Wellbeing, Art and Culture in Italy

Third year Psychology students taking Well-being and Positive Psychology (PSYC3099), as well as MSc Psychological Wellbeing and MSc Health Psychology students are eligible to apply. There is a maximum of 30 places available, with a minimum of 15 participants required for this opportunity to take place. Students are recommended to check the eligibility criteria before applying.

Trip description

A recent paper in the journal of Positive Psychology (Cotter and Pawelski, 2021) suggested the health and wellbeing benefits of art museums. Thus, this visit to Italy will give undergraduate and postgraduate Psychology students the opportunity to look into the benefits of the arts for wellbeing and health in one of the most important cultural centres in Europe.

Students will gain an appreciation of the arts for wellbeing through an art museum visit and by taking part in an arts and culture-based positive psychology intervention where they will be able to assess their own level of wellbeing before and after the museum visit, likely to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Students will also be able to reflect on their visit in a written form, and we will consider how this approach could form part of a mixed methods research program, which will also deepen their understanding of this type of research design.

Students will also be able to visit sites related to the University of Bologna, including the Archiginnasio di Bologna which was built to combine all the university’s activities in the 16th Century, and Palazzo Poggi, the site of the current university. They will also visit the Anteros Tactile Museum where they can gain an appreciation of how artworks are brought to life in 3D for people with visual impairments, increasing their understanding of the arts and therefore their wellbeing benefits can be extended to groups who may not have previously been able to access them.

The estimated total cost for flights and accommodation for this trip to Italy is £450. Students will be expected to pay £300, as the £150 DMU Global bursary will be deducted from the total.

Learning objectives

Participating in a DMU Global opportunity can help you develop a range of employability skills and competencies that enhance your studies. The objectives of this trip to Italy are:

Before the trip students will be encouraged to read the paper by Cotter and Pawelski (2021) to become familiar with the health and wellbeing benefits of art museum visits. In addition, they will be given access to the aggregated group data from the trip where before and after comparisons are made with the wellbeing measures, so this data can be analysed, which could inform future research.

Cultural activities

Students will be able to visit a number of additional cultural landmarks, including the towers and porticoes of Bologna (the latter are also a UNESCO World Heritage Centre) and landmarks in Florence such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its bell tower and dome. There will be opportunities for free time so that students can enjoy soaking up the atmosphere in both cities, and can include shopping in the local markets, relaxing in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence (perhaps with a visit to the church which includes the burial site of Michelangelo and others) or visiting one of the many other museums.

Students can also sample the local food in both Bologna (which was voted the food capital of the world in a Conde Naste Traveller poll) and Florence. This could include enjoying a gelato while strolling through the porticoes of Bologna, trying one of the famous pasta dishes, or maybe trying to work their way through one of the many lists of the top ten foods to try while in both cities.