Please join us for “Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better,” a lecture by Myisha Cherry, PhD, who is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California (Riverside) and Director of the Emotion and Society Lab.

Sages from Cicero to Oprah have told us that forgiveness requires us to let go of negative emotions and that it has a unique power to heal our wounds. Dr. Cherry argues that these beliefs couldn’t be more wrong—and that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. In this talk, Cherry presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness—one that gives us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward “radical repair.” She also addresses how writing her latest book, Failures of Forgiveness, led her to her current research on how we approach love.

Dr. Cherry’s books include: How to Love (forthcoming, Riverhead/Basic), Failures of Forgiveness (Princeton, 2023), The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-racist Struggle (2021, Oxford), UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice (Oxford, 2019), and The Moral Psychology of Anger (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), co-edited with Owen Flanagan. Her work on emotions and race has appeared in The Atlantic, Boston Review, Los Angeles Times, Salon, Huffington Post, WomanKind, and New Philosopher Magazine. She is also the host of the UnMute Podcast, where she interviews philosophers about the social and political issues of our day.

Dr. Cherry’s visit is generously supported by: The Humanities Center, the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, the Department of Philosophy and Ethics, the Center for Faith and Culture, the Institute for Equity and Justice, and the UVM Philosophy Department.