Fuller Seminary will host a group of scholars from China for an intensive summer seminar from July 23 to August 11, culminating with their participation at the 2010 American Psychological Association (APA) Convention in San Diego. During the convention, on Saturday, August 14, at 12:30 p.m., a luncheon for Fuller alumni and friends will give alumni the opportunity to meet and interact with the Chinese scholars. Fuller's Dr. Alvin Dueck will also speak at the luncheon about the work he is doing with China in the psychology of religion.

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."

Dr. 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. 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 will now host 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. Guest lecturers from across the world are invited to speak--Dr. James Nelson, Dr. Justin Barrett, Dr. Brent Slife, Dr. Lewis Rambo, Dr. Louis Hoffman, Dr. Ken Pargament, and Dr. Rachel Ting--as well as several School of Psychology faculty members, such as Dr. Newton Malony, Dr. Pamela King, Dr. Siang-Yang Tan, and Dr. James Furrow. The Chinese scholars in attendance will then be included in a symposium at the APA Convention in August.

For several years, Fuller has been involved 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.

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