About This Course
This website is a course synopsis, with extensive suggested resources and materials, of Biology 170: Happiness - A Neuroscience and Psychology Perspective. This introductory college-level course is offered at the University of Oregon each Fall quarter and taught by Professor David A. McCormick (and his dog, Sasha!). The curriculum is tailored based upon, with permission, the course “Science of Well-Being” taught by Laurie Santos at Yale University and Coursera.
Happiness - A Neuroscience and Psychology Perspective
In this course, we will all learn the basic knowledge and practices of how to live a life of long-term happiness as well as common misinterpretations of what a happy life means. This is meant to be a heuristic style of learning, teaching from Professor McCormick’s “Head, Heart, Hands” model where we expect and hope each of you to engage with this material cognitively, emotionally, physically, and especially consistently — to claim back your life on a daily basis. As of now, there are 19 lectures available, with each lecture summary providing a synthesis of the curriculum offered in the in-person course, as well as a culmination of additional research conducted to enhance each concept’s scientific evidence and heartfelt meaning. Each lecture also provides a majority of the homework materials and all activities offered in the course taught at the University of Oregon. A list of supporting resources — such as additional articles, videos, suggested books, podcasts, quizzes, etc. — is included in order to help students and the general public gain as many life skills from these lectures as possible.
Our Mission
Our mission is not to tell you what happiness is or is not, but to equip you with some of the ideas and resources to start your journey. Just as one would go to a gym to build physical muscle, we hope this curriculum can help develop internal muscles. We welcome any feedback or questions you may have.
Happiness and Well-Being Teachers
If you are an educator looking to teach and/or learn more about the science of happiness, you can access a pdf file of our course syllabus here! If you would like assistance getting your course started, we are very willing to help. Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Giving Thanks
The original version of this course was based on “The Science of Well-Being” taught by Laurie Santos at Yale University. We would like to thank Dr. Laurie Santos and her Science of Well-Being course for inspiring this class and website, as well as helping millions of people learn to love and practice the science of how to live a meaningful life of long-term happiness. :-)
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