This session is an opportunity to discuss links between three crucial features of a healthy university: curiosity, sociability, and wellbeing.

·      Curiosity: Are we doing the best we can to foster curiosity among students?

·      Sociability: Are we striking a good balance between personal-level curiosity and sociable, interactive forms of curiosity?

·      Wellbeing: Are we also doing well at promoting synergies between curiosity and social wellbeing – helping people develop a positive sense of belonging through collaborative and interactive learning?

Neil Thin’s current IAD secondment is looking across the university, and beyond, to highlight examples of good practice in fostering sociable curiosity. Examples include things like helping students develop their own questions and share them with others; using playful learning methods to encourage interactive and flexible learning; getting out of the classroom to enhance both mental relaxation and observational skills; and using thought experiments, reflective exercises, and role play exercises to stoke perspective-taking, interpersonal empathy and mental flexibility.