Exploring Positive Psychology

Exploring Positive Psychology

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Distinguished Professor of Psychology Founder and Co-Director of CGU’s Quality of Life Research Center

Positive Psychology emerged at the beginning of the new millennium as a movement within psychology aimed at enhancing human strengths and optimal human functioning. This emerging area of scholarship, scientific research, and application has inspired leading scholars and practitioners from across the globe to rethink the fundamental nature of how we live, work, and educate; of our health and well-being; of how to design and lead positive institutions; and how to develop positive public policies. The ideas contained in the initial work in positive psychology have spread far and wide across the disciplines to form a broader movement, sometimes referred to as the positive social and human sciences.  Claremont Graduate University is proud to host two special events that will illustrate diverse visions for the future of positive psychology, and share research on the science of positive psychology.

Friday, September 5th, 2014

Screening of North of Normal

In 2013, doctoral students Angela Mouton and Monica Montijo embarked on a worldwide adventure to ask diverse people “what do you love,” “what is your greatest passion,” and “what has been a peak experience in your life?”  Their trek took them to six continents and 22 countries.  They conducted 150 in-depth interviews over the span of seven months, from the cafes of New Orleans to the wild of Southern Africa to the Outback of Australia.  Their interviews and observations were compiled into a feature-length movie called North of Normal.  We proudly invite you to join us for the world premiere screening, and explore the peak of human experience.  Click here to view the trailer.

Location: Garrison Theater: 241 E 10th Street, Claremont CA 91711
Time: 8:00 PM
Cost: Free

Saturday, September 6th, 2014

The Future of Positive Psychology: A Tribute to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

On Saturday, September 6th, we will be celebrating Professor Csikszentmihalyi’s 80th Birthday and his extensive career contributions. The Claremont Stauffer Symposium will explore the latest developments and future of positive psychology. Join us to hear cutting edge talks by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Martin Seligman, Antonella Delle Fave, Howard Gardner, Hans Henrik Knoop, Jeanne Nakamura, Stewart Donaldson, and more!

Location: Garrison Theater: 241 E 10th Street, Claremont CA 91711

Schedule:

Speaker Bios

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Professor Csikszentmihalyi is the founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC) at Claremont Graduate University. The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies “positive psychology”; that is, human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility. Professor Csikszentmihalyi is also know as the co-founder of the positive psychology movement, a member of the American Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Leisure Studies. He has published numerous books and articles including his best selling book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

Martin Seligman

Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman is the Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center and Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the Penn Department of Psychology. He is also Director of the Penn Master of Applied Positive Psychology program (MAPP). He is the Co-founder of the field of Positive Psychology, and a leading authority on resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism and pessimism. He is also a recognized authority on interventions that prevent depression, and build strengths and well-being. He has published numerous books and articles including his best selling books Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (2012) and Authentic Happiness: Using Positive Psychology to realize your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment (2004).

Read more: http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/bio.htm

Antonella Delle Fave

Dr. Delle Fave is Professor of Psychology at the Faculty of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. She is Past-President of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Past-President of the European Positive Psychology Network (ENPP) and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Happiness Studies. Her research interests concern optimal experience, and her cross-cultural studies have produced the largest international data bank on this topic. She has supervised intervention projects in health and education and co-operation programs on disability and social maladjustment.

Read more: www.enpp.eu/index.php/about-enpp/executive-board

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner, Ph.D., is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard University. He is also adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University and senior director of Harvard Project Zero. Gardner is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be adequately assessed by standard psychometric instruments. He has published numerous books and articles including Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (2002; with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon).

Read more: www.gse.harvard.edu/directory/faculty/faculty-detail/#ixzz35foc5s5Z

Hans Henrik Knoop

Hans Henrik Knoop, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of educational psychology, Director of the Positive Psychology Research Unit at the Danish School of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark, and Extraordinary Professor, North West University, South Africa. He is also President of the European Positive Psychology Network (ENPP). His work is focused on positive psychology, learning, and creativity in education and professional work, having involved more than 15,000 pupils and 2,500 teachers.

Read more: www.ippanetwork.org/programs/leader_series/hans_henrik_knoop_phd/

Jeanne Nakamura

Jeanne Nakamura, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University.She co-directs the positive psychology concentration and the Quality of Life Research Center, and is a member of the board of the International Positive Psychology Association. She helped direct the Good Work Project, a series of studies of excellence and social responsibility in professional life. She has investigated positive psychology in a developmental context, including engagement and creativity, mentoring and good work, and aging well.

Stewart Donaldson

Stewart I. Donaldson is Professor of Psychology and Community & Global Health, Dean of the School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation (SSSPE) and the School of Community & Global Health (SCGH), and Director of the Claremont Evaluation Center (CEC) at Claremont Graduate University. He is on the Board of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Director & Co-Founder of the Western Positive Psychology Association (WPPA), and was Congress Chair of IPPA’s Third World Congress on Positive Psychology in Los Angeles, June 2013.  His recent publications in Positive Psychology include Happiness, Excellence, and Optimal Human Functioning Revisited (in press 2014, Journal of Positive Psychology with Maren Dollwet & Meghana Rao); Taming the Waves and Wild Horses of Positive Organizational Psychology (2013, Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology with Maren Dollwet); Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (2011, Routledge, with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Jeanne Nakamura); and Positive Organizational Psychology, Behavior, and Scholarship: A Review of the Emerging Literature and Evidence Base (2010, Journal of Positive Psychology with Ia Ko).

Sunday, September 7th, 2014

Western Positive Psychology Association 2014 Conference

The Western Positive Psychology Association (WPPA) was established in 2013 to create a collaborative scientific community of faculty, students, and scholars to advance and support rigorous, evidence-based empirical research in the science of happiness, excellence and optimal human functioning. WPPA now has a membership of over 700, and the energy generated by the research efforts of the members has culminated in the first conference of the Western Positive Psychology Association. Join your colleagues as we engage in presentations, discussions, and debates about the current science of positive psychology. Also consider submitting an abstract to present at WPPA! Click here to submit an abstract.

Location: Burkle Building: 1021 N. Dartmouth Ave, Claremont CA 91711
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Schedule: