The Science of Human Connection

(4 Credits)

With dramatically rising rates of loneliness, isolation, alienation, and suicide around the world, the most pressing questions we can ask include: What is at the root of what is now called a global "crisis of connection"? How do we effectively address this crisis? The science of human connection, which incorporates a wide range of disciplines including developmental and social psychology, neuroscience, primatology, and the health sciences, approaches both questions by telling a five-part story that underscores: 1) the social and emotional nature of humans; 2) how cultural ideologies clash with our social and emotional natures and lead to a crisis of connection and; 3) how we can effectively address the crisis by creating a culture that better nurtures our nature rather than gets in the way.