Switch to Desktop Site   Piero Massimo Forni sees being
considerate to one another as the foundation for everything from
the environmental movement to women's rights.  About these ads
Pier Massimo Forni is a peacemaker, not between nations, rather
on the fundamental level of individual personal relations. He's
not a therapist, psychiatrist, or such. He's a master of the
ameliorative skills that are as old as human society and, to
him, more productive of social harmony than most people realize.
We're talking about manners, courtesy, civility.  Mr. Forni, a
professor of Italian literature, was among those who a decade
ago, spurred by widespread concern over the coarsening of
society, created the Johns Hopkins University Civility Project.
Its purpose was to learn what influence these old conventions
retained in modern society. What is the effect of politeness and
respect in the work place, and in more tightly closed
aggregations like the military and prisons? What are the
consequences of their absence?  Since