Cohousing-L Mailing List: Online Forum Dec 3-17 on Building Cohesive Families

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

Northfield Citizens Online (NCO) is pleased to announce a special two-week
web forum, now in progress.  Here's the FAQ:

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
NCO is teaming up with the Healthy Community Initiative (HCI), KYMN Radio,
Northfield News, and NTV to sponsor a community forum titled:

           Building Cohesive Families in a Hurried World

The forum is based on a recently published book by U of M professor Bill
Doherty titled, "The Intentional Family."

WHAT THE HECK DOES "INTENTIONAL FAMILY" MEAN?
Here's an excerpt from a posting by Bill in the forum on Wednesday:
======================================================================
BridgeSquare.43.13: Bill Doherty (billd) Wed, 03 Dec 1997 22:17:07 CST

   "I urge folks to write about their dilemmas and experiences in finding
time for nurturing family relationships in a world that often pushes us
apart faster than our family bonds can pull us back together.  My book is
about using family rituals of connection, celebration, and community to
resist the forces of "entropy" that move us away from one other:
overly-busy and over-committed lives outside the home, and the distraction
of television (and computers) inside the home.  My basic point is that a
family that is not "intentional" about its life together will drift slowly
apart over the years--like floating on the Mississippi without paddling and
steering."
======================================================================

WHEN DOES THE WEB CAFE CONVERSATION OCCUR?
The online conversation BEGAN in the NCO Web Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and
continues through Dec. 17. It's happening in the BridgeSquare conference,
Topic 43 and is open for anyone to participate.

ANYONE NOTABLE PARTICIPATING?
The web forum is featuring the following panelists:

Mary Carlsen   - Chair, Department of Social Work, St. Olaf College
Bill Doherty   - Director, U of M Marriage and Family Therapy Program
Kathie Galotti - Associate Professor of Psychology, Carleton College
Will Healy     - Pastor, Emmaus Baptist Church
Len Witt       - Director, Minnesota Public Radio Civic Journalism
                 Initiative; Family Strength Project

WHERE CAN I FIND SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION?
 * Minnesota Public Radio and the Civic Journalism Initiative's Family
Strength Project <http://access.mpr.org/features/9710_family/index.shtml>

 * Northfield News Managing Editor Evelyn Hoover's Inside Out column on
Bill's book and the web forum
<http://www.northfield.org/news/backissues/971128/opin/cohesive.html>

 * Bill Doherty's Home Page and Web Site on Intentional Family, courtesy of
NCO <http://www.nco.northfield.mn.us/doherty>

I HATE COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET. ANY OTHER MEDIA PARTICIPATING?
Some of the panelists will be participating on KYMN radio's Tuesday Talk
program at 9:05 a.m. on December 9, and interviewed for an NTV special
broadcast. The Northfield News featured another article about the forum in
the Wed, Dec. 3 issue and will publish another summarizing the Web forum in
a subsequent issue. There also may be a face-to-face discussion held--TBA.

ANYPLACE IN NORTHFIELD WHERE I CAN GET THE BOOK?
If you'd like to purchase the book "The Intentional Family", please
consider purchasing it from the Northfield Sampler, located in the Archer
House in downtown Northfield.  Proprietor Norman Butler has ordered several
copies of the book and can order more at any time.

I CAN'T REMEMBER MY WEB CAFE USERID AND PASSWORD. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Send an email message to Griff Wigley <griffw [at] nco.northfield.mn.us> and 
he'll
help you out.

WHAT'S THE URL TO GET INTO THE WEB CAFE?
You'll find a link to the Web Cafe entrance from the NCO home page:

   http://nco.northfield.mn.us

The direct entrance to the Cafe is:

   http://nco.northfield.mn.us/motet/bin/home

ANYTHING MORE?
That's it! Thanks, from all of us on the NCO board of directors

         Andrea Christianson, Bob Courchaine, Tracy Hartke,
       George Kinney, Bruce Morlan, Griff Wigley, Lynne Young
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Northfield Citizens Online
                             P.O. Box 21
                         Northfield, MN 55057
                      <http://nco.northfield.mn.us>



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End of MCOWORK Digest 116
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