Inspiring Radical Empathy Stomping Ground

What if kids were the researchers? In the second phase of our exploration into the Stomping Ground research project, we welcomed two remarkable members of our Camper Board. We delved into their hopes for the project, drawing from their extensive experience as longtime Stomping Ground campers. Our conversation was a blend of playful curiosity and deep insights, exploring data collection techniques, analyzing golden ages, wrestling with ethical dilemmas around consent and anonymity, and b...

Data makes the world go round. In this episode, we're joined by Tina and Maddy, our incredible partners from SUNY Geneseo who have been helping us design and conduct a research project about camp for the past couple of years. We believe that kids become more radically empathetic decision makers by practicing, and we're collecting the research to back it up. We talk about what shape this project has taken in the past, all that we've learned, and where it's going next summer and beyond. We are ...

For our season finale, we welcome on Lynda and Clayton from the Center for Dispute Settlement. This five episode run was all about bringing you real stories from real people who experienced the power of restorative justice. These two come with a wealth of knowledge and examples of how this work can impact our greater communities. With restorative practices we can start to understand what it means to forgive, heal, and learn in community.

One of our values at camp is unbounded creativity. Often that means how we make up games, silly characters, and imaginative adventures at Stomping Ground. But we also understand creative practices can enhance restorative practices. In this episode we chat with two different artists. Jade, a photographer and teaching artist who has worked with camp before, and Eli, a music therapist in Rochester NY.

Grief is an emotion that often can be scary and difficult to address within ourselves. How do we move on and remember a loved one who has passed away? How do we find empathy in those moments? Join us as we sit with Alex and Bianca from the Gandhi Institute, and we talk through how circles can act as a tool for processing grief.

Restorative justice might be considered an "alternative form" of justice. But what we don't realize is these ideas and values show up in more traditional settings than we realize each day as we continue to push this work. Today we have on Kristina and Johanna, who talk about their experience working in and through mental health courts, and how these programs can offer folks more capabilities to address the harm they have caused and work through their own internal conflicts.