Yale University is offering a free online happiness course called The Science of Well-Being.
The idea to offer a happiness course at the university famed for its academia was the brainchild of Professor Laurie Santos who was shocked at the stress and mental health issues students were reporting a few years ago. She developed a course called Psychology and the Good Life, and a quarter of all Yale students signed up for it. It’s now the most popular course the university has offered in its 300-year history.
This year, the university started offering a free online version. It takes about 20 hours to complete and you can learn at your own pace.
The course focuses on the science of happiness and how to rewire your brain and change your behaviours to be happier.
36% of the people who took the course started a new career after completing it and 34% said they got a tangible career benefit from the course.
Here is the curriculum:
- Introduction—why take this course
- Misconceptions about happiness
- Why our expectations are so bad
- How we can overcome our biases
- Stuff that really makes us happy
- Putting strategies into practice
- Start your final rewirement challenge
- Continue your rewirement challenge
- Continue your rewirement challenge
- Submit your final assignment
It will be interesting to see the changes people make in their lives after this galvanizing period in our history, where we’ve been forced into self-isolation and reflection. Maybe this course will help provide more clarity and help us all on the path to better mental health and happiness.
Happy studies.
Happy Act 
Thanks for sharing this! How nice and at just the right time too!
Students were shocked and stressed due to Yale’s tuition fees.
signed up tonite!
oops, forgot to sign my name.. signed up for courses at Yale, never too old to learn!
Hi. Just going around inviting people to check out my blog about growing up with undiagnosed autism.
Pingback: Play with happiness – Happy Act