Interns with the Body Positive team are passionate about creating a Body Positive culture on Grounds and are interested in issues related to diverse social identities, intersectionality, and inclusivity in connection with body image. Our Body Positive interns complete extensive training and co-facilitate small group discussions with UVA community members using a multimedia approach. All programing offered by our Body Positive team is focused on promoting body+ activism through a social justice and trauma informed lens. The team aims to educate, raise awareness and spread the message of radical self-love on Grounds through implementing evidence-based practices. We are invested in having a diverse group of students involved in this program and we encourage students of all genders to apply for internships with this program.
Browse the Related Events and From the Blog items linked on this page to see examples of who's involved with this team and what they do.
The Body Project
Too often, unhealthy body image interferes with college students' well-being and their success in school and in life. The center's Body Positive team offers sessions of the Body Project to groups of students to help promote a healthy, body positive mindset at UVA and to prevent negative attidudes and eating and exercise behaviors.
The Body Project brings a group of students together for a series of activities and discussions through which they explore their own assumptions and consider how appearance ideals affect us all. Participants attend two sessions of two hours each to complete the Body Project. Individuals looking to join sessions of the Body Project that we have scheduled can check our calendar. If you are interested in scheduling sessions of the Body Project for a group, please contact us.
Research on the Body Project Conducted at the Women's Center
During the spring semester of 2016, Clinical Psychology PhD candidate Nora Arkin conducted surveys and interviews to evaluate the effectiveness of the Body Project. The findings from her research verify the Body Project’s positive impact on undergraduate women at UVA. Read more about Nora's research on our blog.