Dear Power of Forgiveness participants,

While chatting with Caliope this week, we touched on the subject of emotional intelligence, and I promised to recommend some pertinent resources.

Allearn has an 8-week course in "The Intelligent Emotions", which uses as its textbook Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999). The course is described as follows:

This is a seminar investigation of a problematic question that has bedeviled philosophers and scientists alike for centuries: What is the nature of human emotion and what role does it play in our lives? Traditionally, psychologists have stayed clear of this debate, in part because the experience of emotion is so personal and complex and also because the study of emotion is fraught with issues of subjectivity that make scientific inquiry very difficult. Nonetheless, Professor Salovey has devoted considerable work to the problem of understanding the human emotions. From this work, Professor Salovey has developed the fascinating concept of emotional intelligence.

Key seminar topics include: What sparks emotions? How do emotions influence our health? Are human emotions universal across all cultures? What happens to our thoughts and feelings during depression? What functions are served by complex social emotions such as jealousy and envy? Is love an emotion that can be studied through scientific research? And is there really a measure of emotional intelligence, such as an “EQ”?

The course requires no prior knowledge of psychology. 

Full information on the course is at http://www.alllearn.org/course.jsp?C=10 

The "breakthrough" book on emotional intelligence was Daniel Goleman's book by that title, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (New York: Bantam Books, 1995). Another well-known book on the subject is Jeanne Segal's RAISING YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE : A PRACTICAL GUIDE (New York: Holt, 1997).

For further resources you may search for "emotional intelligence" under "Books" at AMAZON.COM. When I did so I was referred to 111 books, many of which have both professional and readers' reviews by which to gauge their interest and value.

Stay in the grace,

Noel McInnis
noelmcinnis@choosingforgiveness.com