Social connection is a core, evidence-based component of good physical and mental health. The advent of social media promised to increase human connection that underlies healthy friendship. Paradoxically, however, rates of human connection have declined over the past 20 years, resulting in the United States Surgeon General declaring that our most pressing public health emergency is loneliness. Even in residential university environments like Stanford, loneliness remains a real problem, and a systemic approach to attenuate loneliness remains elusive. This student-initiated course attempts to explore novel solutions to facilitate a "culture of healthy friendship" on a university campus. Using a public health framework, we will unpack the multi-level influences on friendship and loneliness. Then, we will use a human-centered-design framework to imagine prototypes that might cultivate a "culture of healthy friendship" among undergraduates on a university campus. This course will integrate reflection, design-thinking, and public health to tap into the lived experiences of its students (from all years and courses of study), so we can learn, connect, and thrive together. The only prerequisites are curiosity and a capacity to grow.

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