Group Dynamics

Catalog description

"Today, everything we do in life is influenced by • The interpersonal relationships we develop • The partnerships we create in work, friendship, and family groups • Our capacities to understand, embrace, and manage conflicts • The ways we affirm both our differences and our commonness NPLD 7820 is a half credit course designed for U Penn grad students who want to enhance their skills at everything from managing work groups through to engaging in discovery-learning and co-educating each other about how to make best use of your time, energies and resources. All of our lives have been altered by the pandemic in ways that are obvious and in ways that are hidden and hard to recognize. People of all ages and walks of life are trying to re-envision the paths we are on, and the contributions we can offer to the world. We are also discovering new things about our identities, the roles we are asked to take up, our sense of belonging in a range of settings, plus things like global economic disparities, the pernicious -isms (race, gender, class, etc.), and humanity’s relationship with nature. 7820 is experientially based. This means knowledge and insights are acquired through the direct experience of relational engagement. As we generate new forms of relatedness, our understanding of ourselves deepens, and in turn leads us to take actions that enrich both others and ourselves."