Long after his notorious prison experiment, famous psychologist teaches how to act heroically

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo will make a return visit to CSU Monterey Bay on April 25 to lecture on “Good and Evil: The Heroic Imagination Project.”

The free event will start at 7 p.m. in the University Center on Sixth Avenue. Reservations are requested and can be made here.

Dr. Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Stanford University, first lectured at CSUMB in September 2007, when he discussed his book, “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.” A standing-room-only crowd packed the World Theater to hear him.

He has spent much of his professional life, including his famous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, examining how otherwise caring human beings can be easily persuaded or seduced to cross the line between good and evil. The actions of American military police guards at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison provide just one confirmation of his findings.

Recently, he has set out to communicate the opposite: these same people can speak out against evil and become heroes. The non-profit Heroic Imagination Project is his effort to put that idea into broad-based, sustainable action by encouraging young people to think about real heroism and heroic acts.

“We are such a celebrity-oriented society, for many young people, being a celebrity has been equated with being a hero,” he said.

“Heroes are ordinary people. You become a hero by doing an extraordinary deed.”

Last November, Dr. Zimbardo told Monterey Herald columnist Peter Funt: “Heroism can be learned by example and reinforced with practice.

“The definition of a hero that I promote is someone who acts voluntarily on behalf of others in need, or in defense of a moral cause, aware of risks and costs, without expectation of tangible rewards,” he told Funt.

The Heroic Imagination Project’s pilot program began last September at high schools in Oakland and Los Altos Hills. Students spent the fall semester learning the principles of social psychology that relate to heroism. They watched videos of such famous experiments as Stanley Milgram’s 1963 study on obedience to authority and Dr. Zimbardo’s own prison study. Students gained an understanding of the power of the situation over their own behavior as well as how to surpass these influences and act heroically.

Dr. Zimbardo is an internationally recognized scholar, educator, researcher and media personality. He taught at Yale, New York University and Columbia before joining the faculty at Stanford in 1968. He may be best known for his popular television series on PBS, Discovering Psychology.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by CSUMB Professor Armando Arias.

Sponsors include Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, InterClub Council, Psi Chi, Kinship Center, Psychology Society, Dr. Jill Yamashita, Dr. Jennifer Dyer-Seymour, Dr. Armando Arias, Student Activities and the Division of Social, Behavioral and Global Studies.

More information on the Heroic Imagination Project can be found here.

Driving directions and a campus map are available here.

We are all potential heroes waiting for a moment in a life to perform a heroic deed. – Dr. Philip Zimbardo