Murray Center Inspires Book

In a recently released book, Anne Colby, director of the Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College, blended her personal work with her studies at the institute.

Colby and her husband, William Damon, co-authored Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment, a book about people who devote their lives to helping others. Colby and Damon spent five years researching the lives of 23 "moral exemplars."

Colby's book has been added to the Murray Center data archive of over 200 studies. The archive is available to all College students.

The Murray Center focuses on research in human development and social change. In addition to keeping archives, the center hosts visiting scholars, offers research support grants and thesis workshops and sponsors a program that pairs interested students with mentors in their fields.

Theme for the Year

This year, the center's research theme is "Character and Competence: Successful Development across the Life Span." Murray Center faculty are focusing their studies on how people change for the better over the course of their lives.

Damon and Colby became interested in the moral aspects of development psychology after they attended a conference on morality and social issues, Colby said.

She said their book's subjects are committed to moral ideals. and have significantly helped to alleviate social problems.

"We wrote the book because we wanted to understand how some people are able to summon the intellectual, spiritual and emotional resources needed to make a life-long commitment to following their highest moral convictions," Colby said.

People with equally strong moral values--and equally low profiles--can be found in any community, she said.

"We need to find ways to make connections between these dedicated individuals and young people and adults," she said.