This book is based on the lectures and accompanying materials for a course Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith designed and taught at Pepperdine University School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, in Malibu, California. The book chapters consist of the lectures the authors gave that were videotaped, transcribed, and edited minimally for clarity and readability, but not significantly altered. Following the chapters are the lectures slides the authors prepared and presented to the class in conformance with each chapter. The PowerPoint slides are available for download at no cost to individuals who purchase the book. See the download code in the book Introduction. Click here to access the lecture slides.
The chapters and slides follow the same outline, which is set forth in the Table of Contents, and both track the course syllabus, which is summarized and set forth in the book Introduction. Readers are invited to use the lecture slides in their own teaching and to transfer these materials to their presentations in teaching their version of this course.
The authors designed this course to assist aspiring mediators and organizational leaders in developing skills in conflict resolution and systems design, and to aid those working in schools, community groups, small businesses, non-profits, corporations, labor unions, social justice organizations, government agencies, and political advocacy groups, as well as couples and families, in preventing and resolving conflicts, and reducing their costs.
The lectures and lecture slides are published together to enable readers access to the course and subject matter and to provide readers with a set of resources to encourage the sharing of their skills and insights with others. Readers are welcome to modify, adapt, and improve these materials as needed. As conflicts belong to everyone impacted by them, so also do the means of resolving, transforming, and preventing them. Each of these is a significant source of wisdom, and a common heritage for everyone. Please pass them on.
