Higher education is designed to be a space for open inquiry and disagreement, but encouraging students to engage in constructive dialogue can be a challenge. A January survey by the American ...

Depending on your natural level of extraversion, you may view chit-chat with strangers more like a mild form of torture than a mood booster (as an introvert, I hear you). But the research is clear: ...

VANCOUVER — Psychology Prof. Gillian Sandstrom was a lonely graduate student in Toronto when she began what she calls "a tiny, tiny micro-relationship." She and a woman who ran a hotdog stand on her ...

How much do you engage with others when you’re out in public? Lots of people don’t actually engage with others much at all. Think of commuters on public transportation staring down at their phones ...

Aaron Strong is associate professor of environmental studies at Hamilton College, in Clinton. In my undergraduate course on climate change, the first homework assignment for my students is to have ...

Many of us were raised on this cautionary phrase rooted in sensationalist 80s media: Avoid anyone you don’t know, don’t make eye contact with random people on the street and definitely don’t smile or ...

Do you ever talk to strangers when you’re waiting in a long line or for an appointment? I often do. It makes the wait seem shorter. Ever see those TV commercials that show young home owners turning ...

SANTIAGO, Chile — As darkness fell on a festival that had filled the streets all day, the party shifted indoors, to the tiny restaurants and bars around the hilly park called Cerro Santa Lucía.

Research shows we dread talking to strangers but we’re much happier when we actually do. These tools can help. Layoffs, tariffs, AI disruption, polarization, looming climate disaster. There are plenty ...