Making Our Time Together Count: How to Use Workshops to Increase Well-Being through Connection

This Capstone explores how well-being can be increased through creating conditions for connection in workshop experiences. It begins with an overview of workshops followed by a literature review of the general field of positive psychology and two specific elements of social connection: belonging and mattering as well as short-term positive connections. It details these areas as well as their corresponding benefits for well-being both generally and inside of workshops, specifically. Finally, the Appendix: Fostering Connection in Workshops to Increase Well-Being, outlines research-based suggestions workshop facilitators can use to put this information into action. These resources are provided with the intention of fostering well-being in workshops through creating opportunities for participants to connect in the moment as well as arming participants with tools to use in their own workshops and lives. This translation of research into practical suggestions for workshop facilitators should elevate facilitators’ practice by both giving them new ideas to incorporate as well as by backing their existing practices with research

The Bridge to Inclusion: An Appreciative Strategic Planning Process for the Cultural Awareness Coalition of Midland, Michigan

Inclusive communities are places where all citizens feel a sense of acceptance and belonging. In Midland, MI, a dedicated group of citizens has made a community-wide culture of inclusion their priority. These are the members of the Midland Cultural Awareness Coalition (CAC), a community-based initiative which has attracted a diverse group of stakeholders from a broad cross-section of Midland County. This spring, CAC leaders have collaborated with a team of graduate students (Team Black) enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program (MAPP). As part of their semester-long course in Applying Positive Interventions in Institutions, Team Black identified CAC’s organizational strengths, identified opportunities, and drew upon their knowledge of positive psychology to create an application that would best support the CAC in pursuit of their vision. The team conducted a situation analysis and researched the academic literature in the fields of coalition effectiveness, goal-setting, inclusion and diversity, bonding and bridging social capital, psychological safety and psychological capital. Team Black recommends the CAC embark upon an Appreciative Inquiry-informed strategic planning process. This process will empower the coalition, engage the community, and provide a bridge from where the CAC is today, to where they hope to be tomorrow. The desired outcomes of this process include: engaging a broader network of stakeholders, creating a common language around inclusion, clarifying the organization’s goal hierarchy, and establishing clear priorities for investing the coalition’s limited human and financial resources