About the Authors

Dan Clurman and Mudita Nisker

Dan Clurman is a coach, trainer, and professor. Over the past thirty years, he has provided communication training and coaching to individuals and organizations in the private, public, government, and nonprofit sectors. He is on the faculty of the psychology department in the Edward D. Ageno School of Business at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He teaches courses in team dynamics, conflict resolution, and coaching, emphasizing the interplay of critical thinking and communication. He also teaches business communication at UC Berkeley Extension. Dan received a B.A. in anthropology from Columbia University and an M.A. in psychology from Sonoma State University. He is a guild-certified practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education and conducts workshops on the Feldenkrais Method and mindfulness meditation at Spirit Rock meditation center and Esalen Institute. Dan’s publications include Conversations with Critical Thinkers; Floating Upstream: Poems and Drawings; and a book of cartoons, You’ve Got to Draw the Line Somewhere. 

Mudita Nisker is a licensed marriage family therapist (LMFT), coach, and trainer. A strong advocate of lifelong learning, she’s led women’s communication-training groups for over thirty-five years. She also offers training and coaching to private, public, government, and nonprofit organizations. She’s a strong proponent of applying critical thinking to practical, compassionate communication. Her articles in the Buddhist publications Tricycle and Inquiring Mind explore the Buddhist idea of “right speech” in daily life. She has trained staff at leading mindfulness centers such as Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Mudita is a musician and founding member of Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a sixty-four-member company of musicians and dancers specializing in the performing arts of Bali. She has contributed her communication expertise to GSJ’s members and officers since its inception. Parenting her daughter has been one of the great joys of her life. Mudita received her B.A. and M.A. in psychology from the University of Minnesota.