Willie Nelson

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From the UT Willie Nelson Center Students for Peace and Conflict Resolution
The University of Texas at Austin Project on Conflict Resolution:

Twenty-seven University of Texas at Austin students celebrated the award of certificates in mediation and facilitation. They completed 88 rigorous hours of training this spring and earned three college credits.

In addition to their training, the students participated in mediating real disputes, helped others plan negotiations, and managed dialogues on difficult subjects like the Iraq war, abortion, the availability of emergency contraception, drug laws, Israel-Palestine, the role of religion in public life, college admission practices, and . . . the fairness of the systems for distributing student tickets for football and basketball games.

The training focuses on listening, managing stereotypes and assumptions, searching for common ground, and helping people reframe issues to search for new perspectives. Another big challenge is learning to analyze and articulate differences. Instead of shouting people down or walking out, students learn to explore and understand differences to increase understanding and treat others with respect.

We assume that there is no such thing as complete unanimity of thought; people have differences. Being clearer about those differences and how they affect people makes it easier to think better about our own beliefs and attitudes and makes it easier to treat people with respect even if we can’t abide their ideas. It increases the tolerance of the participants at the same time that it increases their self-confidence and their ability to express themselves.

As one young man said, ‘I never really listened to people or talked about important things before. I kept it pretty superficial, but I really like knowing about people and thinking about my own reasons for things. It’s really fun.’

Instead of keeping people away with a fist or a palm of the hand in someone’s face, they learn to invite people to sit and reflect, tell stories, share fears and explore assumptions, which requires a hand of invitation an open hand outstretched with palm up.

There’s a little exercise we do in training sometimes. Ask one person to extend a fist into the face of the person next to them. Try it. If you’re the person making the fist, you probably feel a little bit embarrassed and aggressive. If you’re the person with the fist in your face, you might feel anger or the urge to move away. The instructions are simple: Get the person with the fist in your face to quit it.

What would you do? A large percentage of any group tries to force the fist open and down, often with the relish of a wrestling match. A small percentage tries to distract or tickle the aggressor. A few ask. The people who get asked are always a bit surprised and are very likely to comply without further ado.

Communicating is powerful. Communicating well, with a good eye to what motivates other people, is extremely powerful.

We train 25-30 students every semester. Many of them end up working in diplomacy and negotiation fields. Some go to law school, some become social workers, and some just take the skills into their personal lives.

Madeline

Madeline M. Maxwell
Professor of Communication Studies
Willie Nelson Center Students for Peace and Conflict Resolution
UT Project on Conflict Resolution

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Summer Symposium for High School Students information
Old Pecan Street Festival event

Tags: Peace

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