Everyone is welcome to join us for our upcoming virtual convening on May 31 at 11am PT/2pm ET, with Stanford social psychologist Geoffrey Cohen, author of Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides.
**All registrants will be entered into a drawing for one of 10 free copies of Geoffrey Cohen's book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides.**
Belonging and Museums: Creating Connection and Bridging Divides
A Conversation with Professor Geoff Cohen, Stanford University
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 | 11am PT / 2pm ET
We live in enormously polarized times. From politics to race, religion, gender, and class, division runs rampant. In 2020, 40 percent of each political party said that supporters of the opposing party were "downright evil." In 2019, hate crimes reached a ten-year high in the United States. One in five Americans suffers from chronic loneliness, with teenagers and young adults at increasing risk. Social ties at work, at school, and in our communities have frayed. How did we become so alienated? Why is our sense of belonging so undermined? What if there were a set of science-backed techniques for navigating modern social life that could help us overcome our differences, create empathy, and forge lasting connections even across divides? What if there were a useful set of takeaways for organizations of all stripes to create connection even during challenging times?
We all feel a deep need to belong, but most of us don't fully appreciate that need in others. Often inadvertently, we behave in ways that threaten others' sense of belonging. Yet small acts that establish connection have been shown to lessen political polarization, improve motivation and performance in school and work, combat racism in our communities, enhance health and well-being, and unleash the potential in ourselves and in our relationships. In his new book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, Stanford social psychologist Geoffrey Cohen applies his and others' groundbreaking research to the myriad problems of communal existence and offers concrete solutions for improving daily life at work, in school, in our homes, and in our communities, including places like museums.
In this discussion, Cohen will help us:
• Gain a better understanding of what belonging is and why it matters.
• Learn some science-backed techniques that can help us overcome differences, create empathy, and build lasting connections.
• Explore how small acts can have big impacts and create environments where everyone feels like they can belong and flourish.
About Geoffrey Cohen:
Geoffrey L. Cohen is professor of psychology and the James G. March Professor of Organizational Studies in Education and Business at Stanford University. Professor Cohen's research examines processes that shape people's sense of belonging and self and implications for social problems. He studies the big and small threats to belonging and self-integrity that people encounter in school, work, and health care settings, and strategies to create more inclusive spaces for people from all walks of life. He believes that the development of psychological theory is facilitated not only by descriptive and observational research but by theory-driven intervention. He has long been inspired by Kurt Lewin's quip, "The best way to try to understand something is to try to change it."
If you missed our previous convening with Susan Golden on how to better understand and serve adults over 60, you can access the recording here. ------------------------------
Robert Urstein PhD
Co-Founder, Gather Learning
San Francisco CA
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