The Difference Between Debate and Dialogue
February 25, 2011
In your dialogue workshop at GYV, you will learn about the differences between debate and dialogue. Many people don’t recognize that there is a difference, but the following points illustrate that there is a big difference!
Debate vs. Dialogue
assuming there is a right answer assuming many people have pieces of the answer
combative collaborative
about winning about exploring common ground
listening to find flaws, make counter arguments listening to understand, find meaning
defending assumptions as truth revealing assumptions for re-examination
critiquing the other sides position re-examine all positions
defending own views acknowledging other views can expand one’s own
seeking a conclusion that ratifies your own position discovering new options
Obviously, dialogue is more open and builds a foundation for greater understanding!
Catching up with Roger Falcon
February 18, 2011
Name: Roger Falcon
Nationality: American/French
GYV Staff/ Participant during: 84-87
Education: Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy, the Fletcher School, Tufts University, Certificat d’etudes politiques, IEP Paris, BA, Oberlin College
Occupation: Chief of Staff, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Most Interesting Country Visited: Going to a Mayan village in the middle of the Mexican rainforest and meeting the chief who is trying to hold onto tradition as the world changes rapidly around him was unforgettable.
Favorite GYV Memory: Gathering in a circle at the end of each summer, holding a candle and singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” as we committed to keep the Legacy spirit inside of us.
Volunteer/Civic Engagement Activities since Global Youth Village:
- Founding board member, Sovereign Arts, a non-profit dedicated to Native American rights and culture.
- Founding board member, A3D, a non-profit promoting exchange with Senegal and multi-cultural awareness on Boston’s north shore.
- Launched a Boston chapter of Nonviolent Peaceforce, which sends trained peacekeepers into zones of conflict such as Sri Lanka.
- Was active in the “Maison pour un developpement solidaire” in Paris, which promotes diversity and international exchange.
- Have sung in various choral ensembles and played handbells.
Biography:
My current position at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is very exciting. LEAP is an organization of current and former members of law enforcement, as well as civilian supporters, who are calling for an end to the drug war and the racial discrimination, violence and corruption it causes across the globe. Putting in place a system of legalized regulation would allow for better control and for more resources to be made available to treat addiction.
After graduate school, I lead the creation of ArtCorps, which sends volunteer artists from around the world to Central America to spread environmental, public health and human rights messages. The best part was getting to know the artists and spending time in Guatemala, an amazingly diverse country (62 indigenous languages currently spoken!), where I met fabulously warm people.
I also co-taught a course on human rights and worked for the Reebok Human Rights Award, which until a couple of years ago honored four activists age 30 and under each year for their cutting edge work.
During graduate school, I spent a year in an intensive program called Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship, studying corruption and the different ways it impedes political development. My thesis compared challenges and potential strategies in Mexico, China, Russia and the US.
After college, I spent three years in Prague. I lived with a Czech family, sang in several choirs, went to many concerts, and immersed myself in the country, still coming out of the fear of the Cold War. At first, I taught ESL at a university. I then had the inspiring, amazing opportunity to intern for President Václav Havel. Havel would not want to be considered a hero, but he is certainly one of mine. He brings together the arts and activism in a way that I have aspired to ever since.
Prior to graduate school, I spent a year and a half in Paris studying and, most importantly, meeting my wife, Helene, who is an artist, a polarity therapist and an art therapist working with kids. We live happily in Medford, near Boston, Massachusetts.
I would love to hear from friends – and friends-to-be – from Legacy. Please write!
Charles Williams: Artist in Residence
February 16, 2011
In 2012, participants at the Global Youth Village international summer camp will have the opportunity to work with an accomplished artists-in-residence, like Charles Williams in music during Afternoon Electives.
Charles is a vocalist and musician and has taught at the Global Youth Village before, during the 1980′s. He is looking forward to returning this summer. Louisiana-born Williams has won international acclaim since his opera debut at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. He has performed in theaters and opera houses, and for radio and television in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Zurich and Vienna. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Sportin’ Life in “Porgy and Bess.” He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, The Barns at Wolf Trap, The Smithsonian, and the Kennedy Center.
In the summer of 2003 he toured Europe as a cast member and vocal coach of “The Temptation of St. Anthony” directed by Robert Wilson with music and book by Bernice Johnson Reagon. The production performed in 2005 at the Paris Opera (l’Opera Garnier) and festivals in Melbourne and Warsaw.
For more than a decade, he has partnered with global-jazz percussionist Tom Teasley to form the duo Word-Beat which has performed in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. The duo has released two CDs, “Poetry, Prose, Percussion and Song” and “The Soul Dances.” Charles’s solo CD, “Talkin’ About,” features spirituals and selections from the American musical theater.
Charles served as vocal consultant for the Grammy award winning group Sweet Honey In The Rock and was a vocal panelist for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He teaches voice at the Levine School of Music. He has taught vocal and musical theater workshops in Salzburg, Austria, and at the University of the Arts in Berlin.
In 2009, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department Word-Beat performed and conducted music workshops in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The duo also performed and gave workshops in collaboration with local musicians in East and West Jerusalem.
Since the spring of 2010, Charles has collaborated with jazz guitarist Eric Ulreich to present musical treasures from the Great American Songbook in a cabaret setting.
Students come from the entire Atlantic coast to study with Charles in his ever-growing home studio in Alexandria, Virginia. He also travels the country to give master classes and conduct vocal workshops.
For almost a decade Charles has taught voice classes during the summer at the Summer Acoustic Music Week (SAMW) at Geneva Point Center in New Hampshire. The week is sponsored by WUMB, University of Massachusetts Boston and at Vocal Week at Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College, Elkins, West Virginia.
Back from Cameroon…
February 14, 2011
Anna Stormzand S’01 is back in the United States after some time in Cameroon. Here is an excerpt from her experiences in 2010…
In August, we had a very successful girls’ summer camp with over 100 girls that attended! After the camp, I had three months left and spent a lot of my time continuing to work with the youth club in the surrounding smaller villages and finishing up with the health project in the health centers. The rainy season started late and therefore went late into 2010. I had to travel to the capitol, Yaounde, twice (a two day voyage) at the very tail-end of the rainy season on very muddy, rutted roads that I thought I would never get through! They were memorable trips to say the least! I worked with the neighborhood girls’ group and girls’ soccer team right up until my departure date. I had a wonderful send-off party with colleagues and friends one week before I left my town and got to say bye and thank you to everyone. While I knew it was time to move onto something new, I will really miss many aspects of life in Cameroon, starting first with the girls from these groups and my neighbors and friends. They all made the experience so rich and have enhanced my life in many ways. I will not miss the dust, heat, corruption and bad roads that come with being a Peace Corps Volunteer 
but all the wonderful people there and hope to return very soon. I am currently spending my time presenting on Peace Corps and Cameroon to school classes and other local organizations and I am really enjoying discussing my experiences there with others.
Anna has decided to attend graduate school starting next August to get a Masters in Public Health focusing on Health Education and Behavior/Communication. Good luck Anna!
Hola from Honduras!
February 14, 2011
Alison Havens, S’ 04 & ’07 says hello from her new home in San Lorenzo, Honduras! She is learning to flow with this new experiences as it comes and teach eacd day, day by day. Here is the link to her blog:
http://allison-in-wonderland.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html
She sends good energy to everyone!
Lessons on Listening
February 11, 2011
Developing good listening skills is something that you will learn at the Global Youth Village. Participants will discuss this topic in detail in your peace building workshop, but for now, here are a few tips on how to be a good listener. Effective dialogue creates a good foundation for peace and good listening skills are a part of that!
A good listener:
- Makes appropriate eye contact
- Remains reasonably still
- Nods, smiles, responds
- Leans toward speaker
- Sits alertly, attentively
- Facial expressions reflect interest
- Does not check the time often
- Takes notes
- Verifies information, asks appropriate questions
- Considers speakers points seriously
