October 4, 2002

Whitworth Psychology Professor to Lecture on the Making of Terrorists

Social psychologist and Whitworth psychology professor James Waller will present a lecture, "Becoming Evil: The Making of Terrorists," at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, in Seeley Mudd Chapel at Whitworth College. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (509) 777-3707.

"I think it's vitally important for us to understand who perpetrates extraordinary evil and why," Waller says. "Humans are the weapons of genocide and mass killing, and we need to know how those weapons are activated."

While Waller's lecture will be based on his new book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (Oxford University Press, 2002), it will also reach beyond the focus of the book to include a discussion of anti-state terrorists, such as the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I hope people who attend the lecture will gain an understanding of how 'those people' commit genocide and mass killing and, at the same time, realize the discussion is actually more about 'us' than it is about 'them.' I also hope that people will recognize that understanding does not equal forgiving; explanation does not mean exoneration," Waller says. "I think people should expect to be challenged, both about the nature of extraordinary evil and about the reality that it's ordinary people who commit such evil."

Waller joined the Whitworth faculty in 1989 and chairs the Department of Psychology. He has been recognized for outstanding teaching and research in the areas of social psychology, racism, and Holocaust and genocide studies. He has written more than 30 articles in refereed professional journals and six chapters in edited books, and is the author of Prejudice Across America (University Press of Mississippi, 2000) and Face to Face: The Changing State of Racism Across America (Perseus Books, 1998).

Contacts:

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

Julie Riddle, public information specialist, Whitworth College, (509) 777-3729 or jriddle@whitworth.edu.