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Coursera: Coursera Professor Takes “Day of Compassion” Challenge to NPR Listeners
What would happen if thousands of people around the world spent an entire day being as compassionate to fellow human beings as possible? Thanks to Wesleyan University Professor Scott Plous’ Social Psychology course, we don’t have to wonder. The wildly popular class, which debuted on Coursera in 2013, culminates with a “Day of Compassion” assignment, for which students from India to Colombia to Australia have volunteered at hospitals, fought sexual abuse, become grassroots activists and even, in one case, saved a life. And the effects have proved to be long-lasting—as a result of the exercise, many students say their own lives have been transformed. Plous recently appeared on NPR’s “Hidden Brain” podcast to talk about the science of compassion with reporter Shankar Vedantam—and invited radio listeners everywhere to take on the 24-hour challenge. We caught up with Plous to discuss his journey from being an online learning skeptic t…