RSVP for International Educational Conference on Agape Love and Forgiveness

media release: A research project focusing on agape love and forgiveness, now underway in three culturally distinct areas of the world, will culminate next summer with an international 

educational conference to be held in Madison, WI, hosted by the International Forgiveness Institute—the nonprofit organization founded in Madison 27 years ago. The research is being conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

Working with elementary school children in Northern Ireland, Israel (both Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking schools), and Taiwan, the research is being funded by the John Templeton Foundation which has been supporting research on forgiveness for more than 20 years. The Foundation’s primary goal is “to ignite a global conversation on forgiveness to help everyone experience its benefits and to increase the visibility and funding of forgiveness innovations.”

The agape love and forgiveness research project is a $1.6 million effort now in the second of its 3-year time horizon. The project was developed by and is being conducted under the direction of Dr. Robert Enright, co-founder of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI) and a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Dr. Enright has been called “the forgiveness trailblazer” by Time magazine, “the father of forgiveness research” by the Christian Science Monitor, and “the guru of what many are calling a new science of forgiveness” by The Los Angeles Times. The current project will once again put him at the forefront of his profession by pioneering agape love through forgiveness education. 

“Agape love is drawn from Greek tradition and is the highest expression of forgiveness toward those who caused pain,” Dr. Enright said. “I call it the ultimate form of love—the kind of love that has never before been scientifically examined as part of forgiveness research. Our ultimate goal is to have educators around the world use our approach for building schools, families, and communities that are more loving and peaceful.” 

The research portion of the agape love and forgiveness education project will continue through most of this school year with about 60 teachers and up to 1,200 students at the experimental sites in Northern Ireland, Israel, and Taiwan. Some of those educators will outline their experiences and present their findings during the July 19-20, 2022 International Educational Conference on Agape Love and Forgiveness at the UW-Madison Fluno Center in Madison. Please register by May 31.

A new website that was created specifically for this John Templeton Foundation project was recently launched with an abundance of information about agape love, forgiveness education, and the Conference: agapeloveandforgiveness.com. The website will serve as an ongoing platform where educators can access curricula and other teaching resources. 

ABOUT DR. ROBERT ENRIGHT: 

Dr. Enright is the unquestioned pioneer in the scientific study of forgiveness. He published the first social scientific journal article on person-to-person forgiveness and the first cross-cultural studies of interpersonal forgiveness. He also pioneered research on forgiveness therapy and developed an early intervention to promote forgiveness–the 20-step Process Model of Forgiving that is used by researchers, educators, and psychologists around the world. 

Together with his team of researchers, Dr. Enright has developed Forgiveness Education Curriculum Guides for students at each grade level from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Those guides feature popular children’s story books, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and Character Education techniques to teach the basics of forgiveness—inherent worth, respect, kindness, generosity, and moral love. 

He currently has elementary and/or high school forgiveness education programs operating in Wisconsin, around the U.S., as well as in more than 30 countries across the world including Brazil, Canada, Greece, Liberia, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Slovakia.

Dr. Enright is the author or editor of seven books and over 150 publications centered on social development and the psychology of forgiveness. 

The International Forgiveness Institute (IFI) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and is not affiliated with any religious or political organization. The IFI, established in 1994, is based in Madison, Wisconsin. For additional information, visit internationalforgiveness.com and forgivenessuniversity.org.