By Scott T. Allison
A new website devoted entirely to promoting heroism and heroism science has been launched by Olivia Efthimiou, a transdisciplinary researcher at Murdoch University, Perth and Associate Researcher at the Australian National Academy of Screen and Sound Research Centre.
The site is called Heroism Science: Promoting the transdisciplinary study of heroism in the 21st century.
The introductory page of the site explains:
“The 21st century has marked a shift in research trends across a number of disciplines, especially due to the increasing relevance of technologies in our daily lives and the demand for more complex and creative ways of thinking about our world. In particular, the focus in the sciences, psychology and the social sciences which have traditionally concentrated on the study of disease, evil, maladaptive and irrational behaviours, is now moving towards understanding positive behaviours and promoting personal and collective well-being.
“This has signaled an unprecedented rise in the study of such fields as resilience, flow, spirituality, sustainability, leadership, faith and many more. Heroism and heroic individuals represent the pinnacle of humanity – 
what we can become, do and experience. But, as we are discovering, decoding the heroic process, its antecedents and impacts, is far from simple. Heroism science seeks to uncover the many complex layers of this state of human consciousness which has fascinated us since the dawn of humankind, as we look to the future in both awe and fear of what we might achieve.”
The site includes:
- A blog commentary called Heroism Today which aims to highlight innovative efforts to promote heroism education, activism and engagement with heroic behaviour in 21st century societies, and personal accounts that demonstrate and inspire resilient and heroic behaviour.
- An open source research journal called International Advances in Heroism Science which publishes original analyses and empirical studies from a broad range of disciplinary perspectives.
- Information about heroes conferences, such as the Hero Round Table and the Heroism Science Conference 2018.
- A comprehensive listing of books and articles on heroes and heroism, and a listing of online resources and websites devoted to promoting heroism and heroism science.
Matt Langdon of the Hero Construction Company has already published a blog commentary at Heroism Today called Every Hero Needs a Team.
Scott Allison has published the first article in Heroism Science (HS) called The Initiation of Heroism Science.
Olivia Efthimiou has published the second article in HS entitled The Search For The Hero Gene: Fact or Fiction?
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So there you have it – a website that provides all the information about heroism that you’d ever want to know. Everyone is encouraged to contribute to this site — please consider submitting an essay to the blog or an article to the journal, or contributing new resources and readings about heroes and heroism.
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Thank you so very much, Ann. We truly appreciate your generosity!
This sounds like a wonderful site, and a very valuable one. If it’s one thing the 21st century needs, it’s a focus on heroism, for the enemies of civilization have never been more galvanized.