Voices at Brannan Center

Dacher Keltner
Science of a Meaningful Life: Evidence and Wisdom for Health and Happiness

Sunday, January 24, 2027
3pm
Tickets: $55 - $75
Member Tickets: $41.25 - $67.50

What makes a life meaningful? In this inspiring talk, renowned psychologist and bestselling author Dacher Keltner explores the latest science of happiness and well-being, revealing how kindness, gratitude, mindfulness, awe, beauty, and human connection can enrich our lives and strengthen our communities. Blending groundbreaking research in neuroscience with timeless insights from the humanities, Keltner offers practical wisdom for cultivating greater purpose, resilience, and joy. An award-winning UC Berkeley professor and creator of the acclaimed online course “The Science of Happiness” (which has had more than 200,000 people enroll), he invites audiences on a compelling journey into the science—and the art—of flourishing.

About Dacher Keltner
Dacher Keltner’s research focuses the biological and evolutionary origins of compassion, awe, love, and beauty, and power, social class, and inequality. As a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab, he is a leading scholar in the study of emotion, including a new project on awe around the globe, as well as power, class, and inequality.

Keltner also serves as the Faculty Director of the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. In 2020, along with Michael Pollan and others, he co-founded the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. The center conducts research using psychedelics to investigate cognition, perception and emotion and their biological bases in the human brain. In addition, Keltner is Chief Scientific Advisor at Hume AI.

Keltner is the author of The Power Paradox, as well as the bestseller Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life and The Compassionate Instinct. He has published over 190 scientific articles, including seminal works on the psychology of awe (Keltner & Haidt, 2003) and is the co-author of two textbooks. He is also co-editor of The Gratitude Project: How the Science of Thankfulness Can Rewire Our Brains for Resilience, Optimism, and the Greater Good. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, London Times, and Utne Reader, and his research has been covered in TIME, Newsweek, the
Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, CNN, NPR, and the BBC as well as many other outlets. His bestselling book Awe: The New Science Of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life was called “destined to become a classic” by Library Journal in their starred review.

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Photo of Dacher Keltner by Natalie Keltner.