The 2013 James Lawson Institute
August 17-24, Nashville, Tennessee
Day 1 Saturday, August 17
Arrivals and Introduction
3:00pm onward – Participants check into rooms (Laskey Building)
5:00pm-6:30pm – Reception (Scarritt Hall, International Room) 6:30pm-7:30pm – Opening dinner (Bennett Hall, Raintree Room)
7:30pm-9:30pm – Watch Nashville segment of A Force More Powerful (Fondren Hall, Harambee Auditorium)
Day 2 Sunday, August 18
Listening to Participants Analyze the Current State of North American Activism and Organizing
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast (Susie Gray Dining Hall)
8:30am-9:15am – Introduction to the James Lawson Institute – Hardy Merriman and Daryn Cambridge
9:15am-10:15am – Introductions of all participants and presenters
10:15am-10:30am – Break
10:30am-12:15pm – Exercise: Reflecting on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges of North American Organizing and Activism – Hardy Merriman introduces exercise
12:15pm-1:00pm – Lunch (Susie Gray Dining Hall)
1:00pm-3:00pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges – Tom Hastings and Paulina Gonzalez facilitate
3:00pm-3:15pm – Break
3:15pm-3:45pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges
3:45pm-4:30pm – Exercise: What Knowledge, Skills, Resources, or Actions would be Helpful? – Philippe Duhamel and Cynthia Boaz introduce exercise
4:30pm-5:30pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations about what knowledge, skills, resources or actions would be helpful – Philippe Duhamel and Cynthia Boaz facilitate
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner (Susie Gray Dining Hall)
7:00pm-8:30pm – Evening Program (Fondren Hall, Harambee Auditorium)
Screening of India and South Africa segments of A Force More Powerful
Day 3 Monday, August 19
Introduction to Nonviolent Civil Resistance, Its Dynamics, and Three Major Historical Cases of Civil Resistance in North America
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:45am-10:15am – Presentation: Nonviolent Civil Resistance in Historical Context – Mary King and Erica Chenoweth
10:15am-10:30am – Break
10:30am-12:00pm – Presentation: Dynamics of Civil Resistance – Jack DuVall
12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm-2:15pm – Presentation: The Woman’s Suffrage Movement – Cynthia Boaz, Nadine Bloch as respondent
2:15pm-3:30pm – Presentation: The Nonviolent Direct Action of the US Civil Rights Movement – James Lawson
3:30pm-3:45pm – Break
3:45pm-5:00pm – Presentation: The United Farm Workers – 1965-1970 – Hardy Merriman
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner
7:00pm-end – Evening Program
Participant- or presenter-led breakout groups on topics related to civil resistance or organizing.
Day 4 Tuesday, August 20
Movement Formation, Movement Sustainability, Coalitions and Alliances
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:30am-10:00am – Presentation: Movement and Campaign Formation – Maciej Bartkowski and Ivan Marovic
10:00am-10:15am – Break
10:15am-11:45am – Presentation: Sustaining a Movement or Campaign – Hardy Merriman and Stephen Zunes
12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm-2:00pm – Exercise: Analysis of Coalitions and Alliances – Paulina Gonzalez and Philippe Duhamel introduce exercise
2:00pm-3:00pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their analysis of coalitions and alliances – Paulina Gonzalez and Philippe Duhamel facilitate
3:00pm-3:15pm – Break
3:15pm-5:15pm – Panel Discussion about Movement Culture – Tom Hastings, Nadine Bloch, Paulina Gonzalez, Stephen Zunes
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner Open Evening
Day 5 Wednesday, August 21
Strategy, Tactics, and Planning
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:45am-9:45am – Presentation: Strategy and Principles of Effective Civil Resistance – Ivan Marovic
9:45am-11:30am – Presentation: Tactical Selection and Planning – Tom Hastings and Hardy Merriman
11:30am-12:30pm – Lunch
12:30pm-2:00pm – Exercise: Tactic Analysis – Nadine Bloch and Althea Middleton-Detzner introduce exercise
2:00pm-3:30pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of the tactic analysis exercise – Nadine Bloch and Althea Middleton-Detzner facilitates
3:30pm-3:45pm – Break
3:45pm-5:30pm – Breakout sessions
Participant- or presenter-led breakout groups on topics related to civil resistance or organizing.
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner
7:00pm-end – Evening Program
Participant- or presenter-led breakout groups on topics related to civil resistance or organizing.
Day 6 Thursday, August 22
Movement Language and Media
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:30am-8:45am – Opening exercise – Jack DuVall
8:45am-10:00am – Language and Meaning in Movements – Jack DuVall
10:00am-11:00am – Presentation: Public Narrative – Paulina Gonzalez
11:00am-11:15am – Break
11:15am-12:00pm – Exercise: Analysis of Movement and Campaign Language – Althea Middleton-Detzner and Tom Hastings introduce exercise
12:00pm-12:45pm – Lunch
1:00pm-1:45pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations – Althea Middleton-Detzner and Tom Hastings facilitate
1:45pm-2:45pm – Presentation: Movements and Media – Mary King
2:45pm-3:45pm – Facilitated Discussion: Self-Explanation and Self-Coverage – Ivan Marovic and Daryn Cambridge
3:45pm-4:00pm – Break
4:00pm-5:00pm – Exercise: Analysis of Self-Coverage and Conventional Media – Daryn Cambridge and Philippe Duhamel
5:00pm-5:30pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares lessons learned from self-coverage and conventional media analysis – Daryn Cambridge and Philippe Duhamel
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner
7:00pm-close – Evening Presentation – James Lawson
Day 7 Friday, August 23
Repression, Radical Flanks, and Maintaining Nonviolent Discipline
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:30am-10:00am – Presentation: Managing Repression – Erica Chenoweth
10:00am-10:45am – Exercise: Analyzing the Impact of Repression – Erica Chenoweth and Ivan Marovic introduce exercise
10:45am-11:00am – Break
11:00am-12:00pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares lessons learned from repression exercise – Erica Chenoweth and Ivan Marovic facilitate
12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm-2:30pm – Presentation: Radical Flanks and Maintaining Nonviolent Discipline – Erica Chenoweth and Stephen Zunes
2:30pm-3:30pm – Exercise: Addressing Radical Flanks and Maintaining Nonviolent Discipline – Tom Hastings and Philippe Duhamel introduce exercise
3:30pm-3:45pm – Break
3:45pm-5:00pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations about radical flanks and maintaining nonviolent discipline – Tom Hastings and Philippe Duhamel facilitate
5:00pm-5:30pm – Free Time
5:30pm-6:30pm – Dinner Open Evening
Day 8 Saturday, August 24
Reflection on Lessons Learned, Implications, and Next Steps
7:30am-8:30am – Breakfast
8:30am-10:15am — Exercise: Reflections on Lessons Learned, Implications, and Next Steps – Hardy Merriman and Althea Middleton-Detzner
10:15am-10:30am – Break
10:30am-12:00pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversations about lessons learned, implications, and next steps – Hardy Merriman and Althea Middleton-Detzner
12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm-3:00pm – Exercise: What New Knowledge, Organizations, Resources, Networks or Actions May be Helpful? – Hardy Merriman and Daryn Cambridge
3:00pm-3:15pm – Break
3:15pm-5:30pm – Whole group reconvenes and shares results of their conversation about what new knowledge, organizations, resources, networks, or actions may be helpful – Hardy Merriman and Daryn Cambridge
6:00pm-close – Closing dinner (Bennett Hall, Raintree Room)