As our society becomes more fragmented and divided, it becomes less likely that people will get to know others who come from different backgrounds and experiences.
CultureAll is a Des Moines nonprofit that works to introduce Iowans of different cultures to each other with the goal of building community. One of the ways they do that is through their Open Book program — a community project that creates connections and builds social cohesion through story sharing.
On this episode we learn about that project and new research that shows that Open Book and the act of reciprocal storytelling can cultivate empathy.
Later, we talk with Drake University health sciences professor Stacy Gnacinski. When she's not teaching, Gnacinski does mental performance consulting for athletes, from local youth, to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, where she's a mental performance consultant. She shares about her recent trip to the Winter Olympics.
Guests:
- Karen Downing, project consultant, Open Book and CultureAll
- Jessie Orton, executive director, CultureAll
- JJ Kapur, doctoral student of counseling psychology, University of Iowa
- Stacy Gnacinski, associate professor and chair of health sciences, Drake University
