Description

Harvard’s Positive Psychology 1504, taught by professor Tal Ben-Shahar (PhD), will enter the history books as the most popular course in the history of Harvard University.Put together with the ‘Psychology of Leadership’ class that Ben-Shahar taught, over 1400 Harvard students have enrolled for this class back in the spring of ’06.This course consists of 22 lectures that last around 75 minutes each. The course also contains a great guest lecture on humor, given by Shawn Achor, who also studied and taught at Harvard. This course is about the psychological aspects of life fulfillment and flourishing, by teaching about empathy, friendship, love, achievement, creativity, spirituality, happiness, and humor.The study of happiness or of enhancing the quality of our lives, has been dominated by pop-psychology (much charisma, but relatively little substance) and academia (much substance, but isolated from most people’s everyday lives). Positive Psychology, the scientific study of optimal human functioning, creates a bridge between the Ivory Tower and Main Street, making rigorous academic ideas accessible to all. Tal Ben-Shahar, instructor of the most popular course at Harvard University, discusses the findings of current research on the science of happiness and introduces ideas and tools that can actually make a difference in one’s lifeFrom the Course Syllabus:”The course focuses on the psychological aspects of a fulfilling and flourishing life. Topics include happiness, self-esteem, empathy, friendship, goal-setting, love, achievement, creativity, mindfulness, spirituality, and humor.”