UCSF Fresno Center for Consciousness Presents Renowned Author James Waller, PhD

By Cara Peracchi Douglas, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, UCSF Fresno Phone: 559.243.3606 E-mail: [email protected], on April 09, 2003
Renowned author James Waller, PhD, Whitworth College Edward B. Lindaman Chair and Professor of Psychology, will present a lecture titled "Human Nature and Inhuman Evil: The Psychology of Genocide and Mass Killing" on Thursday, April 10 in Fresno.

The lecture will be held at 4 pm in the Veteran’s Administration Hospital Auditorium on Clinton and Fresno Avenues.

Also on Thursday, April 10, at 7:30pm, Waller will deliver an address on the subject of his most recent book, “Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing” (Oxford University Press, 2002), at California State University, Fresno, Industrial Technology Building, Room #101. Parking for this event is available in lots L and K.

Following the success of his latest book—selected as a finalist for the Raphael Lemkin Award for Outstanding Book Published in 2001-2002 from the International Association of Genocide Scholars—Waller has an agreement with the highly respected Oxford University Press to write two additional books on social evil.

“We very much look forward to hosting Dr. Waller,” said Avak Howsepian, MD, PhD, associate adjunct professor in the UCSF Fresno Department of Psychiatry. “He is a passionate speaker about human nature and helps to provide insight about how ordinary people can commit terrible acts.”

In addition, Waller has been noted for his work in race relations. In 1998, then-President Clinton recognized Waller in his Initiative on Race as one of the nation's “100 Promising Practices to Promote Racial Reconciliation.” Specifically, he was recognized for his creation of the Prejudice Across America study tour to expose students to the corrosive effects of racism and for the work being done by individuals and groups to bring about racial reconciliation.

The lectures are being funded by unrestricted educational grants from Eli Lilly and Company and Whitworth College. The lectures are being hosted by the UCSF Fresno Center for the Study of Consciousness, Spirituality, and Culture, CSU Fresno’s Armenian Studies Program, Armenian Students Association and the Department of Psychology.

For more information about this event, please contact Cara Peracchi Douglas at 288.3257.