WORKS OF LOVE
Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Altruism
An International, Interfaith, and Interdisciplinary Conference
Philadelphia, PA, USA
May 31 through June 5, 2003
Unselfish love for all humanity is the most important point of convergence
shared by the worldıs great spiritual traditions. We marvel at the ways and
power of love and find in it the best hope for a far better human future.
People from all walks of life, often those disadvantaged themselves, excel
in loving kindness, not just for their nearest and dearest, but also as
volunteers and advocates on behalf of the stranger. How do our complex
brains, unique imaginations, communicative abilities, reasoning powers,
moral sense, and spiritual and religious promptings give rise to this
remarkable yet not at all uncommon practice of unselfish love for our
neighbors, or for those we do not even know? If we could answer this
question and harness the extraordinary power of love, the world might well
erupt into hope.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
* Tarif Bakdash, MD, Syria
* Peter L. Benson, President, Search Institute
* Jack Berry, The Marriage Assessment, Treatment and Enrichment Center,
Virginia Commonwealth University
* Arthur Caplan, Center fort Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania
* Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli, Islamic Society of Central Jersey
* John DiIulio, Center for Research on Religion & Urban Civil
Society, University of Pennsylvania
* Michael Edwards, Director, Governance & Civil Society,
Peace and Justice Program, Ford Foundation
* Greg Fricchione, Director, Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
* Dan Gottlieb, Host of ³Voices in the Family², 91FM WHYY public radio
* Fr. Lyndon Harris, St. Paulıs Chapel at ³Ground Zero² and General
Theological Seminary
* Vincent Jeffries, Sociology, California State University Northridge
* Byron Johnson, Center for Research on Religion & Urban Civil
Society University of Pennsylvania
* Ursula King, Theology, University of Bristol
* Harold Koenig, Center for Religion Spirituality and Health, Duke
University Medical Center
* Thomas Lewis, Co-author of "A General Theory of Love",
Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine
* Michael McCullough, Psychology, University of Miami
* Allen M.Omoto, Behavioral Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate
University
* Robert Pollack, Center for the Study of Science and Religion, Columbia
University
* Stephen G.Post, Institute for Research on Unlimited Love,
Case Western Reserve University
* Orien Reid, Immediate Past Chair and current Board Member of the National
Alzheimerıs Association, former WCAU-TV News Reporter
* Eugene Rivers, National TenPoint Leadership Foundation
* Holmes Rolston, Philosophy, Colorado State University
* Jeffrey Schloss, Biology, Westmont College
* Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Institute for Jewish Studies in the C.I.S.
* Jim Towey,Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, White House
* Lynn Underwood, Fetzer Institute
* David Sloan Wilson, Biology, State University of New York, Harpur College
CALL FOR PAPERS
Deadline March 15, 2003
We are seeking papers that address the conference themes listed below.
Interested and qualified scholars from a variety of academic disciplines are
invited to submit proposals by March 15, 2003. Those whose papers are
accepted will receive conference registration, room and board. Paper
presentations including Q & A will be allotted 30 minutes each.
Please go to the conference Web site at www.metanexus.net/conference2003
<http://www.metanexus.net/conference2003> for more complete descriptions of
conference themes and details for the submission of proposals.
* Faith Active in Love: Lives of Compassionate Love
Scientific and theological interpretations of remarkable lives exemplifying
love for all humanity.
* Unlimited Love and Human Nature: The Problem of Inter-Group Conflict
To what extent is the substrate of human nature receptive to the ideal of
love for all humanity? Drawing on evolutionary biology, how does human
nature resist this ideal?
* The Healing Power of Love: Healthful Compassion
To what extent does the giving of compassionate love and generous service
impact the agent with regard to morbidity and mortality? How does this
impact the recipient health and therapeutic efficacy?
* The Biology of Compassionate Love: Evolutionary, Physiological, and
Neurological Correlates
How can compassionate love be understood in the light of neurology,
endocrinology, genetics, and immunology?
* The Psychology of Compassionate Love
What psychology models help to explain the experience of compassionate love
and help to explain its key features?
* The Sociological Study of Faith-Based Communities and their
Activities in Relation to the Spiritual Ideal of Unlimited Love
Are volunteerism, social capital, and civility enhanced by faith in divine
love? Are faith-based organizations more effective than secular ones in
enhancing and sustaining ³works of love²?
* The Emergence and Impact of Helping Behavior in Young People
How does generosity and service emerge in the lives of young people? How
does such experience shape the long-term aspects of their lives?
* The Science and Spirituality of Family Care-giving
There are hundreds of millions of family caregivers across the globe,
tending to loved ones with cognitive, physical, and other disabilities. How
do spirituality and the ideal of love help to sustain such caregivers, and
those they care for?
* Compassionate Love, the Analogical Imagination, and the Science of
Creative Genius
Creative geniuses have often attempted to express the ineffable reality of
Unlimited Love in music, art, poetry, and prose (including theology). How
can we better understand this human desire to express the ideal of pure
love?
* Spiritual Transformation: Love and the Fruits of the Spirit
What is the relationship between positive spiritual transformation and
Unlimited Love? How is the perception of such love captured in the
experience of spiritual transformation?
* Science, Religion, and the Metaphysics of Love
People of all great religious tradition view Unlimited Love as a core aspect
of the divine. Is there a scientific basis for this perennial assumption?
Can it be clarified in the light of the sciences?
CALL FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP SPONSORS
We are seeking individuals and organizations to sponsor this exciting
conference at a contribution level of $1,000 or more. Sponsors will be
listed in conference publicity and are entitled to one daytime registration,
and meals. Organizational sponsors will also receive display space in the
exhibit and literature area. If you need additional information on how to
help in sponsoring this event, please contact Dr. William Grassie, Ph.D.,
Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science <[log in to unmask]>.
Works of Love Conference is hosted by:
Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (IRUL)
www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org
Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science
www.metanexus.net
in collaboration with
Columbia Center for the Study of Science and Religion
www.columbia.edu/cu/cssr
Center for Research on Religion & Urban Civil Society
at the University of Pennsylvania
www.crrucs.org
Fetzer Institute
www.fetzer.org
John Templeton Foundation
www.templeton.org
and sponsored by
American Teilhard Association
www.orgs.bucknell.edu/teilhard
Science and the Spiritual Quest II
http://www.ssq.net
Templeton Foundation Press
www.templetonpress.org
The conference will take place at Villanova University.
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