Measuring What Moves Us: The Science Behind Human Flourishing

Catalog description

How do scientists study what makes life worth living? In this course, students will explore the scientific foundations of positive psychology, the field that investigates human well-being, resilience, and flourishing. Along the way, we'll ask big questions about how abstract ideas can be turned into measurable outcomes. As a running theme throughout the course, we'll use the emotion of awe—that sense of wonder that transforms your perspective on the world —as a lens to think about how we quantify everyday experiences. How do you measure something as mysterious as awe? What role does it play in flourishing? Through engaging readings, interactive discussions, and hands-on analysis of real research studies, students will learn to critically evaluate findings in positive psychology and become savvy consumers of both academic work and popular media claims. You'll gain tools to understand how studies are designed, and what their results actually mean. Note: This is not a statistics or research methods course. Instead, it's designed to help you thoughtfully interpret and communicate findings in the growing field of positive psychology. Weekly synchronous recitation sessions required (scheduling varies).