Well-Known Author and Psychologist to Speak as Part of Holy Cross Second-Year Program

WORCESTER, Mass. – Mihaly Csiksentmihalyi, author of The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium (Harper Perennial, 1994), will speak Monday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk is free and open to the public.  Copies of his book, which was the common summer reading for Holy Cross students entering their sophomore year, will be available at the campus bookstore and at the event.

“In the book, Csiksentmihalyi argues that it is essential, for ourselves and for the future of the planet, that we live lives of meaning, passion, and ‘flow,’ which refers to those experiences of unity and wholeness that make it all feel worthwhile,” says Mark Freeman, dean of the class of 2011. “The book is in line with the Holy Cross mission and I hope will it will get students to think about their lives as well as about their place as human beings.”

Csikszentmihalyi, one of the world’s leading authorities on the psychology of creativity, is the C.S. and D.J. Davidson Professor of Psychology at the The Peter Drucker School of Management at The Claremont Graduate University in Calif. and is director of the Quality of Life Research Center.  He is also a professor emeritus of human development at the University of Chicago, where he chaired the department of psychology.

A former resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, resident fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, and senior Fulbright Fellow in Brazil and New Zealand, Csikszentmihalyi holds honorary doctor of science degrees from Colorado College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and from Lake Forest College; and a doctor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.  He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Psychological Society, the National Academy of Education, and the National Academy of Leisure Studies and a foreign member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Serving on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, he has been a consultant to business, government organizations, educational associations, and cultural institutions and given invited lectures throughout the world.  In addition to the hugely influential Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990), he is the author of 13 other books translated into different 23 languages, and has written over 245 research articles. His latest book is titled Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning (Viking Press, 2003).

Csiksentmihalyi's keynote lecture is the culmination of Holy Cross’ Second-Year Opportunities Program (2YO).  The program, one of the few of its kind in the nation, provides methods by which sophomores evaluate their academic careers in order to make the most of their three remaining years at Holy Cross. Through common readings, advising, and other programs, 2YO introduces students to the value of the College’s rich curricular electives, including minors, concentrations, study away and abroad, special academic and advisory programs, internships, college and departmental honors programs, and post-baccalaureate opportunities.