Empathy Museum: Experiences of the ETSU Honors PEAKS Care-Driven Leadership Program

Authors' Affiliations

Marina Coleman, Department of Health Sciences, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Elizabeth Bond, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Dr. Carson Medley, Honors College, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Location

Culp Room 219

Start Date

4-6-2022 11:00 AM

End Date

4-6-2022 11:15 AM

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Other - please list

Honors College

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Carson Medley

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Non-Competitive

Type

Boland Symposium

Project's Category

Other Social Science

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Fearful that colleges students today are 40% lower in empathy than colleges students 20 years ago (Komives, 2017), Dr. Carson Medley created the PEAKS (Persistence, Empathy, Authenticity, Knowledge, Skills) course. As a culminating activity, the class will turn Carter Hall into the first-ever nationwide college campus and student-led Empathy Museum for a day based on different experiential learning experiences offered throughout the semester. Each group of students will be responsible for turning one of their experiences into an exhibit at the Honors College Empathy Museum. Each exhibit will require an interview and research about the issue. The entire campus (students, staff, faculty, and administrators) will be invited to participate in the interactive empathy museum. The curators (a chemistry major and a microbiology major) for the museum are Changemaker Scholars. The Changemaker program curriculum focuses on human rights, global awareness, and global engagement through the lens of volunteering and community engagement. The purpose of this Changemaker Capstone is to inspire others around the world to create their own Empathy Museums to address xenophobia, Black Lives Matter, gender inequities, immigration policies, LGTBQI+ rights, politics, global warming, the Covid-19 pandemic, and others. We believe that these empathy-focused exhibits will empower and affirm spaces on college campuses as restorative environments and reiterate the healing power of beauty and culture.

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Apr 6th, 11:00 AM Apr 6th, 11:15 AM

Empathy Museum: Experiences of the ETSU Honors PEAKS Care-Driven Leadership Program

Culp Room 219

Fearful that colleges students today are 40% lower in empathy than colleges students 20 years ago (Komives, 2017), Dr. Carson Medley created the PEAKS (Persistence, Empathy, Authenticity, Knowledge, Skills) course. As a culminating activity, the class will turn Carter Hall into the first-ever nationwide college campus and student-led Empathy Museum for a day based on different experiential learning experiences offered throughout the semester. Each group of students will be responsible for turning one of their experiences into an exhibit at the Honors College Empathy Museum. Each exhibit will require an interview and research about the issue. The entire campus (students, staff, faculty, and administrators) will be invited to participate in the interactive empathy museum. The curators (a chemistry major and a microbiology major) for the museum are Changemaker Scholars. The Changemaker program curriculum focuses on human rights, global awareness, and global engagement through the lens of volunteering and community engagement. The purpose of this Changemaker Capstone is to inspire others around the world to create their own Empathy Museums to address xenophobia, Black Lives Matter, gender inequities, immigration policies, LGTBQI+ rights, politics, global warming, the Covid-19 pandemic, and others. We believe that these empathy-focused exhibits will empower and affirm spaces on college campuses as restorative environments and reiterate the healing power of beauty and culture.