Discussion Circle
SUNDAY DISCUSSION CIRCLE
10:15 am - 11:15 am By Zoom every Sunday & Sometimes Hybrid In-Person Meetings at Church
NOTE: March 5 and 19 may be the last times we offer in-person meetings at church for a while due to very low attendance, but this will be reevaluated every month.
To get the Zoom info, email info@firstuu.org by 4 pm on Thursdays, or email Pam4Hou@gmail.com.
All are welcome for facilitated, educational discussions on a variety of topics. The facilitator provides some information on the topic followed by discussion with no cross-talk.
We honor our covenant and group guidelines (see below), to create a safe community for sharing our differing perspectives and learning from each other. The online Zoom Room has a host at 10:00 am for casual conversations before we begin the discussion at 10:15 am. On March 5 and 19, when we have hybrid in-person meetings at church, a host will be there to greet you in Room 203 at 10:00 am.
UPCOMING TOPICS,
FACILITATORS,
COVENANT, DISCUSSION
GUIDELINES,
UNITARIAN
UNIVERSALIST PRINCIPLES and SOURCES
TOPIC SCHEDULE
Sunday, February 26: (By Zoom Only):
How do you deal with chronic pain?
Facilitator: Stan
Sunday, March 5: (By Zoom & Hybrid In-Person at Church in Room 203):
Will
ChatGPT by OpenAI and similar software and bots start a fundamental
change in our lives and increase productivity, or will it evolve into
another Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok?
Facilitator: Dean H.
March
12: (By Zoom Only - from 10:15 to 11:00 am with meeting from 11:00 to
11:15 am to schedule topics & facilitators for April)
What you can learn from people who disagree with you?
Resource: 10 min. TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/shreya_joshi_what_you_can_learn_from_people_
Facilitator: Pam P.
March 19: (By Zoom & Hybrid In-Person at Church in Room 203):
What is my role as an individual in the scheme of things, and how am I accountable?
Facilitator: Michelle
March 26: (By Zoom Only)
The
world is closer to catastrophe than ever according to the “Doomsday
Clock.” What is it and what is the data telling us now?
Facilitator: John H.
April 2: (By Zoom Only)
In
the interest of equity, should middle and high school honors programs
be eliminated, and should the content of all classes be elevated?
Typically, the races and ethnicities of students in the honors programs
do not reflect the proportionality of the overall school populations.
Facilitator: Paul S.
Discussion Covenant and Guidelines - Rev. 11/4/2022
Covenant: We, the Participants, Facilitators, Presenters and Zoom Hosts, welcome everyone, as together we create a safe, supportive and compassionate community where we practice the values reflected in the Unitarian Universalist Principles* and by following group guidelines.
Discussion Guidelines:
We agree and aspire to participate fully and respectfully by:
1. Listening with kind, curious and supportive attention;
2. Refraining from interruptions, raising our hand and waiting until we have been called on by the Facilitator or Presenter, sharing our comments and questions with the whole group (rather than having a side conversation);
3. Limiting our comments to two or three minutes;
4. Accepting and addressing our differing perspectives and biases with kindness and compassion in our learning community;
5. Speaking from our personal experience and beliefs, rather than generalizing or stereotyping people or groups of people;
6. Respecting confidentiality;
7. Accepting that some concepts and issues might make us feel uncomfortable.
On Zoom: Reducing distracting behaviors and noises by:
-Muting our mics before and after our turn;
-Turning off our video screen when we are walking around, moving around a lot, eating, talking with someone, or not available to give good attention; and
-Using the Chat function for sharing requested resource information, but not for sending questions or personal messages to everyone in the group.