BRIGHTS Center
Baylor Research in Growth and Human Thriving Science.
The purpose of the center is to catalyze research related to the science of human flourishing.
What is human flourishing and how do we cultivate it in individuals, groups, and societies?
BRIGHTS seeks to answer this question bit by bit through intentional, interdisciplinary research.
Please visit to see the facets of flourishing we research as well as how your own research may fit into our areas of focus.
Learn more about the areas of flourishing we are currently studying.
Interested in joining BRIGHTS? Please click here to fill out our faculty interest form.
News
WACO, Texas (Oct. 16, 2023) – Baylor University announced today the launch of the Baylor Research in Growth and Human Thriving Science (BRIGHTS) Center, a multidisciplinary center designed to catalyze research related to the science of human flourishing.
WACO, Texas (Nov. 14, 2022) – While peer influence is the top factor that leads to Baylor University students to attain higher levels of vertical faith maturity and horizontal faith maturity, respectively, attending a local place of worship is a powerful predictor of both measures of faith maturity, according to research from Baylor’s ongoing Faith and Character Study, which tracks the long-term impact of a Baylor education on a person’s faith and character.
Interdisciplinary team led by Baylor religion professor/bioethicist Devan Stahl, Ph.D., and psychologist Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., will equip theologians to incorporate psychological sciences into their work tackling complex problems of human flourishing.
WACO, Texas (Oct. 17, 2022) – An interdisciplinary team of Baylor University researchers in psychology, religion and bioethics will explore how to tackle the complex problems of human flourishing by training theologians to incorporate the methods and insights of the psychological sciences into their work through a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
WACO, Texas (Feb. 7, 2022) – Baylor University researchers will examine virtue formation in higher education moral communities, both secular and faith-based, with a $2.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
WACO, Texas (Sept. 17, 2020) – What takes place inside a person when they encounter beautiful pieces of art? While most people would acknowledge being moved by aesthetic and artistic beauty, the changes sparked by such an engagement seem beyond the realm of measurement. Two Baylor psychology and neuroscience researchers, however, are working to change that.
WACO, Texas (Nov. 1, 2019) – Baylor University’s “Character Strength Interventions in Adolescents” project – funded by a $2.6 million grant from The John Templeton Foundation – has announced its first sub-awards for projects led by scholars and practitioners that will develop and test scientifically rigorous virtue interventions for adolescents in diverse youth-serving settings.
WACO, Texas (Jan. 23, 2019) – The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a $2.6 million grant to Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, and co-principal investigator Benjamin Houltberg, Ph.D., director of research at the University of Southern California Performance Science Institute. The grant aims to galvanize widespread scientific development of virtue interventions for adolescents across a diversity of contexts – such as athletic teams, religious organizations, youth community centers and online – that attend to spirituality and transcendent purpose.