Our History
1983
Initiated the first of four Erik Erikson Symposia on the political psychology of Soviet-American relations with career diplomat Joseph Montville and psychologists Erik and Joan Erikson. The Erikson meetings resulted in a special edition of the quarterly journal Political Psychology entitled “A Notebook on the Psychology of the US-Soviet Relationship,” Joseph Montville was editor.
Co-sponsored a conference entitled “Faces of the Enemy.” Speakers, including Sam Keen, Ashley Montagu, Robert Bly, and Soviet diplomat Valentin Berezhkov, discussed the psychology and politics of enmity, propaganda, and projection.
Provided a forum for Robert Bathurst, a Naval Attaché at the US Embassy in Moscow in 1962 and was Adjunct Professor of National Security Affairs at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. He developed the first seminars at Esalen bringing Americans together with Soviet exiles and émigrés to compare Soviet and American cultures.