SEPT. 25, 2007

SOURCE GUIDE
Love and forgiveness: experts and organizations

Love and forgiveness may seem like odd topics for journalists to focus on. News, after all, is mostly about what’s going on in the present, while forgiveness is about making peace with the past and forging a more hopeful future. And love? Well, conflict seems to make better news stories.

But the media learned a challenging lesson in 2006 after a gunman murdered five girls at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa. The biggest headline-grabber was the Amish community’s immediate forgiveness of the dead gunman and his family. An awestruck public wanted to know: How can the unforgivable be forgiven?

Journalists discovered the public’s robust appetite for stories of unselfish love and forgiveness, but evidence of that appetite is – and has always been – everywhere. The difference now is that there is an increasing amount of research and advocacy supporting love and forgiveness’ healing role in society – a need that some say has never been greater. This research has moved from infancy to adolescence, and it now documents:

• the mental and physical health benefits of forgiveness and benevolent, altruistic love;
• their success in healing family, work, political and social relationships;
• their role in conflict resolution and reconciliation, even in the toughest circumstances;
• their application for criminal justice and political conflict;
• the concrete steps people must take to move from anger and revenge to love and forgiveness;
• their central role in all major religions.
  

How to use this guide

This guide is organized into several major areas. Click on the topic to jump to it. Many experts are listed in more than one category.

Getting the story
Ten top experts
Organizations
Love & forgiveness in world religions

National sources on forgiveness
    Abuse / Trauma
    Criminal justice / Law
    Families
    Health/Medicine
    International affairs
    Politics
    Psychology
    Race
    Religion
    Science
    Other

National sources on love and altruism
    Psychology / Psychiatry/ Social Science
    Brain research
    Evolution / Biology
    Theologians / Ethicists / Philosophers

Background

Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

If you would like to be added to this source listing or request a change in the information, please email forgive@religionlink.org. If you are requesting a change in the wording of your listing, please state the reason for the change. ReligionLink reserves the right to decide which listings to include.
• For organizations, include the name, mission, Web site and a contact name with phone number and email. Also include any specific areas of interest and expertise.
• For individuals, include name, title, organization, city and state, Web site, areas of expertise, phone number and email.

Getting the story

Dramas involving forgiveness and love happen every day. You don't need to shift focus to report about them; instead, look for ways they are factors in everyday stories and use them to produce deeper, more sophisticated narratives. Here are some tips:
• Forgiveness is an internal process by a person who was wronged. It is different and separate from reconciliation, which requires two parties to come together with mutual respect, and justice, which often involves punishment, compensation or the determination of rights. Individuals can forgive without obtaining justice, reconciling or condoning the wrong done to them.
• Public apologies are common, whether they are by politicians, sports figures, criminals or institutions whose leaders become aware that they have done wrong in the past. Explore what inspired an apology and what effect it might have. Is it an example of "spinning sorrow" - as Gregory Jones, dean of Duke Divinity School, calls apologies meant to repair someone's public image - or is it a sincere change of heart or admission of wrongdoing? Do apologetic actions follow the words?
• A new frontier of research is exploring what happens when something sacred is violated, such as marriage vows or religious trust - violations that sometimes result in divorces, lawsuits or crimes.
" Much attention is given to post-traumatic stress, but researchers are also studying post-traumatic growth - the positive ways people grow when they are able to move beyond horrific experiences.
• Researchers can document that forgiving is healthy and can reduce stress, improve heart health and help people cope with disease. The next time you profile someone facing a challenge, explore how that person's ability to forgive and to give to others affects him or her.
• The spiritual side of forgiveness and altruism can differ from their secular benefits. Christians are to offer forgiveness as a gift modeled after God's forgiveness of sins, regardless of any health benefits. How do people's religion affect their ability to forgive and give to others?

Ten top experts

• Robert D. Enright is a pioneer in forgiveness research. He is an educational psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin and a board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, which was set up to disseminate the results of his research on forgiveness. His books include Forgiveness Is a Choice: A Step-By-Step Process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope. Contact 608-262-0835, forgive@sbcglobal.net.
• Donald Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor and senior fellow of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa. He has more than 20 books to his credit, including (as co-author) Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, which explores the Amish response to the 2006 murders at Nickel Mines; (as co-editor) Building Communities of Compassion: Mennonite Mutual Aid in Theory and Practice; and (as co-author) Mennonite Peacemaking: From Quietism to Activism. Contact kraybilld@etown.edu.
• Frederic Luskin is a senior consultant in health promotion at Stanford University, where he teaches classes on spirituality and health and positive psychology.  He serves as director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects and was co-director of the Stanford-Northern Ireland HOPE Projects, which explored the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on victims of political violence. He gives lectures and workshops on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness across the country. He is the author of Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness, co-author of Stress Free for Good: 10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness and author of an upcoming guide for forgiveness for couples, Forgive for Love: The Missing Ingredient for a Healthy and Lasting Relationship. Contact 650-208-7658, fredl@stanford.edu.
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr is University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a leading scholar of Islam. He has written more than 50 books, including The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity. Much of his work focuses on Islamic spiritual values, and he is often quoted in the media. Contact 202-994-5704, zsirat@gwu.edu.
• Samuel P. Oliner and his wife, Pearl Oliner, founded the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. A native of Poland and Holocaust survivor, Samuel Oliner, an emeritus professor of sociology, has written extensively about altruism. His forthcoming book is Altruism, Intergroup Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation; one chapter deals with forgiveness in different religious traditions. He directs the institute, and Pearl Oliner is research director. Its Web site offers extensive links about altruism. Contact Samuel, 707-826-4553, spo1@axe.humbodlt.edu; Pearl, 707-826-3669, pmo1@humboldt.edu.
• Rodney L. Petersen is executive director of The Boston Theological Institute, which offers a certificate program in religion and conflict transformation that includes forgiveness training. He is the co-editor of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation and teaches classes in conflict resolution and reconciliation in religious and international arenas. Contact 617-527-4880 ext. 2, petersen@bostontheological.org.
• Stephen G. Post is professor of bioethics, philosophy and religion at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a leading scholar on love and altruism. He is president of The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which studies the benefits of benevolent love. His most recent book is, as co-author, Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research That Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life. He also wrote Unlimited Love: Altruism, Compassion and Service and co-edited Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue. Contact 216-368-6205, Stephen.post@case.edu.
• Janet Ramsey is associate professor of congregational care leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. She teaches a cross-disciplined course on forgiveness and healing at Luther, speaks frequently on the topic at churches and conferences, and is the author of several articles and two Sunday school series on forgiveness. She is co-authoring, with systematic theologian Lois Malcolm, the forthcoming book Discerning Forgiveness: Deep Theology, Wise Practice. A licensed marriage and family therapist, Ramsey has particular interests in ways that object relations theory and the humanities can help us explore the complexities of forgiveness. Contact 651-641-3350, jramsey@luthersem.edu.
• Ervin Staub is a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and founding director, emeritus, of the Ph.D. concentration in the psychology of peace and the prevention of violence, there.  A Holocaust survivor, he studies helping behavior and altruism and the roots and prevention of violence between groups, especially after mass killings, genocide and terrorism. He also promotes reconciliation in real-world settings. He has worked with police on reducing the use of unnecessary force after the Rodney King incident, on healing and reconciliation in New Orleans after Katrina, and on healing, reconciliation and the prevention of new violence in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. He is the author of The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence and The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults and Groups Help and Harm Others. He is working on two books, tentatively titled Understanding Origins, Prevention and Reconciliation: Genocide, Mass Killing, Intractable Conflict and Terrorism; and A Brighter Future: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage and Altruism Born of Suffering. Contact 413-545-0071, estaub@psych.umass.edu.
• Everett L. Worthington Jr. is a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was the founding executive director of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research for its first seven years, and he is one of the country’s foremost experts on empirical research about forgiveness.  Among his forthcoming books is Just Forgiving, about the relationship between personal forgiveness and social justice. Contact 804-828-1150, eworth@vcu.edu.

Organizations
Centers that research and promote love and/or forgiveness

• The Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., studies and promotes altruistic and heroic behavior. Samuel P. Oliner, a Holocaust survivor, and his wife, Pearl, are co-founders. Contact Samuel Oliner, 707-826-4553, spo1@axe.humbodlt.edu; Pearl Oliner, 707-826-3669, pmo1@humboldt.edu.
• A Campaign for Forgiveness Research funded nearly 50 scientific research projects about forgiveness, and its Web site links to research and other resources. The campaign, which is based in Alexandria, Va., is now focused on disseminating the results of that research. Contact Pamela Thompson, vice president of communications for the Templeton Foundation, 610-941-5194, pthompson@templeton.org.
• The Campaign for Love & Forgiveness is sponsored by the Fetzer Institute. It “combines public television programming, community activities and events, and on-line discussions to encourage contemplation and conversation about how love and forgiveness can effect meaningful change in individuals and society.” Upcoming television documentaries are The Power of Forgiveness and Unforgivable?, which features people who have faced tragedy and struggled to forgive. The campaign’s spokespeople include Azim Khamisa, founder of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, and Susan Retik, co-founder of Beyond the 11^th. Contact through the campaign’s publicist, Erin Martin Kane, 508-309-3530, erin@emkpr.com.
• The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love does research on benevolent love and encourages dialogue in international and spiritual communities as well as among the wider public with the goal of “global human enhancement.” Contact President Stephen G. Post at Case Western Reserve University, where he is a professor, 216-368-6205, Stephen.post@case.edu.
• The International Forgiveness Institute promotes the psychology and education of forgiveness with the goal of “restoring healthy emotions, rebuilding relationships, and establishing more peaceful communities.” It was formed in 1994 as a way to share the research findings of Robert Enright, an educational psychology professor at the University Wisconsin. It is based in Madison. Contact 608-251-6484.
• The Catherine Blount Foundation works to demonstrate and teach about the healing power of forgiveness, with the ultimate goal of creating a peaceful world. Aba Gayle founded the foundation in 1998 in memory of her daughter, Catherine Blount, who was murdered at age 19. Contact Gayle in Silverton, Ore., abagayle33@aol.com.
• The Forgiveness Project is a nonprofit organization that explores forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution through personal stories with the aim of raising awareness, educating people and inspiring people toward transformation. It is based in London, England. Contact director Marina Cantacuzino at 44 (0)208 964 4034.
• The Institute for Radical Forgiveness was founded by Colin Tipping to “raise the consciousness of the planet to create a world of forgiveness by 2012.” It’s based in Marietta, Ga. Contact Tipping, author of Radical Forgiveness, at 770-428-9181.
• The Shamatha Project is a research project that is attempting to measure the human potential for happiness by studying the long-term benefits of meditative practice. It is a collaboration between neuroscientists and psychologists at the University of California and B. Alan Wallace, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who is founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. Contact 888-788-7221, shamatha@shambhalamountain.org.
• The Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, based in Mill Valley, Calif., promotes the healing power of forgiveness worldwide. It established International Forgiveness Day, which is celebrated the first Sunday of August. Contact alliance founder Robert W. Plath, 415-381-3372, rwplath@forgivenessday.org.
• The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, does research on the social and biological roots of positive emotions, with the goal of expanding the social well-being of individuals, relationships and communities. Its faculty includes professors of psychology, business and social welfare. Contact executive director Christine Carter McLaughlin or co-director Dacher Keltner, 510-643-8965.
• The Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver, Canada, supports “education of the heart” and teachings on kindness, compassion and interconnectedness through research, education and dialogue. Contact 604-215-2352.

RECONCILIATION CENTERS
• The Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies is at Fresno Pacific University. Contact Director Ron Claassen, who is a Mennonite minister, 559-453-3420, rlclaass@fresno.edu.
• The Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking is at the University of Minnesota school of social work. Founding director Mark Umbreit is also on the faculty of the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the university. Contact 612-625-7726, mumbreit@tc.umn.edu.
• Fellowship of Reconciliation is an interfaith organization that promotes nonviolence, peace and justice, partly through forgiveness. It was formed in 1915 in response to World War I and has programs in many countries. It’s based in Nyack, N.Y. Contact executive director Mark Johnson, 845-358-4601, mjohnson@forusa.org.
• The JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation is a United Methodist center for conflict resolution. Established in 2000, JUSTPEACE trains people in conflict transformation and restorative justice. Contact the Rev. Thomas J. Porter, executive director, 202-488-5647, tporter@JUSTPEACEumc.org.
• Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation was founded in 1976 as an organization for family members who have a relative who was murdered and who oppose the death penalty. Contact board chairwoman Pat Clark, former executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, in Washington, D.C., 877-896-4702.
• Victim Offender Mediation Association in St. Paul, Minn., is an international membership association of people who work at restorative justice. Contact 612-874-0570, voma@voma.org.

Love & forgiveness in world religions

Love and forgiveness are part of all world religions, though there are nuances in the teachings about them:

CHRISTIANITY
For Christians, love is a central action and duty. In the Gospels, Jesus commands his followers to love God and their neighbors, calling this the essence of moral law and a requirement to gain eternal life. Jesus also says, “Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44)

Forgiveness is also a central teaching in Christianity. It’s mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus teaches to his followers. In that prayer, forgiveness is to be sought as well as given. The person who forgives a wrongdoer should also ask God for forgiveness for transgressions, making God ultimately the judge and forgiver. An offender must also sincerely commit to change.

JUDAISM
Love and kindness are fundamental duties toward one’s neighbor. Doing loving deeds and helping one’s neighbor is a major requirement (mitzvah) in the Jewish tradition, as is rendering justice and kindness to the stranger.

If wrongs (hurt or harm) are committed, the wrongdoer is required to apologize to the person or group harmed and to ask for forgiveness. It is more important for the offender to ask the offended for forgiveness than to ask God to forgive. The annual observance of Yom Kippur reminds Jews about the importance of apology and forgiveness. Between the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jews are expected to apologize to any person or group they have offended. During Yom Kippur, they also ask God for forgiveness, and tradition holds that God will only forgive the offender once their neighbor has forgiven them. Apology has to be genuine for forgiveness to lead to genuine reconciliation.

ISLAM
A number of Allah’s (God’s) 99 attributes, or names, express superlative qualities of forgiveness and love: most merciful, most loving, most forgiving. As part of their prayers, Muslims frequently ask Allah for forgiveness. Islam distinguishes between offenses against Allah and offenses against another person. In both cases, the offender must acknowledge the offense and ask pardon. If the offense involves a person, restitution is required in order to replace a bad deed with a good one. The offender must also vow to Allah, the offended party and himself or herself not to offend again. Once a person asks Allah for forgiveness and corrects his or her behavior, that person knows that Allah has forgiven the offense.

Allah is also the ultimate source of all love, and divine love manifests itself in many ways, including mercy, wise guidance and such earthly blessings as good health and family. The Sufi sect of Islam stresses seeking the direct experience of this divine love.

HINDUISM
In Hinduism, all actions have consequences (karma). Bad karma follows from harmful actions. Forgiveness (kshama) by itself is less important than steadfast aspiration to ethical conduct, which acts to purify the mind of egotism and thus helps to free the believer from reincarnation. Forgiveness is only one of the ethical virtues a Hindu is expected to practice.

Love is a central element in Hinduism, which adherents often refer to as a way of life rather than a religion. One school of Hindu practice emphasizes a relationship of intense love (devotion, or bhakti) between a deity and worshippers. Hindus understand life as a series of stages of spiritual development, and the stage of householding includes sexual love (kama). Hindu classical literature includes stories and legends of deities and figures in love. Love in the sense of compassion (daya) for suffering beings is also a central element of Hinduism, and social service is seen by some Hindus as a form of worship.

BUDDHISM
Practices and ideas that express love are woven throughout Buddhism. Compassion (karuna) is an important Buddhist quality, and Buddhists seek to cultivate compassion as a response to suffering. The Mahayana school of Buddhism emphasizes compassion, and Mahayanists postpone nirvana, a transcendent state of freedom, in order to compassionately help other beings. Lovingkindness (metta in Pali, maitri in Sanskrit), another very important Buddhist quality, is a disinterested wish for, or action to achieve, well-being and happiness for another or for oneself. The virtuous practice of giving (dana) is also important. The intention behind giving makes a difference. Giving without seeking anything is superior to giving with some expectation of benefit.

Buddhism does not have a supreme being, so forgiveness for harm does not involve the divine. Forgiveness, a form of compassion, represents recognition of interconnectedness between wrongdoer and the one wronged. Harming someone, which can be termed “unskillful action,” generates consequences. These must be mitigated somehow so that the person who has harmed another can be freed from the cycle of rebirth.

National sources on forgiveness

ABUSE / TRAUMA
• The Rev. Marie M. Fortune is founder and senior analyst at the Faith Trust Institute in Seattle, which works to end sexual and domestic violence, particularly in faith communities. She co-edited Forgiveness and Abuse: Jewish and Christian Reflections and is a United Church of Christ minister. Contact 206-634-1903.
• Dr. Ming T. Tsuang is a leading researcher in human genetics, behavior and neuropsychiatric diseases. He holds many titles: Behavioral Genomics Endowed Chair and University Professor at the University of California; Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and director, Center for Behavioral Genomics, department of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego; and director of the Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics. He has studied the role of forgiveness and spirituality in the process of coping with combat trauma. Contact 858-534-3684, mtsuang@ucsd.edu.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE / LAW
For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issue on restorative justice.

• Nasser Hussain is assistant professor of law, jurisprudence and social thought at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. He co-edited Forgiveness, Mercy and Clemency (2007) and teaches the courses Law, God and Modernity and When Law Fails. Contact 413-542-8412, nhussain@amherst.edu.
• Lisa Barnes Lampman is senior consultant at Dare Mighty Things and editor of God and the Victim: Theological Reflections on Evil, Victimization, Justice and Forgiveness. She formerly worked as vice president of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Contact her in Virginia, 703-752-4331, lbl@daremightythings.com.
• Jeffrie G. Murphy is professor of law, philosophy and religious studies at Arizona State University in Tempe. He is the author of Getting Even: Forgiveness and Its Limits and co-editor of Before Forgiving: Cautionary Views of Forgiveness in Psychotherapy. Contact 480-965-5856, jeffrie.murphy@asu.edu.

FAMILIES
• Robert Coles is professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at Harvard University Medical School. Renowned for his work with poor and disadvantaged children, Coles is co-chairman of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. His five-volume Children of Crisis won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Contact 617-591-9389, rcoles@fas.harvard.edu.
• Frederick A. DiBlasio is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work whose research and practice focuses on the clinical use of forgiveness, particularly within families and marriages. His model on decision-based forgiveness has been proved to be an effective treatment for helping people forgive. Contact 410-706-7799, fdiblasio@ssw.umaryland.edu .
• Frank Fincham is Eminent Scholar and director of the Family Institute at Florida State University. One of his primary research interests is forgiveness within families, and he has done research and published articles on forgiveness between spouses and between parents and children. Contact 850-644-4914, ffincham@fsu.edu.
• Ken Sande, an attorney and engineer, is president of Peacemaker Ministries, a nonprofit based in Billings, Mont., that helps Christians and their churches resolve conflicts using biblical principles. He is the author of The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict and co-author of Peacemaking for Families: A Biblical Guide to Managing Conflict in Your Home. Contact 406-256-1583 ext. 106, president@peacemaker.net.
• Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a scientist at Great Ape Trust of Iowa who has studied how youngsters learn forgiveness from caregivers. Contact 515-243-3580.

HEALTH/MEDICINE
Also see PSYCHOLOGY

• Nancy Berlinger is deputy director and associate for religious studies at The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute in Garrison, N.Y. She is the author of After Harm: Medical Error and the Ethics of Forgiveness. Contact 845-424-4040 ext. 210, berlingern@thehastingscenter.org.
• Brian Childs is director of clinical ethics and spiritual care for Shore Health System in the University of Maryland Medical System. He has researched how forgiveness training impacts the mental and physical health of AIDS patients. His dissertation at Princeton Theological Seminary explored forgiveness among preschool children. Contact 410-228-5511 ext. 5259.
• Frederic Luskin is a senior consultant in health promotion at Stanford University, where he teaches classes on spirituality and health and positive psychology.  He serves as director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects and was co-director of the Stanford-Northern Ireland HOPE Projects, which explored the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on victims of political violence. He gives lectures and workshops on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness across the country. He is the author of Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness, co-author of Stress Free for Good: 10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness and author of an upcoming guide for forgiveness for couples, Forgive for Love: The Missing Ingredient for a Healthy and Lasting Relationship. Contact 650-208-7658, fredl@stanford.edu.
• Stephen G. Post is professor of bioethics, philosophy and religion at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a leading scholar on love and altruism. He is president of The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which studies the benefits of benevolent love. His most recent book is, as co-author, Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research that Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life. He also wrote Unlimited Love: Altruism, Compassion and Service and co-edited Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue. Contact 216-368-6205, Stephen.post@case.edu.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
• The Rev. Raymond G. Helmick is an adjunct faculty member in the theology department of Boston College and co-editor of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation. He specializes in studying and mediating international conflicts, including the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Contact 617-552-3880, raymond.helmick@bc.edu.
• John Paul Lederach is professor of international peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. He is known for his international work in conflict transformation, which includes work in Colombia, the Philippines, Nepal and Tajikistan, and in East and West Africa. His books include The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Contact 574-631-6970, jplbus@gmail.com.
• Martha L. Minow is the Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard University. She is co-editor of Imagine Coexistence: Restoring Humanity After Violent Ethnic Conflict and author of Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence. Contact 617-496-1768, minow@law.harvard.edu, or through assistant Kristin Flower, 617-496-1768.
• Rodney L. Petersen is executive director of The Boston Theological Institute, which offers a certificate program in religion and conflict transformation that includes forgiveness training. He is the co-editor of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation and teaches classes in conflict resolution and reconciliation in religious and international arenas. Contact 617-527-4880 ext. 2, petersen@bostontheological.org.
• Ervin Staub is a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and founding director, emeritus, of the Ph.D. concentration in the psychology of peace and the prevention of violence, there.  A Holocaust survivor, he studies helping behavior and altruism and the roots and prevention of violence between groups, especially after mass killings, genocide and terrorism. He also promotes reconciliation in real-world settings. He has worked with police on reducing the use of unnecessary force after the Rodney King incident, on healing and reconciliation in New Orleans after Katrina, and on healing, reconciliation and the prevention of new violence in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. He is the author of The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence and The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults and Groups Help and Harm Others. He is working on two books, tentatively titled Understanding Origins, Prevention and Reconciliation: Genocide, Mass Killing, Intractable Conflict and Terrorism; and A Brighter Future: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage and Altruism Born of Suffering. Contact 413-545-0071, estaub@psych.umass.edu.

POLITICS
• The Rev. Raymond G. Helmick is an adjunct faculty member in the theology department of Boston College and co-editor of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation. He specializes in studying and mediating international conflicts, including the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Contact 617-552-3880, raymond.helmick@bc.edu.
• Ifi Amadiume is professor of religion at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and co-editor of The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing & Social Justice. She has published three award-winning collections of poetry; a fourth collection is just out. Her poems explore love of people, nature, Sufism and struggle, celebrating activism and activists. Contact 603-646-1692 ifi.amadiume@dartmouth.edu.
• Rodney L. Petersen is executive director of The Boston Theological Institute, which offers a certificate program in religion and conflict transformation that includes forgiveness training. He is the co-editor of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion, Public Policy and Conflict Transformation and teaches classes in conflict resolution and reconciliation in religious and international arenas. Contact 617-527-4880 ext. 2, petersen@bostontheological.org.

PSYCHOLOGY
• Radhi H. Al-Mabuk is associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Northern Iowa whose research focuses on the psychology of revenge – its causes, consequences and ways to deal with it. He has written a book on that topic as well as several articles on forgiveness. Contact 319-273-2694, Radhi.Al-Mabuk@uni.edu.
• Eileen Borris is a licensed clinical psychologist who promotes forgiveness in the healing of emotional wounds on personal and political levels. She is the author of Finding Forgiveness: A 7-Step Program for Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness and Forgiveness: The Ultimate Freedom. She is also the director of training and program development for the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Arlington, Va., where she works in international conflict resolution. This work has taken her to the Middle East, Pakistan, Indonesia, India and the Tibetan government in exile. She is the former president of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence of the American Psychological Association. Contact her in Paradise Valley, Ariz., at 480-951-0544, dreileen@dreileenborris.com.
• Thomas Bradbury is a psychology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who studies causes of satisfaction in marriage and educational programs for couples, including forgiveness. Contact 310-825-3735, bradbury@psych.ucla.edu.
• Susanne Denham is a psychology professor at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., who has studied how the ability to forgive develops in the first decade of life. Contact 703-993-1378, sdenham@gmu.edu.
• Frans B.M. deWaal is the C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University, and he directs the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. His renowned research with primates has looked at the evolution of human emotions and morals, and he has studied whether apes can feel sympathy. He has studied how nonhuman primates reconcile after fights. Contact 404-727-7898 or 404-727-3695, dewaal@emory.edu.
• Robert D. Enright is a pioneer in forgiveness research. He is an educational psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin and a board member of the International Forgiveness Institute, which was set up to disseminate the results of his research on forgiveness. His books include Forgiveness Is a Choice: A Step-By-Step Process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope. Contact 608-262-0835, forgive@sbcglobal.net.
• Pete Hill is a psychology professor at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. He specializes in the psychology of religion and has done research on individuals’ right to choose whether to forgive, restorative justice and the role of apology. Contact 562-903-5774, peter.hill@biola.edu.
• Dacher Keltner is a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley; co-director of the Greater Good Science Center; and director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory. His research focuses on “prosocial” emotions, such as love, sympathy and gratitude. Contact 510-642-5368, keltner@berkeley.edu.
• Michael E. McCullough is professor of psychology and religious studies at the University of Miami in Coral Cables. He directs the Laboratory for Social Clinical Psychology, where the consequences of forgiveness and related moral emotions and their effects on health and well-being are being studied. He is co-editor of Forgiveness: Theory, Research and Practice and author of the forthcoming Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct. Contact 305-284-8057, mikem@miami.edu.
• Kenneth Pargament is a psychology professor at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, whose research focuses on religious beliefs and health. He has studied how forgiveness therapy affects people who have divorced. He is the author of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy:  Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. Contact 419-372-8037, kpargam@bgnet.bgsu.edu.
• Laurie Anne Pearlman co-founded the Traumatic Stress Institute and the Trauma Research, Education and Training Institute, where she still serves as president. She also directs the Clinical Associates Program of the Headington Institute, which offers psychological and spiritual support to relief and development workers around the world. She serves on the practice committee of the American Psychological Association’s trauma division and the complex trauma task force of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She did research with Professor Ervin Staub on forgiveness in Rwanda and currently works on a public education project in East Africa that includes psychological trauma recovery and reconciliation. Contact her in Massachusetts, 413-636-8210, Lpearlmanphd@comcast.net.
• Solomon Schimmel, professor of education and psychology at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass., researched post-apartheid South Africa to write the award-winning Wounds Not Healed by Time: The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness. Contact 617-559-8621, sschimmel@hebrewcollege.edu.
• Ervin Staub is a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and founding director, emeritus, of the Ph.D. concentration in the psychology of peace and the prevention of violence, there.  A Holocaust survivor, he studies helping behavior and altruism and the roots and prevention of violence between groups, especially after mass killings, genocide and terrorism. He also promotes reconciliation in real-world settings. He has worked with police on reducing the use of unnecessary force after the Rodney King incident, on healing and reconciliation in New Orleans after Katrina, and on healing, reconciliation and the prevention of new violence in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo. He is the author of The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence and The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults and Groups Help and Harm Others. He is working on two books, tentatively titled Understanding Origins, Prevention and Reconciliation: Genocide, Mass Killing, Intractable Conflict and Terrorism; and A Brighter Future: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage and Altruism Born of Suffering. Contact 413-545-0071, estaub@psych.umass.edu.
• June Tangney is a psychology professor at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., who has studied how individual traits and situations contribute to forgiveness. Contact 703-993-1365, jtangney@gmu.edu.
• Carl Thoresen is a professor emeritus of education, psychology and psychiatry/behavioral sciences at Stanford University and senior fellow at the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University. His most recent book is, as co-editor, Spirit, Science and Health: How the Spiritual Mind Fuels Physical Wellness. Contact 408-354-5375, cthor@stanford.edu.
• Everett L. Worthington Jr. is a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was the founding executive director of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research for its first seven years, and he is one of the country’s foremost experts on empirical research about forgiveness.  Among his forthcoming books is Just Forgiving, about the relationship between personal forgiveness and social justice. Contact 804-828-1150, eworth@vcu.edu.
• Charlotte vanOyen Witvliet is an associate professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Mich. Forgiveness and health constitute one of her primary areas of interest, and she is researching how the emotion of forgiveness relates to health. Contact 616-395-7167, witvliet@hope.edu.

RACE
• Ruby Bridges Hall founded the Ruby Bridges Foundation in 1999 out of her experience in 1960 as the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school. The foundation, based in New Orleans, promotes tolerance, respect and acceptance of differences. She is also co-chair of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. Contact 1-800-798-7829.
• Roy L. Brooks is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego in California and the author of Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations. Contact 619-260-4600, rbrooks@SanDiego.edu.
• Kent Nerburn is an author, sculptor and educator with degrees in theology and art who focuses on Native American issues. He is the author of Calm Surrender: Walking the Path of Forgiveness. He lives in Minnesota. Contact through his Web site.
• Jeffrey Sonis is assistant professor of social medicine and family medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He researches the psychosocial consequences of human rights violations. He has also studied the potential for mechanisms that facilitate justice, such as truth commissions and tribunals, for improving racial and ethnic tension, including in South Africa; Greensboro, N.C.; and Cambodia. Contact 919-843-8264, jsonis@med.unc.edu.

RELIGION
• Stephen G. Post is professor of bioethics, philosophy and religion at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a leading scholar on love and altruism. He is president of The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which studies the benefits of benevolent love. His most recent book is, as co-author, Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research That Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life. He also wrote Unlimited Love: Altruism, Compassion and Service and co-edited Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue. Contact 216-368-6205, Stephen.post@case.edu.

SCIENCE
• Lydia R. Temoshok is director of the behavioral medicine program at the Institute of Human Virology and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. She is internationally known for her work in psychoneuroimmunology, which studies the relationship among mind, the central nervous system, the immune system and the outcome of immunologically mediated diseases. In particular, she has studied the role of forgiveness in the health of people living with HIV and AIDS. Contact 410-706-2621, temoshok@umbi.umd.edu.

OTHER
• Kim Cameron is professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has researched whether corporations can more successfully weather downsizing if they ask forgiveness from their employees. He has also studied how other virtues, such as humility and compassion, affect the success of organizations. Contact 734-615-5247, kim_cameron@umich.edu.
• Ellis Cose, a contributing editor to Newsweek, is author of Bone to Pick: Of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Reparation and Revenge. Contact ellis@elliscose.com.
• Louise DeSalvo is the Jenny Hunter Endowed Scholar for Creative Writing and Literature at Hunter College at the City University of New York. She is the author of the memoirs Crazy in the Kitchen: Food, Feuds and Forgiveness in an Italian American Family and the book Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives, a resource for writers recovering from trauma, illness, or terrorist acts.  Contact 973-746-3181, louisedesalvo@comcast.net.
• Trudy Govier is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, where, in addition to other duties, she continues to research trust, forgiveness, reconciliation, argumentation and conflict resolution. Her books include Taking Wrongs Seriously: Acknowledgment, Reconciliation and the Politics of Sustainable Peace; A Practical Study of Argument; and Forgiveness and Revenge. Contact trudy.govier@uleth.ca.
• Charles Griswold is a philosophy professor at Boston University whose most recent book is Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration (2007), which examines the nature of forgiveness and sympathy and their political dimensions. Contact 617-353-2571, griswold@bu.edu.
• Douglas L. Kelley is associate professor of communication studies at Arizona State University, where he studies communication patterns in families and personal relationships. His recent published work has appeared in the Journal of Family Communication, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and Communication Quarterly. With Vince Waldron, he is author of the scholarly text Communicating Forgiveness and the forthcoming general audience book, Marriage Is For-Giving. Contact 602-543-6641.
• Vince Waldron is professor of communication studies at Arizona State University. With his colleague Douglas Kelley, he is author of the scholarly text Communicating Forgiveness and the forthcoming general audience book Marriage Is For-Giving. Contact 602-543-6634, vincent.waldron@asu.edu.
• Steven J. Sandage is associate professor of marriage and family studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. A psychologist, he is co-author of The Faces of Forgiveness: Searching for Wholeness and Salvation and To Forgive Is Human: How to Put Your Past in the Past. Contact 651-638-6170, s-sandage@bethel.edu.
• Julia A. Upton is professor and provost at St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y. She is author of A Time for Embracing:  Reclaiming Reconciliation. Contact 718-990-6308, uptonj@stjohns.edu.

National sources on love and altruism

For more sources, see ReligionLink’s issue on altruism.

PSYCHOLOGY / PSYCHIATRY/ SOCIAL SCIENCE
• C. Daniel Batson is a professor of social psychology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. His research has focused on why people help others and on the relationships between altruism, empathy and religion. He wrote The Altruism Question: Toward a Social-Psychological Answer and co-authored Religion and the Individual: A Social-Psychological Perspective. Contact 785-864-9831.
• Dr. Gregory Fricchione is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass. He is director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine and an expert on stress and depression. Among his publications are “Illness and the Origin of Caring” in the March 1993 issue of the Journal of Medical Humanities. Contact 617-726-7695, gfricchione@partners.org.
• Jerome Kagan is the Daniel and Amy Starch Research Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. His research on human temperament has been influential. He spoke about the human moral sense at a 1999 conference on empathy and altruism. Contact 617-495-3870, jk@wjh.harvard.edu.
• Samuel P. Oliner and his wife, Pearl Oliner, founded the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. A native of Poland and Holocaust survivor, Samuel Oliner, an emeritus professor of sociology, has written extensively about altruism. His forthcoming book is Altruism, Intergroup Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation; one chapter deals with forgiveness in different religious traditions. He directs the institute, and Pearl Oliner is research director. Its Web site offers extensive links about altruism. Contact Samuel Oliner, 707-826-4553, spo1@axe.humbodlt.edu; Pearl Oliner, 707-826-3669, pmo1@humboldt.edu
• Paul Wink is a professor of psychology at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass. He researches adult development and aging and has studied the effects of religion and spirituality on life development and choices, including religious commitment and altruistic behavior. Contact 781-283-3729.

BRAIN RESEARCH
• Dr. Antonio Damasio holds the David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience and is a psychology professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. A neuroscientist who has extensively studied human emotions and consciousness, he directs USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute. He can speak about the neurobiology of love. Contact 213-740-3462, damasio@usc.edu.
• Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is a professor of psychology and neuroscience who directs the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego. Among his research interests is the neural basis of empathy. Contact 858-534-6240.

EVOLUTION / BIOLOGY
• Frans B.M. deWaal is C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University, and he directs the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. His renowned research with primates has looked at the evolution of human emotions and morals, and he has studied whether apes can feel sympathy. He has studied how nonhuman primates reconcile after fights. Contact 404-727-7898 or 404-727-3695, dewaal@emory.edu.
• William H. Durham is Bing Professor of Human Biology and chair and professor of anthropological sciences at Stanford University. He has studied the role of culture in the evolution of altruism. Contact 650-723-0867, eb.whd@stanford.edu.
• Jeffrey P. Schloss is a biology professor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif. He has written about evolution and unconditional love. Contact 805-565-6118 or 805-565-6151, schloss@westmont.edu.
• David Sloan Wilson is a professor of evolutionary biology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. One area of his expertise is the evolution of altruism. Contact 607-777-4393, dwilson@binghamton.edu.

THEOLOGIANS / ETHICISTS / PHILOSOPHERS

CHRISTIAN
• Bernard V. Brady is a professor and chairman of the theology department at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. He wrote Christian Love: How Christians Through the Ages Have Understood Love. Contact 651-962-5303.
• Don Browning is the Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His many interests include the relationship of theology and psychology, religion and family, and the subjects of empathy and selfless love. Contact 773-702-9249, dsbrowni@midway.uchicago.edu.
• Sarah Coakley and Martin Nowak are researching the evolution of altruistic behavior, forgiveness and unselfish love at Harvard University. Coakley is Visiting Professor of Systematic and Philosophical Theology at Harvard Divinity School. Nowak is a professor of mathematics and biology and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, a quantitative approach to evolutionary theory. Contact through Amy Ashbacher at Harvard, 617-496-4737, ashbach@fas.harvard.edu or martin_nowak@harvard.edu.
• Andrew Michael Flescher is an assistant professor of religious studies who taught a course about altruism at California State University in Chico. He co-wrote the 2007 book The Altruistic Species: Scientific, Philosophical and Religious Perspectives of Human Benevolence. Contact 530-898-5534, AFlescher@csuchico.edu.
• Amy Laura Hall is an associate professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. She teaches courses on Christian love. Contact 919-660-3403, alhall@div.duke.edu.
• Dr. William B. Hurlbut is a bioethicist and physician at Stanford University School of Medicine. A member of President Bush’s Council on Bioethics, he is interested in the neurophysiology of moral and religious capacities. Among his publications is Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue, which he co-edited. Contact 650-725-2610, ethics@stanford.edu.
• Timothy P. Jackson is associate professor of Christian ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. He has written two books on love and justice. Contact 4