James O. Pawelski, Principal Investigator and Project Director, University of Pennsylvania
James O. Pawelski, Ph.D., is professor of practice and director of education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as adjunct professor of Religious Studies. Having won a Fulbright Scholarship and earned a doctorate in philosophy, he is the founding director of the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project, which has been designated a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab. He is the author of The Dynamic Individualism of William James, editor of the philosophy section of the Oxford Handbook of Happiness, co-editor of The Eudaimonic Turn: Well-Being in Literary Studies, and co-editor of On Human Flourishing: A Poetry Anthology. Additionally, he is the series editor of the Oxford University Press book series on the Humanities and Human Flourishing and co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Positive Humanities. Dr. Pawelski is an award-winning teacher, the founding director of Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program, a past president of the William James Society, the founding executive director of the International Positive Psychology Association, and a member of the executive committee of the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies. An international keynote speaker who has given talks in more than 20 countries on six continents, he is the recipient of a Practice Excellence Award from the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and the Humanitarian Innovation Award for the Humanities, Arts, and Culture from the Humanities Innovation Forum at the United Nations. He is co-author (with his wife Suzann Pileggi Pawelski) of Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts, is frequently featured in major U.S. and international media, including the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Time, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chronicle of Higher Education, People’s Daily (China), El Norte (Mexico), and Perfil (Argentina), and has appeared on The Today Show, Univision, Globo, TVOntario, and Radio Times.
Katherine Cotter, Associate Director of Research, University of Pennsylvania
Katherine Cotter is the Associate Director of Research with the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project. Within the project, she leads the “Art Museums for Well-Being” initiative, examining the ways in which engaging with visual art–both in the museum and virtually–can enhance flourishing. In this work, she emphasizes people’s interactions with the arts in their own life using daily life methods and in cultural institutions people visit to engage with the arts, such as art museums. Katherine earned her PhD in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Aleksandra (Sasha) Igdalova, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Aleksandra (Sasha) Igdalova is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project and the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores how art-museum settings can deepen engagement and support well-being through experiential learning strategies such as slow looking and group discussion. Sasha earned her PhD in Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she partnered with Manchester Art Gallery to evaluate their visitor-centered approaches including slow looking, mindful design, and guided group viewing. Her work activates spaces by blending rigorous experimental design with lived observation and collaboration, linking the perspectives of researchers, practitioners, and visitors to create more transformative museum experiences. Sasha is also the co-founder of CREA (Crossroads of Research and Experience of Art), an international platform that brings together psychologists and museum professionals to model new forms of co-production together. Beyond research, she facilitates immersive art-and-science workshops that invite people to explore how we see, feel, and make meaning through shared encounters with art.
MacKenzie Paul, Research Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania
MacKenzie Paul is a Research Coordinator with the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project. Her scholarly interests examine how aesthetic and cultural experiences shape social bonds, emotional reactions, and individual flourishing. She earned her M.A. in Social Psychology from Baylor University, where she collaborated with the Black Gospel Archive to investigate the capacity of Black Gospel music to induce feelings of social connectedness and awe. This work reflects a broader commitment to understanding the socialization mechanisms of arts and humanities engagement. MacKenzie also holds a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Psychology from Mississippi State University.
Emeriti HHF Team Members
Louis Tay, Founding Research Director, Purdue University
Sarah Sidoti, Associate Director of Operations, University of Pennsylvania
Damien Crone, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, 2019 - 2022
Christa Mahlobo, University of Pennsylvania, 2022 - 2025
Yerin Shim, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, 2017 - 2020
Alina Spas, Research Administrative Coordinator, 2023 - 2025
Hoda Vaziri, Postdoctoral Fellow, Purdue University, 2017 - 2019
Michaela Ward, Research Manager, University of Pennsylvania, 2017 - 2020