CURRENT PROJECTS

Arts & Humanities Experience Study

To fill a large gap in empirical research on the relation between arts and humanities (A&H) engagement and wellbeing, we are conducting a large-scale survey study in which we characterize people’s most personally significant A&H experiences and everyday activities. Data collection from a representative American sample is now complete and has produced promising initial results. This study will allow us to address questions such as: What are the cognitive, affective and concrete situational features of such experiences and activities, and to what extent are the various features of these A&H-related activities associated with different facets of wellbeing?

Humanities and Human Flourishing Book Series

Built into the fabric of the HHF Project is interdisciplinary partnership. The Humanities and Human Flourishing Book Series brings together new knowledge from nearly 100 contributors across the arts and humanities and focuses on the intersections of their research and well-being. Mindful of the complexity intrinsic to interdisciplinary work, the series came to fruition over the course of a multi-stage writing and editing process.  In 2018 and 2019, we hosted a series of conferences - one in each of eight arts and humanities disciplines (religious studies and theology, philosophy, history, film and media studies, literary studies, theater and performance studies, music, and visual arts) in addition to a humanities-wide capstone meeting. Every conference brought together 10 leading scholars to present and workshop original papers. With guidance from each of the volume editors as well as series editor James Pawelski, those papers were revised to include in the Humanities and Human Flourishing Book Series, with a volume for each of the aforementioned domains. The volumes are available for purchase or to borrow with your local library.

The Oxford Handbook of the Positive Humanities

Edited by James Pawelski, HHF Project Director, and Louis Tay, HHF Founding Research Director, this handbook is an unprecedented collection of information covering dozens of lines of empirical research on various aspects of the eudaimonic value of the humanities. The overarching goal of this edited volume is to review and synthesize theory, research, and empirical evidence on how the arts and humanities can contribute to human flourishing. To this end, we have brought together essays from scholars, researchers, and other experts that address key themes and topics, including:

• Historical and current trends on the relationship between the arts and humanities and human flourishing;

• Flourishing outcomes of the arts and humanities;

• Pathways from the arts and humanities to flourishing;

• Disciplinary considerations; and

• Public engagement and public policy

We are thrilled to be partnering with Oxford University Press in publishing this forthcoming volume.