Announcing the Harvard Law School "Real Talk" Blog Series

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Feb. 24, 2016 - PRLog -- Today the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) and the Systemic Justice Project (SJP) at Harvard Law School begins a four-part blog series, with each of the works stemming from the programs’ joint initiative called "Real Talk". The "Real Talk" pilot program, an initiative for dialogue, diversity, equity, and inclusion, placed twenty student participants in four small groups that engaged in sustained dialogue on challenging issues, emotions, and narratives that relate to the law, legal systems, and legal education. Four trained student facilitators – Ariel Eckblad ’16, Deanna Parrish ’16, Carson Wheet ’16 and Lindsey Whyte ’16 – facilitated these small group dialogues during the course of the Fall 2016 Semester. This blog series focuses on the facilitators’ reflections on the program, with each facilitator contributing one blog entry about their experience. HNMCP and SJP will co-publish these entries during the next month, with one post released each Wednesday. The first installment features an introduction from HNMCP and SJP and an entry by Deanna Parrish. We invite you to follow these works and welcome your feedback and reaction.You can find the "Real Talk" blog at https://hnmcpblog.wordpress.com/real-talk/.

The Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program is the nation’s first legal clinic focusing on dispute systems design and conflict management. HNMCP was founded in 2006 by Professor Robert Bordone to take Harvard Law School students from theory to practice in the fields of negotiation, dispute resolution, and conflict management. HNMCP trains a new generation of lawyers with the skills—in negotiation, mediation, facilitated dialogue, stakeholder assessment, dispute systems evaluation and design, conflict analysis, and curriculum development—necessary to help their clients manage their negotiations and disputes efficiently and creatively.

The Systemic Justice Project (“SJP”) is a policy innovation collaboration, organized and catalyzed by Harvard Law School students devoted to identifying injustice, designing solutions, promoting awareness, and advocating reforms to policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public. While targeting specific policy challenges, SJP is devoted to understanding common and systemic sources of injustice by analyzing the historical, cultural, political, economic, and psychological context of particular problems. Toward that end, SJP is committed to collaborating with scholars, lawyers, lawmakers, and citizens and to working with existing institutions in promoting attainable, pragmatic, and lasting policy solutions.