Upcoming Course with Michael Nagler: The Way Out Of No Way

Join us for Michael Nagler’s next online course,

The Way Out of No Way: Crafting a Nonviolent Solution to the Deep Crisis of Today

Format:  Five weekly meetings on Fridays, March 14th - April 11th, from 11am - 12:30pm Pacific, structured around The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action,  (copies can be purchased from the Metta Center, but be sure to have one in hand before we begin).

Goal: Participants should come away with a solid grounding in nonviolence, which Gandhi called “the greatest power mankind has been endowed with,” and at least the beginning of a strategic plan whereby this power can be applied to the serious problems of the day, wherever in the world they are occurring.

Course Outline:

Week One: Participant and staff introductions; scope of the problem and historical examples of nonviolence successfully applied in similar (and in some cases worse) situations. Working definition of ‘nonviolence’ and some other key terms.

Week Two: Introductory material and chapters one and two of the Handbook.  Needless to say, we should all read the complete book before the course begins if possible. For this and following sessions Professor Nagler will initiate, or ‘seed’ the discussion with a few relevant considerations, followed by Q&A.

Week Three: Chapters three and four of the Handbook. 

Week Four: Chapters five and six.

Week Five: Conclusions: how can the power of nonviolence, for which we now have some common understanding as our background, be applied to our crisis. What are the criteria for a successful strategy? Where should we begin? How can we disseminate this background more broadly in order to organize a successful, constructive resistance and lay the groundwork for a new culture?  

Participants will be encouraged to work out their own approaches, based on what has been gained in the course and have the option to write up their approach for the staff and if they wish the group as a whole.