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Final Program


Final Program

Catherine Sanderson, PhD (she/her/hers)

Poler Family Professor of Psychology
Amherst College

Catherine Sanderson, PhD, is the Poler Family Professor of Psychology at Amherst College. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a specialization in Health and Development, from Stanford University, and received both masters and doctoral degrees in psychology from Princeton University. Her research has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. Professor Sanderson has published over 25 journal articles and book chapters in addition to five college textbooks, middle school and high school health textbooks, as well as the Introduction to Psychology course for The Great Courses. In 2012, she was named one of the country's top 300 professors by the Princeton Review.

Professor Sanderson is the author of two trade books examining the applications of empirical psychological research to daily life. The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity examines how our thought patterns influences happiness, health, and even how long we live. Her latest trade book, published in North America as Why We Act: Turning Bystanders Into Moral Rebels (Harvard University Press) and internationally as The Bystander Effect: The Psychology of Courage and Inaction (HarperCollins), examines why good people so often stay silent or do nothing in the face of wrongdoing.

Professor Sanderson speaks regularly for public and corporate audiences on topics such as the science of happiness, the power of emotional intelligence and growth mindset, the art of aging well, and the psychology of courage and inaction. Her work has been featured in numerous mainstream media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Atlantic, CNN, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley. She also writes a Substack, How to Feel Better, which provides practical science-based strategies for living a happier & healthier life.

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