Christy Wilson-Mendenhall – Emotions in the World

About this episode

Wendy speaks with Christy Wilson-Mendenhall about the integration of psychological science and contemplative philosophy in understanding emotions and resilience.

In this episode, Wendy speaks with cognitive and affective scientist Christy Wilson-Mendenhall. Christy has a long history studying emotions, and her work integrates psychological science and contemplative philosophy to explore well-being and resilience. This conversation covers many topics, including: integrating basic science and philosophy with on-the-ground research; viewing emotions as malleable, situated, and learned; working with emotions to enhance well-being; intersections of cognitive science and Buddhist philosophy; the critical role of community and relationships; understanding deep resilience; a free online course to help build resilience and emotional well-being; making worldview explicit; foregrounding interconnectedness when teaching; the power of emotional granularity; eco-anxiety, eco-grief, and solastalgia; the role of imagination and visioning; priming ourselves for a better future; taking seriously and learning from the perspective of marginalized folks; and making small personal changes to effect systems change. Full show notes and resources

People in this episode

Host: Wendy

Guest: Christy Wilson-Mendenhall

Topics covered

• emotions
• well-being
• resilience
• cognitive science
• community
• interconnectedness
• eco-anxiety

Keywords

• emotional granularity
• eco-grief
• solastalgia
• community
• marginalized perspectives
• systems change
• well-being
• cognitive science
• Buddhist philosophy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mind & Life Institute, Buddhist philosophy

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