Arts

Lecture explores psychology of courage and inaction

BRATTLEBORO — Brooks Memorial Library will again partner with the Vermont Humanities Council to present the 2020-21 season of the First Wednesdays lecture series.

However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the October, November, and December 2020 talks in the series will only be offered online, via Zoom.

The first Brattleboro lecture, “Merely Bystanders: The Psychology of Courage and Inaction,” is set for 7 p.m. on Oct. 7.

Catherine Sanderson, Amherst College psychology professor and author of The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity, will examine the factors that lead most of us to stay silent in the face of bad behavior. She will also explore how this tendency to stay silent allows such acts to continue.

Sanderson will provide practical strategies that all can use to speak up and take action.

Advance registration is required for this free event at vthumanities.wufoo.com/forms/register-for-brattleboro-first-wednesdays.

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