Alissa Stover is new gradate in Psychology from UC Berkeley. She along with other students, designed and facilitated a series of empathy
classes there over a several year period. The
Empathy Tent Team worked with the classes to facilitate the
empathy circle practice and set up the empathy tent in Sproul plaza.
We
dialogue with
Alissa
about her
experience facilitating the classes.
We believe that empathy is not only fascinating as a concept, but important as
a skill on an individual and societal level. By the end of this course we aim
to have a better understanding of empathy and to feel more able to use it in
our daily lives.
Do you find it
mysterious how two people can communicate about emotions without needing to
read thoughts?
Do you care
deeply for others and wish more people would be the same?
Or do you feel
disconnected emotionally from other people and wish to change that?
Do you think
it's possible to improve society on a larger scale by improving the way people
relate emotionally?
We believe that empathy is not only fascinating as a concept, but important as
a skill on an individual and societal level. By the end of this course we aim
to have a better understanding of empathy and to feel more able to use it in
our daily lives.
The class incorporates short weekly readings and reflection pieces, as well as
group trips and activities. We hope to research empathy as a group and build
relationships with each other over the course of the semester. We will also
volunteer as a group at the end of the semester, and encourage students to
give back to the community on a regular basis.
One prominent
definition of empathy is that it is the ability to understand and share the
feelings of another. The objective of this course is to offer a
multidisciplinary approach to empathy. Topics will include development,
definition & effects of empathy, with an additional emphasis on improving
empathy individually, community building, and connecting to each other as a
class. Throughout this semester, we hope to develop a better understanding of
questions such as:
How is
it that many times we can put ourselves into someone else’s shoes,
regardless of whether we know the person or not?
When we read
fiction or watch certain movies many emotions arise, as if the characters
from such stories were real; why is it that we feel such emotions, even
though we know the stories are not real?
How
unique is the human ability to empathize, what is its role in our species,
and what facilitates cross-species empathy?
There is a final
paper, and weekly thought papers based on readings. We will also be exploring
meditation as a route towards improving interpersonal skills, with required
weekly practice.
Spring 2018: Effective Expression of Empathy(4305)
One prominent definition of empathy is that it is the ability to understand
and share the feelings of another. The objective of this course is to offer a
multidisciplinary approach to empathy, from using a scientific perspective to
exploring personal views. We will use meditation, group discussion, readings,
and written assignments to develop a deeper understanding of this topic. As
empathy is an interpersonal skill and we will be developing it as a group,
attendance/participation is mandatory.
