DJ you say
If anyone prefers to send me PMs about this, that's fine too.
.......
I believe that sending a PM would be opening the door to creating
An informal sub forum…

................
My questions
Is this project validated by an award
from a College/University? is it part of a larger award?

Do you follow a prescribed programme
with your students where an exlemplar
guides you?

How long is the course/project?

Do you have peers to evaluate and support you?

What level have the students reached
in their undestanding?

.......
I show interest because I believe this is a hot topic .My belief is that a safety net would have to be provided. eg debriefing and student support.

Mountain ash

Thanks for the generous offer Dotsie. I may take you up on it one of these days!

The internet site will be on media literacy as an outgrowth of a particular course: Critical Theory and Popular Culture. Critical theory calls for putting theory into practice. Students who were in this course have grasped the importance of starting media literacy at younger ages.

By award, MA, I think you mean grant? Not at this point anyway. It'd be nice though. I have a salary. This is part of my vision. I won't actually do it until next fall, most likely.

While I like the idea of this open forum, I'm also open to the idea of an informal sub forum if people don't feel comfortable talking about it here.

The conflict question is related to the above-mentioned site, but I may deal with it separately as an academic pursuit depending on what I find out.

DJ, I try very hard to communicate the problem I see to the person involved, quietly, and if he/she persists then they have to pay the consequences. But every consideration is given and offered before being banned.

Of the eight to ten banned, all came back but three. Those three posts as guests from time to time but have not rejoined. They have however also not caused anymore hurt feelings or arguments.

I had a brain storm one day as how to remove myself as moderator and remain just as a member so no one had me to be mad at, and complain to constantly looking for favoritism, which they never found...

PM me and I will share my secret, NOTHING has ever worked so well and several other well known sites have contacted me and copied my method...It truly works magically!

Award...I mean points towards a diploma/degree therfor part of a whole aademic award.

I wear two hats...my own education and profession and my training
as counsellor/communication which was within a hospital but validated by a University.My co students were cancer specialists and nurses and we shared case histories and practice.

Pastoral training with Church...Spiritual intent further taught me that for me an holistic attitude is best practice..works.

The course I most recently undertook was.."Spiritual Care in the Health Care Setting" run by Professors..Chaplians and Doctors and an interesting student cohort. What we were we took to the classroom.
Critical reading...again my forte...and my belief is that a virtual envirornment is an untapped venue.
Like my last course people bring what they are...and unless moderated can cause conflict.
SELF moderation would work best.as Dancer said manners.

Your studentS will know each other therfore be unlike this forum..and will debrief in their presentation.

Wishing you sucess with your course....
Mounain ash

MA -- You would've loved the conference I attended (in Malibu, in January!) a couple of years ago, about incorporating spirituality into teaching. I was invited based on an essay I wrote in 2006 for a volume called "Spirituality, Ethnography & Teaching: Stories from Within." My essay is about my 10 years of experience teaching at a day treatment center for adults with emotional and mental illnesses. The retreat center was a mansion and is now a monastery, on top of a hill overlooking the Pacific. You can't imagine a more beautiful place -- it was built in the 1920s by people who lost their money in the '30s -- they owned a ceramic tile factory so the place is adorned inside and out with these beautiful tiles.

I'm going to be making this forum for the public. Students will be asked to participate, but I'll be the "owner" like Dotsie.

Yes, I agree - - People bring what they are and self-moderation works best.
However, we do come from such different backgrounds and environments. As Dancer also says, some people take things personally.

Still, anyone, please share your experiences. How does it feel to be "moderated" by the moderator? Have your feelings been hurt? Have you been misunderstood? Have you been treated fairly?

Okay, now really, maybe it's best to share this in PM. I don't want to create a firestorm here.

Parrarel story from me..
I visited a mansion house many times built by shipowners McBrain in the hills..as a guest..over looking beautiful countryside..as high as the tallest firs was the balcony..watched Halleys comet from there...
there was a retreat/ health improvement spa and my bolt hole and spiritual safety comfort blanket.
so wherever we are...live.. teach.. practice..we are all part of the same
I am no longer puzzled when similarity occurs..but heartened.

my belief was the very stones of the building were in part healing..left by people who sought and found solace..

nothing of pretence.. everything authentic.
Mountain ash

DJ,
In answer to your questions:
I belong to two sites, this and one that is invitation only for those in the entertainment industry. I check in often in the other forum to talk to friends and to debate issues we face and issues affecting the world. Many performers are well read, even published and have a first hand view of the world, as I like to think I do.

I have NEVER been censored, scolded or moderated on that site and I've been a member for over 8 years.

Here, I have been scolded, told to do this or that with my posts, asked not to do this or that and PMed more often in this way than I would have imagined I ever would be.

My honest feelings? I feel the scoldings have been unfair, stifling and unneeded. I feel I know how to show decorum and my little spats with those on this site have mostly been defending myself from a "regular," who has decided to insult me.

I have felt "ganged up on," in the past and have left for a breather and not returned but for those who have emailed me asking me to come back.

I dislike, to answer your question, being scolded or told what to do with my posts when I do not call people names, and when I am only defending myself. I dislike the clique I find on this forum.

That said, there are many lovely women here on this forum. They keep me here and I find them interesting even if they do not post often. They are worth the scolding, ( and the PM's do read like scoldings,) and other hassles I have encountered.

This site is great for talking to women of your age about things that happen to all of us but for me, the experiences I have that are different from the status quo are not open for discussion because when I have brought them up, they have been ignored, even insulted.

I am only being honest here because I believe being honest will bring us to understandings we don't have. Again, the site is worth it in many ways. I beleive Dotsie and her interviews are a good reason to join her organization and I think she shows an open mind in many ways so I know the owner, at least, is a person who is trying.

As to your study, I am open to all those who wish to study and understand how people relate. I feel that if we related better in this country and were less afraid of those different from us we could find more peace in the US. There is too much separation and a forum can re-enforce separation if it is not careful to include any and all comers. I don't wish to belong to a forum that is closed to new ideas and discussions.

This is just me, and I'm doing my best to answer your questions because I chose to. Again, I am all for open communication.

I should say that I hold no personal annomosity towards those who have disagreed with me or even called me names. I pity them to be truthful. It's a sad day when one is reduced to bullying and name calling to try to win a discussion. It tells me that that induvidual has personal issues that have nothing to do with me.

Best to you, DJ, and good luck on your study. We should all study all that we can.

Dancer

Mountain Ash, I love your signature line!

Yours,
Dancer

I have great admiration for Dotsie, as to how she handles conflicts; - short, and to the point. I think that is the only way to moderate. Lengthy explanations as to why, - just brings on more discussions.

Another important fact is that moderating is not just about disciplining, but to keep the forum alive. Dotsie does that brilliantly, and her genuine interests in the posts, along with her personal comments, is probably the secret as to why so many feel 'listened' to, and keep coming back.

Probably everyone has witnessed conflict on this site or experienced it first hand. In another thread above under Friends Heal Friends last month, during the political campaign ("Have we forgotten the real purpose of this forum?") posters were reminded of the rules of behavior Dotsie has attached to this site, and seemed to want to eliminate all conflict. Is that possible, or even reasonable, when you have so many different women coming together to talk about "whatever"?

What I'm wondering now is, how does coming together on this site compare with face to face (FTF) encounters? Is conflict handled differently here than in your non-virtual life? It's been mentioned that here we have moderators and rules. Aren't there rules of behavior in the FTF world? What makes it different here? Is it _just_ that we can't see each other?

Related to that, is, if we saw each other in the FTF world, would we think "Oh, there's an interesting person I could be friends with"? Of does the anonymity of just typing make it easier to share secrets and connect deeply with others on this site?

I've read comments now that say things like: if conflict isn't handled correctly, it contributes to our feelings of separation. And another that says that conflict can make her feel unsure of herself and sort of lost.

So, here's what I want to know: is it easier to be hurt deeply on here because the passions are stronger? Or less likely because we are strangers in some ways?