Courage to Care Conversations

When: Second Friday on alternate months, 10am-12pm

Where: Courage to Care multipurpose space.

Who:

All Courage to Care members and friends are welcome

Join a diverse group of interesting people in conversation over coffee and nibbles and feel stimulated and informed. Come occasionally or become a regular – there’s no pressure at this casual and enjoyable morning of discussion.

All Courage to Care members and friends are welcome.

COMING UP:

Friday 8 November 2024, 10am – 12pm

“Empathy – inborn or taught?”
Is empathy a skill that can be learned and developed intentionally, or do environmental and genetic influences shape a person’s ability to empathize? Are there personality types that lack empathy? Can an ethical principles be relied on without empathy?
Conversation leader Louis Roller

Watch/Listen/Read: The Science of Empathy | Empathy notes from Louis | How empathy relates to morality | How technology killed empathy | Empathy slideshow

You don’t have to review all the material! But you’ll get the most out of the Conversation if you review just one or two resources in advance. If you haven’t had time to prepare, come along anyway! All ideas and reflections are welcome.

Please RSVP to education.manager@couragetocare.org.au
You will be informed if a Conversation is cancelled.

Conversations coordinating team

Sarah Calleja
Peter Gaspar
Sam Ginsberg
Susan Hearst
Tony Weldon
Email your suggestions for future topics HERE

Diarise future dates (2025)

Friday 14 February
Friday 11 April
Friday 13 June
Friday 8 August
Friday 10 October
Friday 12 December

Revisit previous Conversations

- 12 July: Building Bridges” Can we reach across cultural divides to create respectful dialogue?
  Watch/Listen/Read: Cross-cultural connections | Building bridges one coffee at a time | Word of the day: Respect | Acknowledge hurt to get past it | Empathy is not endorsement |
- 10 May: “Weird, rude or different? Offending across cultures” As working across cultures becomes increasingly common, the risk of intercultural misunderstandings also grows. Are we misreading the students in our workshops
  Watch/Listen/Read: Ten rude things | Do’s and don’ts of eye contact | Understanding Aboriginal etiquette | The Indian head waggle | The beckoning finger | How to be polite in 15 different countries | 10 lessons in etiquette | Business etiquette | How close is too close? | High-context vs low-context cultures | How we understand culture | Emotional expression across cultures | First person story |
- 19 April: “Have we failed?” Racism is still with us; what are we doing wrong?
  Watch/Listen/Read: How and why racism has mutated | Why are people still racist? | Racism in Australia | Discrimination is getting worse globally | Overcoming racism is essential | The power of an Illusion | The psychology of racism | Attitudes to racism among Australian students | Why diversity programs fail | Why we’re not doing better | Social psychology of racism backlash
- 16 February: “Ambivalent Sexism”
  Watch/Listen/Read: The Credibility Gap – TED talk | What women want men to know about sexism – TED talk | The bechdel test as cultural barometer | Give us a twirl | Ambivalent Sexism Inventory | What is sexism? | 36 Ways Women Still Aren’t Equal to Men
- 19 January 2024: “Disability and Discrimination”
  Watch/Listen/Read: Inspiration porn – objectification of disability | Disability, inclusion and human rights | First person story | Education exclusion and neglect
- 20 October
  session postponed to allow safe space conversation on current trauma in Israel/Palestine

- 22 September “Navigating the stormy seas of Media, Power and Public Opinion”
  Watch/Listen/Read: Hunter Biden’s laptop | Brittany Higgin’s lawyer | Israel as a juristocracy | Echo chambers, bubbles and polarisation | Circular reporting | Telling big lies isn’t about persuasion

- 18 August: “Hate and the problem of social media”
  Watch/Listen/Read: What is hate speech? | Hate speech on social media | The virtual stages of hate | Fanaticism, polarisation, anonymity and propaganda | amplifying dangerous lies | hate speech in Australia | Social media platform capitalism (language warning)

- 16 June: “Race and how it played out in Black education in South Africa”
  Anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising in South Africa
  Watch/Listen/Read: Summary of the Soweto Uprising | Essay: Racism in South Africa Essay: Soweto uprising |Perspective of Soweto residents | Brief biography of Nelson Mandela | Rise and fall of South Africa’s “apartness”

- 12 May: “Microaggressions are not a storm in a teacup”
  Watch/Listen/Read: What are microaggressions? | The indigenous experience | You’re the whitest Black person I know | Microaggressions in everyday life | A trip to the grocery store | Comments that sting | Impact of microaggressions

- 21 April: “Is Freedom of Speech Golden?”
  Watch/Listen/Read: free speech vs ‘cancel culture‘ | Bans don’t solve the problem Adelaide Writers Festival presents one-sided panel | Calls to cancel Adelaide Writers Week | Flags at footie games | Australians don’t have the right to free speech | Free speech for all – or for some? | The line between free speech and hate speech

- 17 March: “Indigenous Voice to Parliament”
  Watch/Listen/Read: Reconciliation Australia | The case from the Heart | Why should we have it? | Indigenous voice should be opposed | Do we really need it? | The major players in the Voice referendum

- 17 February 2023: “Race and Racism”
  Watch/Listen/Read: White fragility | Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race | “Nice Racism” | Lessons for ‘Nice’ Racists | Critical Race Theory | Caught between black and blue | Race Ethnicity and the human experience | The differences within whiteness | Structural Racism explained | Excerpt from 1994 documentary “The Color of Fear”

- 16 December: “Who are you? Memory and Identity”
  Watch/Listen/Read: Who are you? | Bi-directional nature of memory and self (Long article) | Is Identity our physical self or our memories? | Cultural memory | Memory reconstruction and emotional memories | Are all your memories real? | Memory malleability

- 18 November 2022: “Caste and social class in the country of the ‘fair go’ “
  Watch/Listen/Read: South Asian caste system being imported | Diversity Council of Australia research | Personal experiences and impact | Social mobility | Social segregation in Australian schools | Are Australians socially inclusive?

- 21 October 2022: “Religious intolerance or conflict of interest”
  Watch/Listen/Read: Linking faith and employment ‘a bad idea’ | Why we must not tolerate intolerance | Conflicts were too great | It’s not black and white | Sacked for religious beliefs | Call for religious freedom bill | Cancelled over religion