Public forum on 'Intolerance and Prejudice' brings leading scholars to Washington University, April 2

March 23, 2004 -- What are the origins of intolerance and prejudice? How are intolerance and prejudice similar, and how are they different? Are there certain people who are more intolerant or more prejudiced than others? How can the social problem of intolerance and prejudice be solved?

These are a few of the questions to be addressed as a panel of internationally recognized scholars assembles at Washington University in St. Louis for an interdisciplinary forum on issues of "Intolerance and Prejudice." Free and open to the public, the forum runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 2 in Room 300 of the Lab Science Building. For directions and other program information, please contact Laura Nesse in psychology: (314) 935-8578.

James Gibson

The forum is organized by Alan Lambert, Ph.D., professor of psychology, and James L. Gibson, Ph.D., the Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government, both in Arts & Sciences, as part of a Washington University Initiative for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research Grant.

Gibson and Lambert also are co-teaching a psychology course this semester on "Intolerance and Prejudice" The forum will provide students and the public with an opportunity to interact with key opinion leaders on the topic. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Forum organizers suggest that the need to know more about intolerance and prejudice is likely to loom especially large for social scientists in the United States, as the country shows rapid movement toward an increasingly multicultural society.

"Fundamental questions about intolerance and prejudice remain unresolved," Lambert said. "In this forum, we will discuss these and other matters from an interdisciplinary perspective, considering how theory and research in political science, psychology, and sociology can lead to a greater understanding of these important issues for the evolution of democracy within a multicultural context."

Alan Lambert

Gibson, who works on problems of political intolerance throughout the world, agrees: "Intolerance and prejudice are two of the greatest threats to democracy in the world today, and only by harnessing the best tools and minds of the various social science disciplines can headway be made in overcoming intolerance and prejudice."

Featured speakers include Lawrence D. Bobo, Ph.D., the Norman Tishman and Charles M. Diker Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies at Harvard University; Tali Mendelberg, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at Princeton University; Paul M. Sniderman, Ph.D., the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor of Public Policy at Stanford University; Philip E. Tetlock, Ph.D., the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair II in Leadership and Communication at the University of California at Berkeley; Thomas R. Tyler, Ph.D., University Professor of Psychology at New York University; James H. Sidanius, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles; Diana Mutz, Ph.D., the Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania; and Hal Arkes, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Ohio State University