Biography
Jonathan Tirrell is a developmental scientist and Research Associate Professor serving as director of the Vuslat Foundation Generous Listening and Dialogue Initiative at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. He joined Tufts in 2012 as a graduate student in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, where he earned his PhD in 2017. As research faculty in the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts, Jonathan developed a research program studying human flourishing and character development with a specific focus on forgiveness as a civic virtue—he is interested in how young people become good people, perhaps especially in contexts of conflict and marginalization. He engages in researcher-practitioner partnerships with youth-serving organizations aimed at promoting positive youth development in low- and middle-income countries (namely Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and El Salvador). Jonathan also serves as co-editor of the Journal of Character Education.
Jonathan’s interests in character development, forgiveness, restorative justice, and peacebuilding are connected by themes of listening and dialogue and, through the Generous Listening and Dialogue Initiative, Jonathan aims to build a theory-predicated evidence base for understanding and promoting listening and dialogue for character and community development. Jonathan was recently and proudly named “World’s Best Fort-Builder” by his young daughter, and beyond his scholarly interests he enjoys being by and on the ocean (fishing and boating) and crafting his own delicious fermented foods and drink (sourdough breads, pizzas, and beer).