The world is filled with stressors these days. Social media has been proven to increase depression and anxiety, pings on our phones always seems to bring bad news, and Beyoncé hasn’t released a new album in years. Despite all this, serious conversations about achieving happiness in our complicated world rarely take place in public. One Yale psychology professor is attempting to teach the world how to be happy. Professor Laurie Santos created the course “Psychology and the Good Life” after she noticed how stressed and overworked her students were. “The goal was to rewire the way the students viewed the pursuit of happiness,” she told Boston Globe. Her method? Assigning homework like “rewirement requirements” that focuses on students breaking bad habits.
The course (known as “the happiness class” on campus) is not weighted down with convoluted essay assignments. Professor Santos bridges together theoretical and experiential teachings, one assignment seeing her suddenly cancelling a class and telling students to go enjoy the time off — free of technology. “Two students in front of me just started crying,” she said of the joy students had after she delivered the homework.
More and more colleges are offering courses on emotional wellbeing, perhaps reflecting how happiness has seemingly become an elusive, fleeting feeling among today’s youth. NYU offers a course called “The Science of Happiness,” readings including Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and The Hebrew Bible and students at Brown University can take “Positive Psychology: The Key to Happiness.”
Thankfully, we don’t have to have to score near-perfect SAT scores and complete a Yale application to take Professor Santos’s popular course. It is available for free online, featuring video seminars and PDF reading assignments. Here’s one assignment direct from Professor Santos: write down five things you are grateful for every day.