Professors in the Pub: The Power of Gratefulness

Each month, students are invited to Café des Taxis to have a drink and discuss important world events with professors and subject-matter experts. Come and share your questions and views and join the long tradition of politics in the pub!

This month:

As we enter the holiday season, we are often reminded to be thankful for what we have. Even with this pervasive message, though, this time of year is also known for how it can heighten the feelings of loss.

The Stoics, major world religions, and even scientists agree that cultivating an attitude of gratefulness is a key component to improving one’s overall wellbeing. It provides perspective, empathy, calm, and joy. Such an attitude, though, can seem incredibly difficult to develop, especially as we witness and suffer terrible events on all measures of scale.

How can one be grateful in the face of disease and death, social fracturing and war, global warming? What “power” is there to be had? What does such power even look like?

Come discuss these questions and ask your own. 

This month’s Professors in the Pub will be held on December 5, 2024, at 6:30 pm, in Café des Taxis.

The lead professor will be George Hays II, Chair of International Relations.