Fuller Hosts Visiting Chinese Scholars for Summer Seminar

Conference is part of Templeton grant advancing psychology, science, and religion in China :: 08/05/10

“Know you have many friends here in the U.S. … I hope the relationships that exist here will be expanded and strengthened in the months and years ahead.” Such were some of the words of greeting offered by Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard to a group of scholars visiting Fuller from China for an intensive summer seminar, from July 23 to August 11, on the psychology of religion.

“We’re excited to dialogue with you about the future of psychology—particularly the future of psychology and mental health services in China,” Fuller president Richard J. Mouw said to the Chinese scholars in his welcoming comments. “We have come together not just to teach but to learn from you, and form partnerships.”

The Chinese scholars' visit is one in a series of events resulting from a $346,832 grant Fuller received in 2009 from the Templeton Foundation, for a pilot project entitled "Advancing the Scholarship of Psychology, Science, and Religion in Chinese Society."

Fuller professor Alvin Dueck, who developed the proposal to Templeton, serves as co-director of the project alongside Dr. Han Buxin, professor of psychology at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing. Dr. Dueck, who is the Evelyn and Frank Freed Professor of the Integration of Psychology and Theology at Fuller, has a strong commitment to collaborating with Chinese psychologists in research on religion to facilitate mutual learning about religiousness.

The first conference funded by the Templeton grant was held in China in March, with 40 scholars presenting papers and 200 students attending. Fuller's School of Psychology now hosts its summer seminar with a focus on central themes and practices in the psychology of religion so as to stimulate rigorous inquiry into this topic in China. Lecturers at the Pasadena conference include such distinguished guest speakers as Dr. Rachel Ting of the University of Malaysia, Dr. Justin Barrett of the University of Oxford, Dr. Lewis Rambo of U.C. Berkeley, and many others; as well as Fuller School of Psychology faculty members Dr. Newton Malony, Dr. Alexis Abernethy, Dr. Pamela King, Dr. Siang-Yang Tan, and Dr. Warren Brown.

The seminar will culminate in the Chinese scholars’ participation at the 2010 American Psychological Association (APA) Convention in San Diego in mid-August. Fuller alumni and friends will have an opportunity to meet the scholars, as well as hear Dr. Dueck speak about his work with psychology of religion in China, at a luncheon during the APA convention on Saturday, August 14. For details on the lunch, click here.

Fuller has been involved for many years in mutual learning visits, conversations, and exchanges with Chinese leaders. Dueck has established extensive networks and partnerships in China to help address pastoral care and counseling issues in particular. During these exchanges and visits, many of the leaders—from churches, seminaries, universities, and government-related agencies—have told Dueck and others from Fuller of the urgent need to address growing psychological needs in China.

The Templeton project will expand the psychology of religion collections in the libraries of key Chinese universities, and will publish essays that emerge from collaborations between Chinese and Western psychologists. There also will be extensive focus on collaborative cross-cultural research in China and the West—addressing issues such as forgiveness, reconciliation, suicide and religious social support, and developing Chinese instruments for measuring spirituality.

“Fuller Seminary,” noted Mayor Bogaard at the Pasadena conference, “has a real commitment to share its expertise and an appetite to learn from China.”