ADD THREADS TO DISCUSSION BOARD [PSY 020.1] WELCOME TO THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS WEEK #1 NOTE: Because of a computer glitch, I am one day late in sending out this notice. My sincere apologies – and an immediate opportunity for all of us to practice the power of forgiveness. NOTE: This e-mail message also appears as an announcement on the course website, which may be more easily readable in that format. Welcome to AllLearn’s Power of Forgiveness program [PSY 020], which formally begins today, Wednesday, September 22, and lasts for five weeks through Tuesday, October 26. My name is Noel McInnis, and I am your learning facilitator. Forgiveness coaching is my life’s work, both personally (i.e., by forgiving myself and by being forgiving) and vocationally (facilitating others’ experience of forgivingness). In addition to forgiveness coaching and workshop facilitation, I frequently speak & daily write on the subject of forgiveness. My writing is mostly devoted to a forthcoming book that addresses the paradigm and practice of self-forgiveness. For the next five weeks, I will be guiding you and the 12 other course participants through our online learning experience. THE ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Unlike the conventional classroom in “Hi there!” space, cyberspace classes promote collaborative learning, i.e., learning from one another’s individual experiences of the course. Since all of us know far more about forgiveness than any of us does, each of us learns most when all of us are participating. Accordingly, the more each of us actively participates in the weekly discussions the more all of us will benefit. Concerning your participation: Though it is not induced by the “stick” of an assigned grade at the course’s end, I trust that the “carrot” of opportunity for you to more fully understand and exercise the power inherent in forgiving yourself and others is sufficient to actively enroll your participation in the course. THIS WEEK’S ORIENTATION: Every Wednesay you will receive an email bulletin that outlines activities for the week ahead, just as this one does below. Since this is the first such Wednesday bulletin, it is longer than the much briefer ones that you will receive on the next four Wednesdays. This is because its outline of the week ahead is preceded with introductory information on the course’s scope and procedures. A supplementary statement, “What Makes This Course Work,” will be sent to you shortly, outlining some “Best Practices” that contribute to an optimum course experience by all concerned. This statement is also posted as a thread in the “Social Forum ” for your commentary and additional contributions. You will always know when new messages have been posted to any forum or thread, because a "New" icon will appear next to it. THE FIRST LAW OF ONLINE LEARNING: RELAX INTO ITS DESIGN. . . Since this course is an online program, you may access the course website at any time you choose to do so. Fortunately, with the exception of scheduled live chat events, you need not set aside any arbitrarily predetermined day or time of day for your participation in class discussion, whose timing is therefore termed “asynchronous”. Even our weekly “real time” chat conversations (beginning in week two) will be scheduled on different days and hours, to the optimum advantage of all concerned. Please remember that online learning is a new experience for almost all concerned. Many if not most of you are not as yet entirely adept with technologies of messaging and conferencing, and this accordingly calls for patience with oneself as well as with one another. (Patience, by the way, is a cardinal aspect of the Power of Forgiveness.) Therefore, if you are among those who are still “learning the ropes” (actually “threads”) of computer-mediated conferencing, please relax as you implement the instructions below and elsewhere that will get you started – all the while remembering that the path of all mastery is paved with trial and error, and that nothing on the AllLearn website can be broken by our fumbles or mistakes. COURSE MATERIALS: If you have not yet received all of your course materials, please contact AllLearn immediately using the instructions presented under “NEED HELP?” below. Please also alert me to this fact as well. COURSE INTRODUCTION: [Since the following up-to-date course description differs somewhat from what you have read about the course thus far, it deserves your close attention.] This course explores the complex interplay between grievance and forgiveness at both the personal and political levels. Forgiveness as a study was the province of the religious and philosophical domains for centuries. Recently science has begun to explore this response to life’s hurts, as psychologists have begun to demonstrate the healing power of forgiveness. One of those psychologists is Dr. Frederic Luskin the Director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects. His book, Forgive for Good, presents in accessible and clear language the forgiveness training developed for the Stanford University Forgiveness Project and used in 6 research projects. Forgive for Good shows how grievances are formed, via the attachment of blame to grief, and presents numerous case histories and reports on the Forgiveness Project’s research studies and outcomes. The book is a self-help guide for forgiving oneself and others. The cornerstone of the book is Dr. Luskin’s 9-step program for forgiving those who have hurt you. The course’s other text is The Sunflower, written by Simon Wiesenthal. This book presents the dilemma that Mr. Wiesenthal faced when, as a concentration camp inmate, he was asked to forgive a dying SS officer who was a perpetrator of Nazi holocaust atrocities. The question of whether or not to forgive the Nazi officer haunts Mr. Wiesenthal for the rest of his life, and in this book he reflects on his response so many years ago and ponders the questions about forgiveness that linger in his mind. Included in this remarkable book are the reflections of 30 leading religious and political thinkers, including the Dalai Lama, on the propriety of forgiving the Nazi SS officer. Additional reading explores the health benefits of forgiveness as well as the range of responses to political savagery that range from vengeance to forgiveness. Issues addressed in this course’s readings and discussions include: · If forgiveness is so good for me why it is so difficult to forgive? · What is the difference between constructive and destructive anger? · What are the personal obstacles to forgiveness? · Are all things forgivable? · How does forgiveness differ from reconciliation, justice and condoning? Students will be ongoingly encouraged to explore the role and power of forgiveness in their own lives. ACCESSING & BEGINNING YOUR ONLINE COURSEWORK: 1. To begin your course, go to the AllLearn homepage: http://www.AllLearn.org Click on “My Page” and in the boxes provided, type the username and password you created when you registered for your course. Then click the "GO!" button (or hit the return or enter key on your keyboard). If you have forgotten your username or password, send an email to help@AllLearn.org and they will remind you of your username and password. 2. After logging in, you will be brought to the “My Page.” 3. Click on ‘LOGIN’ and you will then be on your “My Courses” page. 4. The box labeled "My Courses" lists all those programs for which you are currently enrolled. Click the course name to enter a particular program. 5. Your screen will now display the homepage for your course. The vertical navigation bar down the left margin of the screen lists different course functions. Course information and instructions are listed under OVERVIEW. To post a contribution to the course discussion bulletin board, go to DISCUSSION BOARD. At the time of a scheduled live chat, click CHAT ROOM to enter. The ROSTER contains the names of all students in the class. INTRODUCING YOURSELF: Once you reach the course site, after a little exploration, the first thing to do is to introduce yourself - and read about your fellow students. To introduce yourself, enter DISCUSSION BOARD and reply to the Instructor's post entitled "Hello, my name is..." Then return to this discussion thread daily to read all of the other self-introductions and responses thereto, and respond yourself to any of the posts that move you to do so. Other features and functions of the site will be explained as needed in the weeks ahead. HOW TO GET HELP: If you experience any problems accessing your course or have questions about receipt of materials or other business, please contact the AllLearn Helpdesk (details below). Your may also contact the AllLearn Helpdesk for computer-related technical questions. Please direct any course subject-matter issues to me, your instructor. OUR FOCUS FOR THIS WEEK: The main purpose of our first week's course participation is to become acquainted with one another and to share our expectations of the course, as we begin to explore the nature of forgiveness in relationship to self and society by our answers to the questions on the DISCUSSION BOARD "Week 1", which are also listed below. THIS WEEK's READING & LISTENING: A. Forgive for Good, pp. vii-59 B. Listen to “What Is Forgiveness?” lecture on audiotape, side #1 C. In your Seminar Packet: 1. Thoresen, Carl E., Alex H.S. Harris, and Fredric Luskin. “Forgiveness and Health: An Unanswered Question...” Chapter 12 in Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice, eds. Michael E. McCullough, Kenneth I. Pargament, and Carl Thoresen, pp. 254–81 2. Williams, Redford, and Virginia Williams. Anger Kills, pp. 25–9 D. Optional online resources: The four websites cited under "Supplementary Resources" in the OVERVIEW include those of the course's designer, Dr. Frederic Luskin and of its facilitator, Noel McInnis, brief biographies of whom immediately follow thereafter. ONLINE RESOURCES: The four websites cited under "Supplementary Resources" in the OVERVIEW include those of the course's designer, Dr. Frederic Luskin and of its facilitator, Noel McInnis, brief biographies of whom immediately follow thereafter. THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION: Our message board discussions (and chat sessions beginning in week two) empower the potential inherent in the fact that all of us know more than any of us concerning the subject of forgiveness. On behalf of our mutual fulfillment of this potential, please log on to the DISCUSSION BOARD regularly to keep up with others’ ongoing contributions and to make your own. Our discussions this week will address the following four questions, each with its own DISCUSSION BOARD thread (under "WEEK #1") and respectively titled as follows: -Forgiveness: easy or difficult? (and why) -My greatest forgiveness challenge (holding a grudge) right now is . . . -My greatest forgiveness experience (releasing a grudge) thus far is . . . -How do I distinguish between constructive and destructive anger? PLEASE NOTE: In fulfillment of this week's self-introduction process, each of you is urged to respond to all of the questions in this thread. The questions are such that you can respond to each of them without completing this week's classwork first. FINALLY, AND ABOVE ALL: Enjoy!! Noel McInnis noelmcinnis@forgivenessfirst.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TO LOG ON TO YOUR COURSE SITE: Go to: http://www.AllLearn.org NEED HELP? Phone 1-866-524-1502 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada or send email to help@AllLearn.org If you're outside the US and Canada and wish to speak to someone, please email your phone number to help@AllLearn.org so that an AllLearn staff member may contact you. TO DO THIS WEEK: First, after logging on to your course, please (if you have not already done so) fill out the preliminary “Self-Efficacy Scale” at the bottom of “Session 1” in the “OUTLINE” section of the course website. Be sure to print out a copy of the completed Scale for future reference, as you will fill out an identical Scale at the end of the class, and thus be able to comparatively assess the difference that taking this class has made for you.