Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 414/832-6590
For Immediate Release				February 3, 1997 
 
Modern Man's Psychological Adaptability Focus of Lawrence University
Convocation 
 
 
APPLETON, WIS.-- Distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Robert Jay Lifton will discuss
contemporary manUs psychological adaptability in the face of dramatic
historical and societal changes Thursday, February 13 in a Lawrence University
convocation.  His address, "The Protean Self -- Psychological Resilience in
Teaching and Learning," at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is free
and open to the public.

Lifton's appearance is in conjunction with Lawrence's year-long
sesquicentennial convocation series, "The Challenges of Excellence: 
Reflections on Tradition, Change and the Modern World." 

A professor of psychiatry and psychology at The City University of New York at
John Jay College and the Mount Sinai Medical Center, Lifton is the author of
more than 20 books, including 1993's, "The Protean Self:  Human Resilience in
an Age of Fragmentation." In the book, Lifton describes the contemporary
"protean" self (taken from the mythological sea god, Proteus, who could assume
different shapes), the ways in which we express our adaptability and our
connection to humankind.  	

Lifton has been a leader in the field of psychohistory, exploring the
relationship between individual behavior and the historical events of a given
time.  In his 1995 book, "Hiroshima in America:  Fifty Years of Denial," Lifton
examined the impact of the atomic bombing on the pysche of Americans.  Since
1995, he has conducted research on the problem of apocalyptic violence,
focusing on Aum Shinrikyo, the extremist Japanese cult charged with releasing
poison gas in Tokyo subways. 

Lifton also has written widely on Nazi doctors and the problems of genocide,
nuclear weapons and their impact on death symbolism and the Vietnam War
experience.  His book, "The Nazi Doctors:  Medical Killing and the Psychology
of Genocide," was honored with the 1987 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for
History.  Lifton received the National Book Award in the Sciences for, "Death
in Life:  Survivors of Hiroshima."  He earned a National Book Award nomination
in 1992 for "Home From the War: Vietnam Veterans -- Neither Victims Nor
Executioners."

A native of New York City, Lifton, 70, spent two years as a psychiatrist in the
U.S. Air Force, serving in Japan and Korea.  He is a founding member of the
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which was awarded
the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, and also remains active in the organization
Physicians for Social Responsibility.  

Lifton has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his work,
including the National Living Treasure Award from the Psychiatric Institute,
the Holocaust Memorial Award from the New York Society of Clinical
Psychologists and the Gandhi Peace Award, among others.  

A graduate of the New York Medical College, Lifton has been awarded 13 honorary
degrees, the first of which was given him by Lawrence University in 1971.