Honorary Fellow
College of Letters & Science l Center for Healthy Minds
Pelin Kesebir is a social and personality psychologist specializing in the psychology of happiness.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, and has since published dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as happiness, virtue, and existential psychology.In her talks and workshops, Pelin aims to familiarize her audience with state-of-the-art scientific knowledge, while giving practical tips on how to apply that knowledge to achieve more satisfaction and well-being at home, at work and in one’s relationships.
Talks:
What Is Happiness? What Is It Not?
Combining recent insights from the science of happiness with ancient wisdom, this talk will lay out the fundamentals of enduring happiness: what it is, what it isn’t…and how each of us can take simple steps to cultivate this most important life skill.
Seeing and Loving Life for What It Is
Lasting happiness can only be achieved when we have a healthy relationship with reality—when we see life’s fundamental facts as they are and accept them. This presentation will lay out the ingredients of a healthy relationship with reality and offer tools for loving and embracing life, while seeing it clearly.
A Healthy Sense of Self: The Soil From Which Happiness Grows
There is no relationship more crucial to our happiness than the one we have with ourselves. How, then, should we relate to ourselves? Relying on latest research, this talk will explore the sense of self most conducive to enduring happiness, and ways of cultivating it.
What Is a Healthy Mind and How Can We Cultivate It?
Our happiness is dictated more by our state of mind than our circumstances, and there is no better place to start cultivating happiness than creating healthy habits of the mind. This talk will identify the qualities characterizing a healthy mind, such as optimism, resilience, and mindfulness. Based on the latest research, Dr. Kesebir will give practical tips to learn to better manage our thoughts and emotions, so that we can all live happier, more fulfilled lives.