Beyond the Self: The Journey of Empathic Experience

This session is designed to facilitate personal, interpersonal and group learning on the process of empathic understanding and the appreciation of another’s experience. Drawing on Ickes concept of empathic accuracy, this session utilizes an iterative process that allows students to first test their empathic understanding and then gain insights into the accuracy of their prior understandings and assumptions of another’s identity-related experience. The ability to empathically understand another is vital to management and leadership, as well as organizational and global citizenship. Self-knowledge and understanding of others is vital for responsible leadership and compassionate agents of change.