Workshop on the Biology of Trust in the Resolution of Conflict
October 19-21, 2006, Atlanta GA
The Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Georgia State University, the Living Links Center of Emory University, and the Gruter Institute co-sponsored a three-day conference on October 19-21, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting, entitled Workshop on the Biology of Trust in the Resolution of Conflict, brought together scholars of diverse academic backgrounds such as evolutionary biology, ethology, ethnography, economics, psychology, and law to identify and develop the nexus between behavioral biology and conflict resolution.
Extraordinary advances in the biological sciences over the last 30 years have prompted researchers in many fields to explore the relationship of biology and their respective disciplines. However, theorists and practitioners of conflict resolution, a field dominated by a social science perspective, have traditionally been poorly informed of existing knowledge about the nexus of biology and conflict resolution. This workshop began to bridge that gap by creating a highly inter-disciplinary environment in which to examine breaches of trust and subsequent reconciliation. Presenters from various scientific disciplines focused on four behavioral categories - trust, fairness, vengefulness, and forgiveness - and served to inform lively discussion facilitated and synthesized by scholars from the field of conflict resolution. The workshop concluded with a trip to the Yerkes National Primate Research Field Station, the nation's oldest and largest primate center. Attendees included:
- Filippo Aureli
Director and Reader in Animal Behaviour Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University
- Kevin Avruch
Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology, George Mason University
- John Barkat
Ombudsman, Pace University
- Sarah Brosnan
Post-doctoral Fellow, Emory University
- Stephanie Brown
Investigator for Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan Medical School
- Daylian Cain
Russell Sage Fellow, Harvard University
- Jason Dana
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
- Frans de Waal
Director, Living Links Center of Emory University
- Lee Dugatkin
Professor of Biology, University of Louisville
- Douglas Fry
Docent & Professor of Developmental Psychology, Åbo Akademi University
- Howard Gadlin
Ombudsman, National Institutes of Health
- Oliver Goodenough
Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
- Gregory Jones
Director of Research, Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- Janet Morse
Director of Student Conflict Resolution Center, University of Minnesota
- James Rilling
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Emory University
- Douglas Yarn
Executive Director, Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
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