News & Archive

(September 18, 2003)

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Professor R. Lisle Baker has been using a psychological instrument known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, based in part on some of the theories of Carl Jung, as a vehicle for helping the students in his mediation seminar gain greater awareness of how they prefer to get information and make decisions. Over the years Prof. Baker has also collected Indicator results from a number of mediators in the New England area, and has compared the results of that sample of about 150 people with previously published information on samples of lawyers and judges. He has written an article about the results of his research, "Using insights about perception and judgment from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® as an aid to mediation," which has been accepted for publication by the Harvard Negotiation Law Review.

Professor Baker will present a brief summary of his research findings at the forum. For purposes of the discussion Professor Baker recommends that attendees have some familiarity with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and their own preferences.

R. Lisle Baker holds a B.A. from Williams College and an LL.B. from Harvard. He was an Associate at Hill & Barlow from 1968-73, an Associate Professor of Law, Suffolk 1973-78; Professor of Law at Suffolk since 1978.

Following Professor Baker’s talk is a Peervision case, in which Linda Wilcox will discuss authorship disputes in academic settings. The informal option of bringing a matter to the Ombuds Office is built into the dispute resolution system at Harvard Medical School, Harvard Dental School, and Harvard School of Public Health. When the parties agree to mediation, it is one of the tools used by the Ombudsperson to help people work through their differences and come to agreement.

Linda will briefly outline the role of the Ombuds in the organization. She will then explore authorship cases in which mediation was effectively used for the resolution of these kinds of disputes and will also look at cases where other options were used, in lieu of mediation.

Linda Wilcox has served as Ombudsperson at Harvard Medical School, Dental School, and School of Public Health, since the office's inception in 1991. The office is available to Harvard medical area faculty, staff, students, and trainees who are experiencing conflict. Linda helps visitors organize their ideas, acquire relevant information, and create options for conflict resolution. When appropriate and agreed to by all participants, she mediates disputes between parties many of which are related to issues of authorship and attribution of credit.

Please RSVP.

Time and Place
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Pound 335 — map it
DRF: 8:30-10:00am (Continental Breakfast at 8:00)
Peervision Case Conference: 10:15-11:30am