The Science of Well-Being — Yale University is now offering their most popular course ever, “Psychology and the Good Life” online — and you can do it for free!
Yale University’s most popular course is now being offered for free online
What’s the secret to happiness? You could soon learn for free what psychological science says about living the good life and, more importantly, how to put that knowledge into practice.
Homework assignments include “meditate for ten minutes” and “sleep eight hours”
Yale University is now offering their most popular course ever, “Psychology and the Good Life” online. And you can do it for free!
With 1182 undergraduates already enrolled in the IRL version of the course, Psychology and the Good Life — nicknamed “The Happiness Class” — it’s Yale’s most popular course, not just this school year, but in the university’s 316-year history — and it’s all about the psychology of happiness.
The online version “The Science of Well-Being” taught by Professor Laurie Santos overviews what psychological science says about happiness. The purpose of the course is to not only learn what psychological research says about what makes us happy but also to put those strategies into practice.
- The first part of the course reveals misconceptions we have about happiness and the annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do.
- The next part of the course focuses on activities that have been proven to increase happiness along with strategies to build better habits.
- The last part of the course gives learners time, tips, and social support to work on the final assignment which asks learners to apply one wellness activity aka "Rewirement" into their lives for four weeks.
With homework assignments like “meditate for ten minutes” and “sleep eight hours”, it sounds like every student’s dream course.
Below, Professor Laurie Santos outlines how the course came about.
Source: Coursera
Online lectures in the science of happiness
“You get to watch these short lectures on the science of happiness, but also do you think about how to develop these practices in your own life. That’s why we have developed, through the Centre for Teaching and Learning, a very cool new app that’s known as the “Rewire App” to track all of these practices that science has told us can increase happiness in your life. Things like savouring more, and gratitude, and sleeping and exercise.” says Professor Laurie Santos, whose brainchild the course is.
“As you watch the lectures we encourage you to use the app to try to track these practices in your own life. I hope it’ll make a difference, both in terms of teaching you about the science of happiness, but also Giving you the tools you need to apply those practices in your daily life.”
You can sign up for a completely free version of the class on Coursera, but the no-charge option of the course doesn’t include all of the assignments and class materials — there’s a $49 tuition fee if you’d like all the available materials. However, the free version does give you complete access to all the lectures.
With a year’s tuition at Yale currently at $51,400, even if you do opt for the paid version, you’re still saving a huge sum of money, and that’s a good start on the road to happiness.
If these “Happiness Classes” appeal to you, find out more and enroll Here
Source: Coursera
In the pursuit of happiness…
Why not check out our articles on ‘An Attitude of Gratitude: How to Cultivate One and Why’, and why grinners are winners with ‘10 Science-Backed Reasons Why We Should Smile More Often’.
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