{"id":492,"date":"2011-10-22T09:23:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-22T14:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vandfam.net\/dev\/wordpressmu\/college\/?p=492"},"modified":"2011-10-22T09:23:12","modified_gmt":"2011-10-22T14:23:12","slug":"positivity-scholar-to-speak-at-december-commencement-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=492","title":{"rendered":"Positivity scholar to speak at December commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Barbara Fredrickson, an internationally acclaimed psychology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences who studies positive emotions and human wellbeing, will speak at UNC’s December Commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Holden Thorp will preside at the Dec. 18 ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center on Bowles Drive.<\/p>\n

Thorp chose Fredrickson in consultation with the University\u2019s Commencement Speaker Selection Committee, made up of an equal number of students and faculty. The selection continues Carolina\u2019s tradition of faculty speakers at December Commencement.<\/p>\n

As Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and director of UNC\u2019s positive emotions and psychophysiology lab<\/a>, Fredrickson studies how positive emotions affect people\u2019s thinking patterns, social behavior and physiological reactions. Her goal is to understand how positive emotions might accumulate and compound to transform people\u2019s lives for the better.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Fredrickson\u2019s research has generated an enormous amount of interest in the fascinating topic of how positive emotions foster open-mindedness and creativity,\u201d Chancellor Holden Thorp said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important for our newest graduates to hear from scholars like Professor Frederickson. I look forward to her remarks and am delighted she accepted the invitation to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fredrickson\u2019s research and teaching have been recognized with honors including the 2000 American Psychological Association\u2019s Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology. The National Institute of Mental Health has consistently funded her research. She also directs the social psychology doctoral program and is an adjunct management professor at UNC\u2019s Kenan-Flagler Business School.<\/p>\n

Her 2009 book, \u201cPositivity,\u201d cites tools for creating a healthier, more vibrant and flourishing life. \u201cShe discovered that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones leads people to a tipping point beyond which they naturally become more resilient to adversity and effortlessly achieve what they once could only imagine,\u201d says the book\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

UNC\u2019s research magazine, Endeavors, wrote in 2008, \u201cFor 20 years, Fredrickson has been asking the question, \u2018What good are positive emotions?\u2019 Her work is illuminating the pathways by which positive emotions lead to a wide range of life outcomes such as health and satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fredrickson said she is honored to have been invited to speak at Commencement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to convey to our graduates that beyond all the direct knowledge they gained here at Carolina \u2013 the math, the social and natural sciences, the arts and humanities, the professional skills \u2013 they\u2019ll also carry forward with them many indirect lessons,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While at Carolina, Fredrickson said, students grow through the curiosity and enthusiasm shared in classrooms, the pride shared in arts venues and sports arenas, and the comfort they give each other during trying times. The experiences make them more resilient, resourceful, caring and compassionate, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinuing to develop these skills \u2013 for truly connecting with others, with the warmth of good cheer and goodwill \u2013 is vital for continued health, happiness and success in the exciting and challenging decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Fredrickson, an internationally acclaimed psychology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences who studies positive emotions and human wellbeing, will speak at UNC’s December Commencement ceremony. Chancellor Holden Thorp will preside at the Dec. 18 ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center on Bowles Drive. Thorp chose Fredrickson in consultation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-sciences-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}