#Joining hands around the world series
The “Why We Hold Hands” class includes a series of scientific lessons illustrated in graphic novel form by Prof. Yet, through the writing of personal reflection essays, poems and other creative projects inspired by the scientific readings - some of which Coan, an accomplished illustrator, has illustrated in graphic novel form - students say they absorb the seminar’s complicated scientific principles much more deeply. “But we also have to study human cooperation, we have to study game theory, we have to study the evolution of social norms to begin to understand why one hand would clasp another, because it doesn’t have an obvious function in and of itself.” Engaging the creative side of scienceĭuring a semester when pandemic restrictions require holding the class online, the irony of studying and discussing the fundamental value of human contact and real-world social interactions is not lost on Coan’s students. University of Virginia psychology professor James Coan teaches a popular Engagements seminar based on his research on the brain mechanisms that link social support to our health and wellbeing. “We start the class talking in broad strokes about the methods of science, its social norms and the ethics of those norms, as well as some of the nitty gritty methods applied to behavioral ecology and the evolution of human brains,” says Coan, whose influential work has been covered in prominent journals like Science and Nature, as well as by The New York Times and other national media outlets. Plus, the value of singing with one another. In “Why We Hold Hands,” Coan combines the scientific underpinnings of how - at the elemental level of brain function - people soothe each other’s fears and anxieties with a broader exploration of how handholding and social relationships affect our sensory experiences, the lengths of our lives and everything in between.
The unique topics selected by Coan and the other Fellows introduce first-year students to the standards of critical thinking, scientific research and reasoned debate that will guide the four years of their education on Grounds. Philanthropic support funds others to teach the Fellows’ departmental courses while they focus on providing an enduring educational foundation for incoming students. The Dean’s Office typically appoints these College Fellows for two-year terms and encourages them to develop their dream courses in collaboration with colleagues from other academic disciplines.
First-year students take innovative Engagements seminars developed and taught by some of the College’s top faculty. The creative design of Coan’s course reflects the College of Arts & Sciences’ new approach to a liberal arts curriculum. That experience, along with Coan’s neuroscience research on the brain mechanisms that link social support to our health and wellbeing, inspired him to design “Why We Hold Hands,” an innovative, popular new course for first-year students. Two years later, he says he will never forget the soothing physical contact of the nurse who grabbed his hand and stroked his forehead when he feared he was moments from dying. University of Virginia psychology professor James Coan has vivid memories of the massive heart attack that almost killed him, the “widow maker” that had doctors rushing to put a stent in his heart before it was too late.
0 kommentar(er)
