As workers report back to the office, children again fill classrooms, and all of us sort through the pandemic-induced trauma and stress of the past two years, it’s helpful to remember what humans across cultures have long recognized: Art and beauty go a long way to improve our mental health. During the COVID era, years […]

With the pandemic stretching into a third year, employers are scrambling to reconfigure how and where work gets done, with more businesses returning to in-person following years of Zoom meetings and remote setups. Compared with the creature comforts and convenience of working from home, office life can appear less attractive to some. After all, at […]

By IAM Lab Contributor Hannah L. Drake Editor’s Note: Hannah L. Drake is a writer, spoken word artist-activist and cultural strategist at Ideas xLab in Louisville, Kentucky. Her work focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and health with an emphasis on the impact of race and injustice in underserved communities. In 2017, the National […]

For better or worse, the spaces we inhabit shape the contours of our lives. But for many racial minorities, these spaces literally embody the systemic inequity and racism they face. People of color have higher rates of chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease.  Individuals from underserved communities are also more likely […]

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, a community planning expert and institute professor at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University, shares her vision for integrating arts and culture into placemaking as a way to reckon with racial trauma and restore dignity […]

When was the last time you went out and soaked up some nature? Even in pre-pandemic times, most American adults spent 93% of their time indoors. Now, with social distancing requirements in place, the time we spend at home and inside has only increased. But during this stressful time, our connection to nature is more […]

Remember when working from home was a big perk? In search of a more balanced life, the number of people working from home has been steadily rising for decades. Some people have even agreed to accept less pay in return for the added benefits of remote working, like a break from the grueling commute, a […]

Editor’s Note:  This article was originally published on August 22, 2019. As summer fades, you can almost hear the collective sigh of children marching back into the confines of the classroom. Hopefully, their summer vacations included healthy doses of nature. Time outdoors has noted benefits to our mental health. But kids would do well to […]

Our society’s rapid pace of life and addiction to digital technology have created a stress epidemic in the 21st century. But there may be another major contributing factor: chronic nature deprivation. Our connection to nature has become very tenuous. More than half the world’s population currently lives in cities, a number that is predicted to […]

How do people move through cities? Is technology helping or hindering their movement? The answer may depend on whom you ask. IAM Lab Executive Director Susan Magsamen joined a dynamic panel for “Mind the Gap: Improving Urban Mobility through Science and Design,” hosted by Van Alen Institute and moderated by Jonathan Hilburg, assistant editor at […]