Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

"Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies, Lester R. Kurtz, received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has been a visiting professor at Delhi  university (India), Tunghai University (Republic of China), Northwestern University, and the University  of Chicago.

"Dr. Kurtz has published many papers, articles and books including Gods in the Global Village (Pine Forge/Sage, 1995), The Politics of Heresy (University of California Press, 1986), The Nuclear Cage (Prentice-Hall, 1984) and Evaluating Chicago Sociology (University of Chicago Press, 1982). He is Editor-in-Chief of a 4-volume Encyclopedia of Violence Peace and Conflict published by Academic Press in 1999, and co-editor of The Web of Violence (with Jennifer Turpin, University of Illinois Press, 1986) and Nonviolent Social Movements: The Geography of Nonviolence (with Stephen Zunes and Sarah Beth Asher, Blackwell)

"He has served as Director of Religious Studies, an Editorial Consultant for the American Journal of Sociology, chair of the Peace Studies Association and the Peace and War Section of the American Sociological Association.

"Dr. Kurtz is currently writing a book on "Fighting with Gandhi: The Paradox of India's Nonviolence." He is also collaborating with filmmaker James Otis on documentary films, "Peaceful Warriors: The History of Nonviolence" (with Martin Sheen as narrator) and "Faces of Islam." He has lectured in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

"Dr. Kurtz is affiliated with the South Asia Institute at UT-Austin."

Contributors to his coedited book The Web of Violence included Robert Jay Lifton, Christopher G. Ellison, John P. Bartkowski, Yuan-Horng Chu, Philip Smith, Robert Elias, Birgit Brock-Utne, Riane Eisler, Johan Galtung.


 * Academic Advisory Board, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict
 * Consultant, Harvard University Project on Nonviolent Sanctions in Conflict and Defense, May, 1993
 * Editorial Advisor, Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice

Criticism of Kurtz

 * Stephen Gowans, "Lester Kurtz’s Duty", what's left, January 15, 2011.

Awards and Grants

 * National Institutes of Health, co-principal investigator with Alfred McAlister, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, “Moral Disengagement: Measurement and Modification” (NIH GRANT 1 R21 HD40067: $869,000, Sept. 2000 – May 2003)
 * Ford Foundation, “Gandhian Models of Economic Development: Trade versus the Environment” [with Rennison Lalgee and S. Jeyapragasam, 1998
 * Academic Press grant for preparation of The Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, 1995
 * National Science Council (Republic of China), Visiting Research Professorship, 1992-1993
 * Indo-U.S. Fellowship, Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education and Culture, 1990
 * American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship, 1990
 * National Science Foundation (U.S.A.) Grant, 1989-1990
 * Fulbright Research Fellowship Award, Fall, 1988

Affiliations

 * Chair, Peace Studies Association, 1997-1998, 1995-1996; Board of Directors, 1994-1999; Annual Meeting host, 2000
 * Chair, Peace and War Section, American Sociological Association, 1995-1996
 * Editorial Board, Peace Review, 1992-present.
 * Editorial Consultant, Journal of Peace and Gandhian Studies (New Delhi), 1995-present
 * Editorial Board, Peace and Change, 1990-1996
 * Book Review Editor, with Paul Hirsch, American Journal of Sociology, 1978-1980
 * Associate Book Review Editor, American Journal of Sociology, 1977-1978
 * Consultant, Harvard University Project on Nonviolent Sanctions in Conflict and Defense, May, 1993
 * International Co-Chair, United Campuses to Prevent Nuclear War (UCAM), 1986-1988; Member, National Committee (U.S.), Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, 1986-1987
 * Fellow, Center for Social Organization Studies, 1978-1980
 * Editor, Society for Social Research Bulletin, 1976-1977; Editorial Board, 1976-1978

External Resources

 * Lilly Rockwell, "Conflict ends peace and conflict studies center: Director resigns due to differing goals between 2 leaders", Daily Texan, 3/25/04.