Dear Colleagues:

The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love -
Altruism, Compassion, and Service, announces
a course competition below. In response to a
number of queries, I have put together a
representative list of some texts that might
be useful as you develop an application for
this $6,000 award. The applications are not
due until September of 2004, but it is important
to start thinking about course development now,
both with respect to content and curricular space
in your institution.

Please also note, under "Publications," the
remarkable new book by Michael Edwards, "Civil
Society," which does a splendid job of describing
the nature of the good society and the role that associations, including religious ones, have
in its construction.

Thank you very much.

With Every Best Wish

Stephen G. Post, President
Institute for Research on Unlimited Love 



Research Notes



The serious scientific study of altruism and compassionate love has emerged as a focus of
some remarkable books. I provide this list of recommended texts for those of you who are
getting started in this field, although these
subtopics are just the tip of the iceberg.

THE ALTRUISTIC PERSONALITY

Anne Colby & William Damon, Some Do Care:
Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment. New York:
Free Press, 1992.

Andrew Michael Flescher, Heroes, Saints & Ordinary Morality. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown
University Press, 2003.

Kristen Renwick Monroe, The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.

Pearl M. Oliner, Samuel P. Oliner, Lawrence Baron, Lawrence A. Blum, Dennis L. Krebs, M. Zuzanna
Smolenska, eds., Embracing the Others: Philosophical, Psychological, and Historical Perspectives on
Altruism. New York: New York University Press, 1992.

Samuel P. Oliner, Do Unto Others: Extraordinary
Acts of Ordinary People.Boulder, Co.: Westview
Press, 2003.

Christine D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering
Hospitality as a Christian Tradition. Grand Rapids,
Mi.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999.

Stephen J. Pope, The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love. Washington, D.C:
Georgetown University Press, 1994.

Edith Wyschogrod, Saints and Postmodernism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.


EVOLUTION, CULTURE, ALTRUISM AND AGAPE

Richard D. Alexander, The Biology of Moral
Systems. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter,1987.

Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1976.

Colin Grant, Altruism and Christian Ethics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Eva-Lotta Granten, Patterns of Care: Relating
Altruism in Sociobiology and the Christian
Tradition of Agape. Lund, Sweden: Lund University
Press, 2003.

Melvin Konner, The Tangled Wing: Biological
Constraints on the Human Spirit. 2nd edition.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2002.

Holmes Rolston, III, Genes, Genesis and God:
Values and Their Origins in Natural and Human
History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1999.

Christian Smith, Moral, Believing Animals:
Human Personhood and Culture. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003.

David Sloan Wilson, Darwin's Cathedral:
Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Robert Wright, The Moral Animal: Why We Are the
Way We Are. London: Abacus, 1994.

GENEROSITY AND THE AFFECTIONS

Antonio Damasio, Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow,
and the Feeling Brain. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2003.

Edward Collins Vacek, Love, Human and Divine.
Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1994.

Richard J. Davidson and Anne Harrington, eds.,
Visions of Compassion: Western Scientists and
Tibetan Buddhists Examine Humans Nature. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002.

Lewis Thomas, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon.
A General Theory of Love. New York: Random
House, 2000.

Stephen G. Post, Lynn G. Underwood, Jeffrey S.
Schloss, and William B. Hurlbutt, eds. Altruism
and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and
Religion in Dialogue. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2002.

Stephen G. Post, Unlimited Love - Altruism,
Compassion, Service. Philadelphia, Pa.:
Templeton Foundation Press, 2003.


METAPHYSICS

Ursula King, "Theories of Love: Sorokin. Teilhard,
and Tillich," Zygon, Vol. 39, No. 1, March 2004,
pp. 77-102.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam: Enduring
Values for Humanity San Francisco: HarperCollins,
2002, Chapter Five, "Compassion and Love."

John Polkinghornse, ed., The Work of Love: Creation
as Kenosis. Grand Rapids MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001.

Pitirim Sorokin, The Ways and Power of Love: Types, Factors, and
Techniques of Moral Transformation. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation,
2002 [original 1954].




Announcements



Altruistic Love & Science Course Competition

The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
http://www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org encourages academic reflection on
altruism and altruistic love in graduate schools, seminaries,
universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning. As
one form of encouragement,IRUL presents its Altruistic Love & Science
Course Competition to promote the study of other-regarding love. In
broad terms, love is an emotion-based affirmation of the well-being of
others, and it is closely linked with actions of care and service on
their behalf. Unlimited love extends this love to all others without
exception. Often deemed a Creative Presence underlying and integral to
all of reality, participation in unlimited love constitutes the fullest
experience of spirituality. The competition is intended to encourage the
integration of theology, religious studies, and scientific perspectives.

Winning Courses

Teaching faculty are invited to submit syllabi
to be evaluated by Altruistic Love & Science
Course Competition judges. While scholars of
religion are encouraged to apply, faculty from
all fields and disciplines will receive
equal consideration. Ten to twelve prizes
of $6,000 each will be awarded directly
to the winners unless they indicate
otherwise.

Winning courses must address issues of
altruistic love from religious and
scientific perspectives. Contestants should
design syllabi that guide their classes
in the integration of scientific topics,
such as:

•Neuroscience and biological substrates of empathy, compassion, and altruism
•Game theory
•Ethology and non-human primate behavior
•Altruism in evolutionary biology/psychology
•Behavioral genetics
•Cognitive science
•Altruism, epidemiology and health with regard
to both the agent and recipient of love
•Sociology of volunteerism and faith-based "works of love"
•Positive psychology
•The impact of narratives and symbols on our
capacity to help the needy
•Developmental processes that foster or hinder
loving attitudes and behavior in various stages of
life,from early childhood onwards to old age

With theological, religious and spiritual topics such as:
•The theologies of benevolent love in religious traditions
•Creation and cosmology
•Friendship: nonhuman, human, and divine
•Scriptural narratives and love commandments
•Saints and exemplars of generous behavior
•The problem of evil, & the response to evil
•The role of spiritual practices, such as prayer, meditation, and ritual
•The phenomenology of spiritual and religious experiences of divine love
•Spirituality and social activism
•The relation of love and justice
•The "order of love" (love of enemies, disabled, friends, family, nature, and self)

The syllabus must include a course description,
a list of course objectives, and a course
bibliography. Faculty are encouraged to
include in their syllabi a grading rubric,
course calendar, description of educational methodologies, and student research
project/paper. A well-composed syllabus is
vital to the success of the course proposal.

Award Winners Workshops

Award winners will also attend (expenses covered and a $600.00 honorarium provided) a two-day
pedagogy workshop to be held in early 2005.
We will work together to develop an edited
textbook of carefully selected readings to
be published by a major press. The workshop
will bring together award winners and
a small number of selected scholars on love and
science.

Application Process

Applications and attached syllabi must be submitted
to IRUL by September 1, 2004. Award winning
courses must be taught or scheduled to be
taught before December 31, 2005. Award winners
will be notified by November 1, 2004. Early
application is encouraged.

To apply for the Altruistic Love & Science Course Competition, send a cover letter, and three
copies of the completed application form,
course syllabus, and curriculum vitae to:

Stephen G. Post, Ph.D.
The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
– Altruism, Compassion, Service
Located at Room 214A
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4976

Thanks For Your Interest,

Stephen G. Post, Ph.D., President of IRUL (sgp2@cwru.edu)

Thomas Jay Oord, Ph.D. (tjoord@nnu.edu)
(Competition Co-Chairs)




Publications



CIVIL SOCIETY

By Michael Edwards

Polity Press 2004


"This is a fine book. At once readable and sophisticated, it is a
challenging interpretation of the theoretical and practical significance
of civil society as a concept and as a basis for action and hope about
the future. Edwards writes with verve and lucidity, and draws upon his
wide knowledge to reinforce his general points with an astonishing range
of specific examples. It is, in my view, the best short treatment of the
subject, and bound to be widely read and discussed."

Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University



Is civil society the big idea for the 21st

century? Or will the idea of civil society -
confused, conflated and co-opted by elites -
prove another false horizon in the search for
a better world? By illuminating the uses and
abuses of different theories and traditions
in clear and engaging prose, this book will
help readers of all persuasions to answer this
question for themselves.

Drawing inspiration and examples from history
and contemporary experience, Islam and
Christianity, South and North, and activists
and academics, this book gives voice to a rich
and diverse account of civil society in its
many different guises. In moving systematically
through theories of associational life, the good
society and the public sphere, exploring the
neglected connections that exist between them,
and clarifying their implications for policy
and practice, Michael Edwards provides a
comprehensive, accessible and often humorous
overview of one of the most important debates
of our times.

This book will be essential reading for students
of politics, public policy, development studies
and international relations. It will also be read
by all those interested in the role of civil
society in the media, policy-making and NGO
communities.


Contents


Preface
1. Introduction - What's the big idea?
2. Civil society as associational life
3. Civil Society as the good society
4. Civil Society as the public sphere
5. Synthesis - Unravelling the civil society puzzle
6. Conclusion - so what's to be done?


About the author:
Michael Edwards is Director of the Ford
Foundation's Governance and Civil Society
Program

Publication details

168 pages Publication date: January 2004
0-7456-3133-9 paperback £14.99 and $22.95
0-7456-3132-0 hardback £50.00 and $ 57.95

Order from any good bookshop, internet bookstore, or direct from Polity Press at 
http://www.polity.co.uk
1e4476e2.jpg

Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
Room 214, School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106-4976
http://www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org

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