The Big Joy Project: Using Daily Microacts to Promote Global Well-Being
On Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G13 and online, all are welcome to join us for the fifth installment in our Virtues for Well-being seminar series, featuring leading expert on joy Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas.
Lunch provided.
Event Description
Greater well-being predicts better health, more satisfying relationships, and overall success in life – and it is of utmost importance to most people. Recent scholarship has yielded a growing canon of empirically-tested interventions to enhance well-being, though few are multifaceted or widely, freely accessible. This presentation will share insights from the Big JOY project, an interactive public online program that offers 7 daily well-being micro-acts alongside individualized feedback about momentary and pre-to-post impact. A global, collaborative Citizen Science initiative, analysis of voluntary single-arm Big JOY participant responses sheds light on key patterns of engagement and impact; financial strain predicts drop off, younger people report greater benefit to well-being, and greater adherence ties to stronger endorsement of prosocial mores. Published findings and ongoing examination of the Big JOY dataset promise to inform continued efforts to promote well-being effectively, sustainably, and at scale.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas is the Science Director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). She runs the GGSC’s annual research fellowship program as well as major research initiatives on topics like gratitude, humility, and love. She teaches the science of well-being widely, including open online courses that have enrolled over 1M learners worldwide. Dr. Simon-Thomas leads collaborative efforts to give widespread access to well-being insights and practical strategies for improvement, and also investigate impact on individuals, interpersonal dynamics, and biological processes. She co-edited the 2017 Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, and co-authored the 2025 Daily Flourish: A Science Backed Journal to Build Positivity, Connection, and Resilience. Dr. Simon-Thomas serves as an expert voice on the neuroscience and social implications of prosocial states like compassion and awe and the well-being benefits of generous and nurturing behaviors.
Speaker Information
Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Organizers
ⓘ Harvard Chan School hosts a diverse array of speakers, invited to share both scholarly research and personal perspectives. They do not speak for the School, and hosting them does not imply endorsement of their views, organizations, or employers.