Dr. Masi Noor is an associate professor in social and political psychology and faculty member of the School of Psychology at Keele University, UK. He completed his PhD degree at Sussex University under Rupert Brown’s supervision. Masi’s main line of research focuses on studying the psychological experiences of victims and perpetrators with the aim to better understand effective conflict resolution strategies between adversary individuals, groups and communities. He coined the term Intergroup CompetitiveVictimhood (the tendency of both adversary parties competing over their share of their victimhood) and was among the first researchers to systematically study the concept of forgiveness. He has published journal articles on these concepts, and he has recently published his new book Forgiveness Is Really Strange, a graphic comic based on scientific research and real-life stories. He is the co-founder of the Forgiveness Toolbox, and he was awarded the Early Career Award of the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence.  

 

In 2018, Masi founded the MSc course in Applied Social and Political Psychology (ASPP) with the vision to invite students from around the world to take on the challenge of addressing polarization that dominates our communities across the world. Polarization blocks our perspective-taking ability and undermines our motivation to develop a deeper understanding of those with whom we disagree. Using multi-disciplinary mainstream and critical theory and research, ASPPs scope goes beyond the classroom by training students to engage with Action Research as well as encountering non-academic professionals (e.g., representatives from NGOs, community leaders, activists). The overarching aim of ASPP is to seek answers to some of the fundamental questions of our time and in doing so students' professional as well as personal development is prioritized.