Joseph Runzo is Executive Director and Co-Founder of the
Global Ethics and Religion Forum
* www.GERForum.org

The Global Ethics and Religion Forum is dedicated to promoting global ethical responsibility through a deeper understanding of both the World Religions and ethical issues in a global context.  The Forum addresses specific issues such as human rights and responsibilities, war and reconciliation, violent versus nonviolent approaches to conflict, race and gender, globalization and economic justice, and ecological ethics as well as broad questions such as the relation of science and religion, what it means to be truly human, and the religious meaning of life.  To accomplish this, the Forum is committed to bringing together prominent scholars in a variety of disciplines, whose work represents the diverse viewpoints of the World Religions. The activities of the Forum are made widely available to the public.

The regional goal of the Forum is to enhance the resources, human as well as financial, for global approaches to ethics and religion in Southern California through an active interchange with the international community of scholars and leaders of inter-religious organizations.  One primary activity of the Forum is to organize regular conferences, both regional and international, sponsored by the Forum in conjunction when appropriate with the Colleges and Universities of participating faculty as well as other sponsoring non-profit organizations.

Forum conferences are open to the public and explicitly organized to make the interchange of ideas across traditions and among disciplines accessible to the interested lay person, students as well as community members. Related cultural performances and art installations are incorporated to further facilitate this exchange and mutual understanding.

The Forum also serves as a means to facilitate the dissemination of information about related events at Colleges and Universities as well as non-profit organizations associated with members of the Forum.

With an inclusive and pluralistic orientation, the Global Ethics and Religion Forum neither emphasizes nor excludes the perspective of any particular World Religion, and the Forum endorses no specific political party or political affiliation.

Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl  (Islamic Law) Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Professor John Berthrong (Confucianism) Director, Institute for Dialogue Among Religious Traditions, and Associate Dean, Boston University School of Theology, USA

Professor Arindam Chakrabarti (Hinduism) Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii, USA

Professor David Chappell (Buddhism, Taoism, and Buddhist-Christian Dialogue) Professor of Comparative Religion at Soka University of America and Professor Emeritus of the University of Hawaii, USA

Professor Christopher Chapple (Hinduism and Jainism) Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Asian and Pacific Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

Professor John Chathanatt, S.J. Vidyajyoti College, Delhi, India

Mr. Novin Doostdar Publisher/Commissioning Editor, Oneworld Publications, Oxford, England

Professor Elliot Dorff (Ethics and Judaism) Professor of Philosophy and Rector, University of Judaism, USA

Professor Charlotte Fonrobert (Judaism and Gender Studies) Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University, USA

Professor James Fredericks (Christianity and Inter-religious Dialogue) Associate Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

Professor John Graham (Global Marketing and International Business Negotiations) Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine, USA

Professor Phyllis Herman (Hinduism and Gender Issues) Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge, USA

Professor John Hick (Religious Pluralism) Fellow, Institute for Advanced Research in the Humanities, University of Birmingham, England

Professor Lawrence M. Hinman (Ethical Pluralism) Professor of Philosophy and Director of The Values Institute at the University of San Diego, USA

Professor Jerry Irish (Ethics and Christianity) Professor of Religion, Pomona College, USA

Dr. Thupten Jinpa (Tibetan Buddhism) Director, Institute of Tibetan Classics, Montreal, Canada, and English Translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Dr. Varsha Joshi (Indian History, Gender, and Economic Ethics) Associate Director, Institute of Rajasthan Studies and Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, Jaipur, India

Professor Tazim Kassam (Islam) Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Syracuse University, New York, USA and Chair of Islamic Studies Section of the American Academy of Religion

Professor Zayn Kassam (Islam and Comparative Religion) Associate Professor of Religion, Pomona College, USA

Professor James Kellenberger (Ethics and Religious Pluralism) Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Northridge, USA

Professor Abrahim Khan (Islam) Professor of Religion, University of Toronto, Canada

Sri Komal Kothari (Folk Traditions of India) Director, Rupayan Sansthan, Rajasthan Folklore Institute, Jodhpur, India

Professor William LaFleur (Japanese Buddhism) E. Dale Saunders Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Professor Brian Lepard (Comparative Religion and International Law) Associate Professor of Law, University of Nebraska, USA

Dr. Julius Lipner (Hinduism and Christianity) University Lecturer in Divinity, Cambridge University, England

Professor Nancy M. Martin (World Religions, Hinduism, and Women in Religion) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Chapman University, USA

Professor Vasudha Narayanan (Hinduism and Gender Studies) Professor of Religion, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, and President of the American Academy of Religion

Professor Vivian-Lee Nyitray (Confucianism and Taoism) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, USA

Professor June O'Connor (Comparative Religion) Professor of Religious Studies, Univ. of California, Riverside, USA

Professor Irfan Omar (World Religions and Islam) Assistant Professor of Theology, Marquette University, USA

Professor Philip Quinn (Ethics and Christianity) John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy, Univ. of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

Dr. C. Ram-Prasad (Hinduism) Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and Director of Postgraduate Research, Lancaster University, England

Professor Philip Rossi, S.J. (Christian Ethics) Professor of Theology, Marquette University, Wisconsin, USA

Professor Joseph Runzo (Comparative Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics) Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Chapman University, USA, and Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England

Professor Matthew Schneider (Religion and Literature) Associate Professor and Chair, Comparative Literature, Chapman University, USA

Professor Arvind Sharma (Ethics and World Religions) Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University, Quebec, Canada

Professor Yajneshwar S. Shastri (Hindu Philosophy and Ethics) Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India

Sulak Sivaraksa (Buddhist Ethics) Founder of International Network of Engaged Buddhists; Visiting Professor, Swarthmore College (Fall 2002) and Harvard University (Spring 2003)

Professor Ninian Smart 1927-2001 (Comparative Religion) J. F. Rowny Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religions, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA and Past President of the American Academy of Religion

Professor Huston Smith (World Religions) Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Syracuse University, and Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Professor Daniel Smith-Christopher (Biblical Studies and Peace Studies) Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

Professor Gerrie Ter Haar (Human Rights) Professor of Religion, Human Rights and Social Change at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Professor Nathan Tierney (Ethics and Philosophy of Religion) Chair and Professor of Philosophy, California Lutheran University, USA

Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker (Religion and Ecology; Confucianism) Professor of Religion, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, USA and Coordinator of the Forum on Religion and Ecology

Professor William Wainwright (Philosophy of Religion and Asian Philosophy) Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA

Professor Junren Wan (Chinese Thought and Ethics) Professor of Ethics and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Professor Robin Wang (Chinese Philosophy and Ethics) Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University, USA

Professor Keith Ward (Christianity and World Religions) Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford University, England

Professor Zhengxiang Wei (International Political Ethics) Associate Professor of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Professor Dale Wright (Buddhism) David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies, Occidental College, USA

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