2001 Positive Psychology Summer Institute
Information
August 16-23, 2001
Following is information on Summer Institute lodging, directions to Sea Ranch, weather conditions, and resources and activities in the area.
Lodging: Lodging will be at Sea Ranch Lodge or at nearby houses - Angel's Rest house, Torrey house, Vincent house, Whale Bone house, Wildmoor house, Sea Walk condo, Loeffler house, Meadow Spring house, Noyes house, and Ocean Whispers house. Sea Ranch Lodge has no computers or copiers, but there is a business center in the nearby town of Gualala. Sea Ranch Lodge rooms have phone jacks in the rooms, which you can use for Internet access if you bring a laptop computer.
Directions: For directions, go to the Sea Ranch Lodge Web site. For a map of the area, click here.
Weather: The average August high is 66 degrees. The average low is 48 degrees.
For information on resources and activities in the Sea Ranch area, see the Redwood Coast Chamber of Commerce Web site. The nearby town of Gualala is 8 miles from Sea Ranch (about 10 to 15 minutes), has a business center, supermarkets and several restaurants. For a listing of area restaurants, click here. For a listing of area grocery stores, click here.
Link to New York Times article: A Sea Change in Sea Ranch
The deadline for the application was June 16, 2000.
Program Description
Graduate students, post-docs, and new assistant professors in psychology and other social sciences are invited to apply for the 2001 Summer Training Institute in Positive Psychology. Selected participants will receive a grant of $500 to conduct pilot research in the 2000-2001 academic year. In August 2001, participants will attend a 7-day summer training institute, all expenses paid, in Northern California to present their research and interact with other attendees and program faculty. Program faculty will conduct workshops and lead informal discussions. The summer institute and accompanying research awards are sponsored by the Positive Psychology Network, chaired by Martin E. P. Seligman.
The goal of the institute is to foster high-quality research in positive psychology, broadly defined. Applicants from all disciplines within psychology (e.g., social-personality, development, cognition, neuroscience, health, individual differences, clinical) and related social sciences are sought. In addition to supporting promising pilot research in positive psychology, major goals of the institute are to develop a peer network of scholars interested in positive psychology and to facilitate their interaction with more senior faculty working in diverse areas of positive psychology.
Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the study of positive experience (e.g., well-being, optimism, flow, positive emotions); positive traits and character strengths (e.g., courage, interpersonal skill, perseverance, forgiveness, future-mindedness, wisdom), and positive institutions (those that foster better parenting, altruism, civility, and tolerance). Work at the interface of these areas is especially valued, and exciting research in positive psychology need not be limited to the examples provided. For example, research on positive aspects of close relationships, inter-group processes, and goal-directed behavior would also be appropriate. Additional information about the Positive Psychology Network may be found on this Web site.
Institute Faculty
Institute faculty include Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania; Ed Diener, University of Illinois; Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Claremont Graduate School; George Vaillant, Harvard University; Robert Emmons, UC Davis; Harry Reis, University of Rochester; Lisa Aspinwall, University of Utah, Barbara Fredrickson, University of Michigan, and Dacher Keltner, UC Berkeley. Additional faculty will be invited to lead discussions and tutorials on selected topics.
Eligibility
Graduate students in accredited doctoral programs, post-doctoral fellows, and first-year or second-year assistant professors in psychology or other social sciences are eligible to apply. Approximately 20 attendees will be selected.
Application Procedure
Application forms may be obtained by clicking here: Application Form
The application consists of a 500-word statement of interest and a 500-word proposal for a study to be conducted prior to the summer training institute. References and up to two tables, figures, or other illustrations may be included in addition to 1000-word limit. Preference will go to empirical studies, but narrative reviews or meta-analyses of central issues in positive psychology will also be considered.
The proposal should be accompanied by a completed application form, a curriculum vitae, two letters of recommendation (these may be sent separately or included with the other application materials), and up to 2 preprints or reprints.
Applications should be mailed to:
Peter Schulman
University of Pennsylvania
Department of Psychology
3815 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6196
The postmark deadline was June 16, 2000.
Notification of Selection
Selections will be announced in late summer 2000.
Contact Information
Questions about the 2001 Summer Institute should be directed to institute co-directors Lisa Aspinwall (lisa.aspinwall@psych.utah.edu) and Dacher Keltner (keltner@socrates.berkeley.edu) or to the coordinator Peter Schulman (schulman@psych.upenn.edu). For information on future Summer Institutes, please contact Peter Schulman.