The Group for the Study of Religion, Humanity, and Social Change is based in the Sociology Department of Western Michigan University and works in close collaboration with scholars in the U.S. and abroad. The group’s research focuses on the relationships of religion and spirituality with altruism, interfaith and interethnic tolerance, open-mindedness, civility and peace in the context of societal and global change. We comparatively assess these relationships across nations, cultures and traditions. Current directions of our research include:

• National and cross-national studies of religious, spiritual, psychological, and social roots of interfaith and interethnic tolerance and openness for dialogue and peaceful coexistence;

• Comparative studies of religious and spiritual foundations and dimensions of support for civil liberties and human rights;

• Comparative studies of the dimensions and manifestations of religiosity, spirituality and altruism in the context of various religious, cultural, and national traditions;

• National and cross-national studies of the role of educational institutions in promoting the understanding of various religious and spiritual traditions and their impact on global peace; and

• Comparative studies of the relationships among religiosity, spirituality, self-actualization, and self-transcendence across cultures and religious traditions.

This work builds on accomplishments of our previous and current studies. Since 2004, we carried out the following research and educational projects:

• Orthodoxy, Islam, and Religious Intolerance in Russia, a survey-research project (2,972 interviews) funded by the U.S. National Council for Eurasian and East European Research;

• Religiosity,  Spirituality, Altruism, and Tolerance, research project funded by the Fetzer Institute and based on the national data from the NORC General Social Survey;

• Terrorism, Islam, and Civil Liberties, a survey of university students (N=1650, funded by the Leonard C. Kercher Endowment) focusing on religious and educational foundations of interfaith trust and tolerance in the era of terrorist threats; and

• Religion, Tolerance and Education after Atheism, an international symposium held at Western Michigan University and funded by the Kercher Center.

Currently, we are preparing a comparative study of religion and spirituality’s role in interethnic and interfaith tolerance among Muslims and Christians in Cyprus. This study will parallel our previous research in Russia, and provide a framework for cross-cultural comparisons of tolerance and its roots. Furthermore, this study brings us closer to conducting a similar research in the United States.