Some colleagues and I have received a grant to study gratitude across several traditions.  We'll be looking at theological work on this, philosophical work on this, and literary work on this!  It's going to be very fun.

Just my opinion, but I'm very happy to be thinking directly about this topic right now.  It feels like we live in an age where gratitude is, um, challenged, where it can often feel like a sucker's emotion.  I don't think it is, but I want to understand the challenges, legitimate and illegitimate, to gratitude, as well as investigate what precisely is meant by "gratitude" in various traditions, across time.  

Longer-term, it feels to me like gratitude, and mercy, and graciousness--modes of (in some ways) moral superfluity, or responsiveness to moral superfluity, perhaps?--are all topics that would merit more attention these days.  And with increasing prospects of learning beyond the Greco-Latin West, and with increasing attention to multiple modes of scholarly inquiry on this, maybe we can do some good work.

Here's our website, just up and running now.  Hopefully I can call your attention to events and resources on it in coming months.

Be well!