Let’s Find Missouri on the Map: Countering Stereotypes and Cultivating Empathy Across the Urban-Rural Divide

Bridging Differences in Higher Education: Research-Based Practices that Build Belonging: Skill-Sharing Session #1


  • Venue: Online
  • Date: October 3, 2025
  • Time: 10:00-11:00 AM PT / 1:00-2:00 PM ET
  • Price: Free

When Stanford’s Thomas Schnaubelt noticed how little contact his students had with rural life, he tried a simple idea: a “rural life” quiz. It sparked curiosity, checked assumptions—and for student Jeannette Wang, it reshaped her path.

In this free event, we kicked off our series of skill-sharing sessions with an interactive conversation with Schnaubelt and Wang. Character scientist Elise Dykhuis also joined us and added research insights on how activities like this cultivate empathy and give us a chance to exercise our patience, curiosity, and intellectual humility. Hosted by Juliana Tafur, GGSC’s Bridging Differences Program Director.

Watch the recording below and join our next free session here.

  • Elise Dykhuis

    Elise Dykhuis, Ph.D., is a character scientist and member of the Greater Good Science Center’s Character Advisory Committee. Her research focuses broadly on individual pathways for character development and her work integrates the concept of character virtues with developmental theory and metatheory. Her current work focuses on character measurement and how assessment of character development can be improved, as well as how developmental modeling of character can be more situation- and person-sensitive. Given her interest and work in intellectual humility, she has also consulted on various other character intervention projects in higher education, especially in the space of promoting civil discourse strategies on college campuses. 

  • Tom Schnaubelt

    Tom Schnaubelt, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and serves as a Senior Advisor to the Deliberative Democracy Lab. Tom came to Stanford in 2009 and served as an Associate Vice Provost for Education and Executive Director of the Haas Center for Public Service for 13 years while also serving as a resident fellow in Branner Hall, Stanford’s public service and civic engagement theme dorm. Prior to Stanford, Tom served as Dean for Community Engagement & Civic Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, launched and directed Wisconsin Campus Compact, and led several national service and service-learning programs in Mississippi. He earned a PhD from the University of Mississippi, MA from the University of Michigan, and a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

  • Juliana Tafur

    Juliana Tafur directs the Bridging Differences program at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, advancing skills and strategies to connect across geography, race, religion, politics, and more. She’s spent more than a decade designing experiences that foster understanding and belonging, both as a social entrepreneur/workshop creator, and as an Emmy-nominated storyteller. A TEDx speaker, she leads science-based trainings for campuses, organizations, and communities, and makes bridge-building practical and accessible through partnerships, multimedia content, speaking engagements, and workshops. Juliana is an honors graduate of Northwestern University and a 2021–22 Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University.

  • Jeannette Wang

    Jeannette Wang '26 is a senior at Stanford University passionate about strengthening the functioning of our democracy in congruence with emerging technologies. Previously, she served as Chair of Stanford Democracy Day, interned at the Federal Communications Commission, and led the City of Mountain View's Public Safety Advisory Board.