Seeing the world though a pandemic lens

Looking for ways to persevere through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have turned to positive psychology—and the aspect of resilience—for hope. Even Karen Reivich, director of resilience and positive psychology programs through Penn’s Positive Psychology Center and instructor in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies’ Master of Applied Positive Psychology program, needed a boost.

Exploring connections between a sense of autonomy and perceptions of inequality

Cristina Bicchieri, founding director of Penn’s Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences (MBDS) and director of the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, wants to better understand how people’s perceptions of their own autonomy impacts their understanding of the inequalities that exist throughout the nation.

Penn Employee Virtual Information Session

Penn employees are invited to join us for a virtual information session on Thursday, March 7 at 12 p.m. ET to learn how to make the most of your employee tuition benefits by taking classes—or earning a degree—with the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. The following programs make undergraduate-level courses available on campus and online, with daytime and evening offerings to fit your schedule.

Meet our program team members and learn how to apply your tuition benefits to one (or more!) of our programs:

Positive psychology experts share advice on how to find joy this holiday season

In a year where everything seems a little harder, this holiday season will be no different. Luckily, our colleagues from Penn’s Positive Psychology Center (PPC) and the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program are weighing in with expert advice on how to find joy amongst the tangle of emotions.

Karen Reivich, PPC’s director of resilience training and MAPP instructor, acknowledges that “In any given year, the holidays have highs and lows. Those are just the holidays. But this one is going to be different.”

Steve Fluharty, a dean for the ages

Now in his second term as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Steve Fluharty embodies the spirit of the school’s past and its future.

Fluharty came to Penn in 1974 as an English major but graduated with a degree in neuroscience instead, something he attributes to the flexibility of the SAS curriculum and its ability to support and extend a student’s curiosity.

Penn Summer High School Programs student maps out the impact of coronavirus on different communities

“During a time of social unrest, there’s a lot of misinformation, injustice, and frightful things going on,” writes Neelofar Tamboli, a senior at Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science and an alumna of the Penn Summer High School Program’s Social Justice Research Academy (SJRA). “SJRA taught me that in order to make a difference, having the right information and knowledge is key to making informed decisions rather than abrupt, uninformed opinions.”

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