The New Year is upon us and the Harmony Institute is gearing up to release a slate of projects that work to effectively integrate behavioral science into entertainment narratives, all with the ultimate goal of influencing positive social change. This year, the Harmony Institute will tackle the issue of net neutrality, work to endorse community response in setting strong environmental standards, and teach urban youth through online gaming. These projects, and others in development, are made possible through public and private grants, and more importantly, through donations from concerned individuals like you.

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The Harmony Institute has partnered with the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University to release one of the first guides to discuss how psychology and behavior research can address the limitations of the current conversation on climate change. Harmony Institute Deputy Director Debika Shome is the co-author on a guide that offers real world examples of psychological theory in action, as well as strategic and empirically-based solutions. Using research into the reactions of groups as disparate as African farmers and conservative U.S. voters, it offers insights on how scientists, educators, journalists and others can effectively connect with a broader audience. Download the guide here.

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A new campaign designed and developed by the Institute to raise awareness and promote action around the vital issue of net neutrality will launch this winter. Network neutrality is an issue many Americans are just beginning to understand and explore, and still the open network available through the Internet is in constant threat.

Written for policy makers, advocacy workers, media creators, and local communities, the Institute’s Entertainment Guide on Net Neutrality will offer a comprehensive framework for embracing entertainment as an advocacy tool. It will provide a blueprint for message communication on net neutrality, grounded in the Institute's behavioral science-based methodology.

By partnering with a New York based media studio, Harmony will also produce a six-part animated web show that informs and persuades online audience of the need to support and act on this pressing issue. As a case study of the Institute's methodology and the impact of media on advocacy concerns, this production has the potential to not only influence audiences, but serve as a teaching tool for communicators looking to message through narrative media.

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Joining the Harmony team in 2010 are two new Research Assistants. Tamara Del Rosso is a recent graduate of Brown University, having received a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis on cultural and media studies. She has worked as a Research Assistant on a meditation study through the Psychiatry and Human Behavior Department at Brown, and has interned for Scholastic Publishing, Inc. and the Arts and Business Council of RI.

Nydia Palacios is a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College, having received a B.A. in Anthropology with a concentration in Latin American and Latino Studies. She has worked as an Ethnographic Specialist in the Bryn Mawr College Collections and as a Research Assistant in the Spanish Department. She recently completed an internship at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

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