The Blind PhD & the Elephant

I recently met with my advisor, Marvin Berkowitz PhD, to share the progress I’ve made this summer.  The meeting included a Powerpoint that emphasized the shared psychological qualities between social emotional learning, positive psychology, and acting.  I thought I was on the right track by creating a Venn diagram (yes, I love circles) to illustrate what I thought was a strong conceptual framework to guide my studies…His critically constructive response referenced the parable of the 3 Blind Men & the Elephant.  Overall it was a very insightful talk and I realized that in order to “see” the full elephant, I have to stop relying on other frameworks and start collecting any and every study that examines every psychological effect that is a result from being involved in any type of performance art.