baltimore, MD.
 
Sponsored by Pepperdine University School of Law, Institute for Dispute Resolution. Led by Leonard Riskin, Professor, University of Florida College of Law and Visiting Professor, Northwestern University School of Law, and Rachel Wohl, Director, Maryland Supreme Court Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office . See http://law.pepperdine.edu/straus/training-and-conferences/  or contact Lori Rushford at lori.rushford@pepperdine.edu.  [Note: Full-time law school professors may be able to attend for a nominal fee.]
 
June 27-29, 2012, Chicago (Downtown). Summer Institute on Negotiation: Critical Skills for Effective Negotiating.Northwestern University, School of Continuing Studies.  Led by Leonard Riskin, Chesterfield Smith Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law and Visiting Professor, Northwestern University School of Law, and Daniel Shapiro, Harvard Law School & Harvard Medical School; and Director, Harvard International Negotiation Program. This course, offered for the seventh time, integrates instruction and practice in mindfulness with the teachings of Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro’s award-winning Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate (Viking 2005).  For more information, see http://www.scs.northwestern.edu/summernu/programs/negotiation.cfm
 
July 29-August 3, 2012. Annual Summer Session on Contemplative Pedagogy. Northampton, MA, Smith College.    Sponsored by the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. http://www.acmhe.org/
 
NEW: Spring 2013.  Second Annual Mindful Lawyer Conference, University of California-Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley, California.  Sponsored by the Berkeley Initiative for Mindfulness in Law,  http://www.law.berkeley.edu/mindfulness.htm
 
 
Recent and Forthcoming Publications
Richard J. Davidson with Sharon Begley, The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live--and How You Can Change Them (Penguin Group, 2012).
(Congressman) Tim Ryan, A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit (Hay House 2012).
Leo F. Smyth, Escalation and Mindfulness, _28 Negotiation Journal 45 (Jan. 2012)
Symposium, The Mindful Lawyer, Journal of Legal Education, May2012)
Articles by Charles Halpern, Angela Harris, Katherine Larkin-Wong, Leonard Riskin,, & David Zlotnick
 
Once published, these articles will be publically available at (http://www.swlaw.edu/jle)
 
 
Other News:
The University of California at Berkeley School of Law has announced the formation of the Berkeley Initiative for Mindfulness in Law. Charles Halpern is the Director.  http://www.law.berkeley.edu/mindfulness.htm.
 
Other Resources

Interested in learning and the brain? You will want to attend this conference then

A fine lineup of speakers has been assembled by Learning & the Brain. See and hear them this November in Boston at "Preparing 21st Century Minds: Using Brain Research to Enhance Cognitive Skills for the Future." Are you attending?

Networker Symposium 2011 has much to offer mediators, lawyers, other conflict professionals

Although the full title of this upcoming conference is Psychotherapy Networker Symposium 2011, you don't need to be a therapist to find many of the workshops beneficial and helpful to your professional practice. For example, you may attend a day-long seminar given by Bonnie Badenoch about whom I have posted at Brains on Purpose here: The obligation of a mediator to practice good mind hygiene, and an interview of Bonnie Badenoch on being brain-wise.

The conference (March 23-27 in DC) offers many other valuable workshops from such accomplished people as

• Rick Hanson ( the fearful brain—his book is a favorite of many of my colleagues)
• Sherry Turkle (the impact of the digital revolution on personal and professional relationships)
• Dick Cavett (the art of interviewing)
• David Whyte (the fusion of verse, storytelling, and philosophical reflection)
• John Gottman (the science of trust)

The list of presenters is long and enticing; take a look.

Note: Here's a post about another conference coming up soon: For those of you interested in psychology and neuroscience, a stellar lineup of speakers at the APS conference.

 

Come hear my keynote & breakout on neuroscience of conflict resolution at this state ADR conference

I'll be presenting the keynote address at the annual Colorado Statewide ADR Conference. In addition to the keynote, I will also be presenting one of the breakout sessions at this 4th annual conference titled "Evolving Frontiers of ADR." The event, to be held in Denver, is November 4. The early-bird registration ends October 21.

My topic: "The Mind and the Brain: 21st Century Insight for the ADR Professional."

Click to read the brochure with all the details [pdf].

I hope to see some of you there.

I see that the ABA's Section of Dispute Resolution is holding its Annual Conference in Denver next year (and will include a neuroscience track)

Darn! Darn! Darn! TypePad is really annoying me these days. I am trying to learn how to use the so-called new and improved blog posting program, and it periodically simply disappears my posts. The post I am about to write again below was recently lost in the 'net ethers. Grrrrrrrr. Here goes, one more time . . .

For links to all the info about next April's ABA ADR event and the Call for Proposals, click over to ADR Prof Blog. The Annual Conference will be held in Denver on April 13-16, and the proposals are due August 30. Conference tracks include one on "Communication, Neuroscience, and Psychology." For those of you with expertise in those arenas (or any others in the list of 14 tracks), you may want to apply to present [pdf]. (I don't know if neuroscience has been a subtrack at past conferences; I would guess that it has?)

Help me solve a mystery, please. What is that pink and tan building in the foreground of the banner above? In all my years of living in Denver, I don't think I have seen that structure.

Note: Thanks to a friend who knows Denver better than I, the mystery is solved. That building is the boathouse at City Park.

Upcoming event in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for sharpening your attention and performance

2009 Lawyer’s Retreat in Santa Fe

Genius is nothing but the power of sustained attention
                                         -- William James

Attention Pays:  From Reactive Brain to Reflective Mind

Friday November 13 - Sunday November 15

Registration Fee: $749.00
(Early bird $99.00 discount available
through September 30, 2009)
Register Now

Note (added September 29, 2009): Two ways to get significant savings on the fee until October 8. Click for details.

The Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Brains on Purpose invite you to participate in a weekend workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, developed for lawyers interested in developing:

their focus of attention,
and a deeper sense of well-being,
as well as achieving optimal performance
throughout their personal and professional lives.

Program Overview

What You Will Learn.  Our system will teach you practices that combine focused attention and mindful awareness to enable you to reach a new levels of mental clarity and resolve.  As a direct result, you will be less influenced by momentary distraction and more effective at accomplishing that to which you set your mind.

When all is said and done, the lawyer with a laser-like focus is a genius. Distraction does not penetrate their single-pointed concentration nor disturb the beam of their mental flashlight. Like a Samurai warrior, they place their attention where they choose, there it remains fixed, and they are prepared for anything -- harmony and war. 

What Science Will Illuminate.  Science is confirming what experience has long taught -- the development of expert levels of attention is possible and pleasurable.  In this program, attention mastery becomes your mental armor. And, because of the close connection between mind and body, you will explore the ways that the changes you experience improve your health, immune function, and reduces stress.

What Can Change. You have probably run into lawyers who behave like  zombies; they are reactive, a slave to knee-jerk responses, and always putting others on edge.  Perhaps from time to time you’ve noticed in yourself this behavior.  At other times you’ve found yourself acting like a warrior -- supremely confident, competent, and calm.

Journey to Santa Fe this November and reconnect with that Warrior.

Because of their reflective minds (as opposed to reactive brains), Samurai lawyers have many advantages not accessible to zombies.

•Sharp focus
•Equanimity
•Excellent client service
•Highly functional personal and professional relationships
•Precision alertness
•Achievement of goals
•First-rate memory
•Insight into the minds of others
•Awareness of options and choices
•Ability to choose the appropriate option for the situation

Join us in Santa Fe for a groundbreaking “recharge” (it’s really not a “retreat” because Samurai warriors seldom retreat).  You will:

•develop a laser-like focus of attention
•cultivate insight and penetrating awareness
•explore cutting-edge neuroscience.

A unique setting for a unique recharge.

Workshop Facilitators

The workshop will be conducted by Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., director of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Stephanie West Allen, J.D., founder of Brains on Purpose and author of the syndicated blog, idealawg.

You can learn more about Scott and Stephanie by clicking here.

This event takes place at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe, only three blocks from the Plaza yet quiet and removed from the bustle, nestled in a secluded and beautiful setting.

Not only will you experience mind-enhancing professional development, we also will incorporate this unique setting into the program.

We will be in The City Different and the Land of Enchantment, a  setting and location that will enhance the experience and facilitate your learning.

To preserve the quality, space, and spirit of the recharge, we are limiting the number of attendees so we recommend registering soon.

You may register online by clicking here. You may also register by calling 786-239-9318, or faxing a registration form to 305-538-4676.  Group discounts are available.

The registration fee includes lodging and meals:

Meals include:

Dinner on Friday
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday
Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday

Lodging includes:

Rooms beginning with check in on Friday, November 13, 2009 through checkout approximately noon on Sunday, November 15, 2009. Rooms are double occupancy.  You may upgrade to a single room for an additional $50. per night.*

Click here to register:  $749.00.

Early Bird Registration (valid through September 30, 2009): $650.00.  Click here.

If you have questions, send us an e-mail by clicking here.

*If you choose to upgrade to a single room, please let us know in the comments field while registering.  A separate PayPal link will be sent to you to pay the difference.

Upcoming conference on culture and the brain

Clashing cultures can result in conflict. I have posted about culture before. Here's a Notre Dame conference that may interest some of you. From The Encultured Brain Web site:

The Encultured Brain conference will promote neuroanthropology, the integration of anthropology, social theory, and the brain sciences. As the first conference exclusively in this area, The Encultured Brain will provide a vision for the future of this line of integrative research, sparking conversations and establishing connections across disciplinary boundaries.

More here. Any of you attending?

Contemplative Practices for Lawyers: Retreat in Santa Fe on November 13 - 15

Click for all the details.

On a related note, a recent post at idealawg: Colorado Contemplative Lawyers Society: "Meditating Lawyer No Oxymoron".

Image credit: ms.kdat.

Download the articles from the 2009 Mind & Life Research Institute here

Click here to read the various articles assigned by this year's Mind & Life Research Institute faculty. The event was held this week and ends tomorrow.

From the brochure [pdf]:

The purpose of the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute is to advance collaborative research among behavioral and clinical scientists, neuroscientists, and biomedical researchers based on a process of inquiry, dialogue and collaboration with Buddhist contemplative practitioners and scholars and those in other contemplative traditions. The long-term objective is to advance the training of a new generation of behavioral scientists, cognitive/affective neuroscientists, clinical researchers, and contemplative scholar/practitioners interested in exploring the potential influences of meditation and other contemplative practices on mind, behavior, brain function, and health. This includes examining the potential role of contemplative methods for characterizing human experience and consciousness from a neuroscience and clinical intervention perspective.

The 2009 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute (MLSRI) will be devoted to the theme of the self, its development in sociocultural and contemplative contexts, and its implications for human flourishing

This blog is 2 years old today!

The time has flown for Brains on Purpose™ and me. I am particularly grateful for all the people I have met as a result of this blog, and hope to hear from even more of you in the coming year. Thank you!

Four upcoming programs: Will I see you at one or more?

The 16th Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference begins tomorrow in Seattle. Here's the flyer [pdf].

May 5 and 6 brings the 9th annual SuperConference in Chicago, "the premier event for legal executives." More here.

On May 29, in Toronto, I will be giving a day-long program. Read all about it here.

Contemplative Practices for Lawyers Retreat will be held in Santa Fe, on September 12 and 13. More here.

I hope to meet some of you in Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, or Santa Fe!

The Brains on Purpose™ classes in Denver continue almost every month. We will be offering one in June, July, August, and October); contact me for details. And this summer I AM mastering the art and science of Webinars so watch for an announcement of those here—soon.

16th Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, May 1-2, 2009

This conference is one you won't want to miss. Speakers include Leonard Riskin the guru of mindfulness in conflict resolution and the practice of law. (See some of his writings here.) Others speakers include Sam Imperati, Robert Benjamin, Kay Haaland, Kenneth Cloke, Rebecca Hiers, James Melamed, and me.

For more information, here's the brochure.