Consortium on Moral-Decision Making
The Consortium on Moral-Decision Making is a collaborative hub dedicated to unraveling the intricate threads of ethical choices. The consortium delves in the complexities of moral dilemmas, seeking a deeper understanding of how individuals and societies navigate the delicate balance between right and wrong.
Social Science Research on Rural Population Health
The Social Science Research on Rural Population Health (SSRRPH) works to facilitate and bolster rural health research among the social sciences at Penn State, with particular attention to those who study the structural and social determinants of rural population health.
Collaborative on Population Aging Disparities
The Collaborative on Population Aging Disparities (CoPAD) is an SSRI-funded working group that focuses on new and growing sources of inequality among aging adults, with attention to the ways that population dynamics and life course processes interact to alter the composition of the older adult population and the landscape of population health.
Social Dynamics for Environmental and Global Change
Environmental and climatic changes, driven by human behavior and social institutions and interconnected with social, governmental, and individual-level processes, significantly impact all life and require attention from social scientists to understand and manage these dynamics. This working group aims to facilitate Penn State Researchers studying these dynamics by sharing in-progress research, cultivating collaboration, and connecting to resources and opportunities to facilitate such research.
Adult Wellness through Community Music
Making music in formal group settings has been shown to yield positive social, physical, and wellness outcomes. Adults and older adults benefit from participatory music experiences in terms of psychological well-being, but a large proportion of K12 music students discontinue musical participation after schooling. Music can be a powerful tool in addressing wellness. Up to 40% of older adults report loneliness, and approximately 24% are socially isolated. Thus, attending to the “loneliness pandemic” and other needs of adults in ways that promote continuity of engagement may be an important part of training for musicians and activity leaders in leisure fields. To date, little research has been conducted on this topic, so this Level 1 working group is bringing together scholars whose expertise is related to arts participation and wellness outcomes, including scholars from fields such as music pedagogy, motivation theory, and leisure studies. Together, we will organize a platform for applying to funding programs to implement and evaluate interventions which can inform practices in the field and promote research on adult music participation.