February 18, 2002

Gonzaga Presents Lecture, Panel with Whitworth Psychologist

The Gonzaga University communication arts department will sponsor "Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Mass Killing and Genocide," by Whitworth College Professor of Psychology James Waller at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 27 in the Jepson Center Auditorium. The program is free and open to the public.

Waller's new book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Mass Killing and Genocide, is to be published in May by Oxford University Press. Waller will provide an explanation of extraordinary human evil that considers a wide range of factors, including the social architecture that ferments the process of ordinary people coming to commit extraordinary evil.

"Ultimately, being aware of our own capacity for evil is the best safeguard we can have against future genocides and mass killings," said Waller.

The presentation, which is part of the GU communication arts department's "Thinking Out Loud" speaker series, will also include a panel discussion with panelists Kelly McBride, religion reporter for The Spokesman-Review; Rev. Bob Egan, S.J., assistant professor of religious studies at Gonzaga University; and Kent Hoffman, psychotherapist at the Marycliff Institute in Spokane.

The event is being co-sponsored by Iota Rho (the communication honor society), the Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media, the Gonzaga Institute for Action Against Hate, and the office of diversity at Gonzaga University.

Waller joined the Whitworth College faculty in 1989 and has been recognized for outstanding teaching and research in the areas of social psychology, racism, and Holocaust and genocide studies. He has written 25 articles in refereed professional journals, and three chapters in edited books. He also is the author of Face to Face: The Changing State of Racism Across America (Perseus Books, 1998) and Prejudice Across America (University Press of Mississippi, 2000).

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The college enrolls 2,100 students in more than 50 undergraduate and graduate programs.

Contacts:

Jim Waller, Whitworth professor of psychology, (509) 777-4424 or jwaller@whitworth.edu.

John Caputo, Gonzaga professor of communication arts, (509) 323-6656 or caputo@gem.gonzaga.edu.