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'Beauty, Attraction, and the Human Experience' podcast talks the science behind desirability

What makes someone attractive? Software engineering senior Addy Lee and Women's and Gender Studies Instructor Allison Vandenberg explore that question in their newly launched podcast, "Beauty, Attraction, and the Human Experience."

The 8-episode series pulls from chemistry and culture, science and society, to uncover the truth behind beauty standards and laws of attraction.

"Because it is kind of a broad subject, I would like to be able to put that into a podcast and explain it so it's more understandable for people," Lee said. "I would love it to make people understand how beauty is influenced in our culture, and how people think about it, and on a day-to-day basis, and maybe try to change that a little bit just because, while beauty is in everything, it's also not everything."

Each podcast episode delves into a different aspect of human connection, supported by research conducted by Lee and Vandenberg. Lee first started to explore the topic in Vandenberg’s "Gender, Beauty and Culture" course, during which she wrote a research paper on the science of attraction.

The podcast is funded by the Samia I. Spencer Annual Creative Mentorship Award, which fosters faculty-student mentorship by supporting creative and scholarly collaboration.

"Through Dr. Spencer's generosity, this award really helps to get more people interested in research topics that relate more broadly to the area of women's and gender studies, gets people thinking about these ideas in a way that they might not otherwise," Vandenberg said. "It gives a wonderful opportunity for students like Addy to develop projects that are going to build on things that they've already cultivated an interest in."

Listen to "Beauty, Attraction, and the Human Experience" on Spotify.

Tags: Womens and Gender Studies Students Faculty