HUMANITIES AND HUMAN FLOURISHING PROJECT

Newsletter | October 17, 2025

Advancing the understanding, assessment, and cultivation of well-being by means of a deep and sustained collaboration between the arts, humanities, and social sciences

First, A Note from the HHF Team​

After a brief hiatus, we are excited to be back with a new format for the HHF newsletter. This year, we will be featuring interviews with researchers and practitioners working in the arts, culture, and well-being - folks who may also be part of our In Conversation speaker series. This format presents their research, their thoughts on the state of the field, and their vision for what the future may hold. We're delighted and honored to be able to share these interviews, and hope that you're able to learn as much from them as we have.

Spotlight on: Jennifer Drake

What is a recent encounter with the arts that contributed to your flourishing in some way?

In the Spring, I visited Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France. To get to the garden from the train station, I rode a bike, something I have not done in 10+ years, through the town and countryside. Once at the garden, I visited Monet’s home and I was surrounded by his artwork, a blooming garden, and breath taking views. I found the whole experience magical and it took my breath away. To be surrounded by such beauty in a place where one of the great artists lived and worked, was awe-inspiring.

Tell us about your current work.

My current work is examining the paradoxical benefits of viewing tragic art. Many of our greatest works of art depict human suffering. We are often drawn to tragic art even though we avoid experiencing suffering in our daily lives. I am examining why this might be and whether art depicting suffering has the power to induce empathy.

How did you first become interested in this field?

The arts have been a part of my life since childhood – dancing, singing, playing a musical instrument, and art-making. I was a dance and psychology major in college and was a member of my college’s dance company. I never thought that my two interests – psychology and dance – could be combined until graduate school when I met Ellen Winner. I joined her lab that studied the psychology of the arts and I have never looked back!

Aside from your own, what research/work do you find especially promising, innovative, or illuminating for your field?

In September, APA Monitor published a piece entitled What happens in the brain when we experience art that featured many leading scholars in the field – Anjan Chatterjee, Matthew Pelowski, Ed Vessel. Reading the piece made me excited about work being done in this area.

Without asking you to divulge too much, what’s on the horizon for your work? What topic areas are you excited about exploring more?

My doctoral student, Kaile Smith, and I are continuing my work on the affective benefits of drawing and expanding this work by examining the benefits of mindful drawing.

HHF News

• On October 9, 2025, the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project partnered with the Mural Arts Institute to host Researching the Impact of Murals for Philadelphians. The event featured presentations from and panels with researchers, artists, policy makers, and non-profit leaders and welcomed over 125 members of the community. A recording of the event will be available soon on the Mural Arts Institute's website.
• HHF is thrilled to welcome Postdoctoral Fellow Aleksandra (Sasha) Igdalova to our research team! Sasha's research links the science of seeing to the art of looking. She specializes in slow looking, arts and well-being, audience engagement, and museum education/experience design. Welcome, Sasha! We can't wait to learn from and with you.

Upcoming Events

We are delighted to continue our fourth season of In Conversation, part of the HHF colloquium series. In Conversation brings scientists and practitioners into dialogue to discuss their work in the arts, culture, and well-being. In Fall 2025, we will hear from innovators working in research institutions and cultural organizations on how engagement in the arts can promote well-being in individuals and communities. We welcome you to join us for these virtual events and to take part in these important exchanges.

• Thursday, November 6, 2025 | 2:00 to 3:30pm EST - Jennifer Drake (Brooklyn College) and Jordan S. Potash (The George Washington University) will be discussing the impact of creativity and art-making on individuals and societies. More information and the registration page are available here.
• Wednesday, November 19, 2025 | 10:30am to 12pm EST - Daphna Blatt and colleagues from the New York Public Library will be speaking about how public libraries contribute to human flourishing. More information and the registration page are available here.

Couldn't make it to one of our past colloquia? Check out the recording on our HHF YouTube Channel.

Other Announcements

• The Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts is hosting its third annual research conference in Omaha, Nebraska on March 12-14, 2026. Call for papers and presentations is now open, with a deadline of November 7, 2025. More information, including conference registration and meeting details, is available here.
• James Pawelski, Director of HHF, will be leading a Special Session at the American Academy of Religion's 2025 Annual Meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 22-25, 2025. The session, "Freedom and Flourishing in Fraught Times," is scheduled for Sunday, November 23 at 12:30 to 2:30pm. More information, including conference registration, program, and meeting details, is available here.

This newsletter was created by Sarah Sidoti, Katherine Cotter, and James Pawelski.