SemesterFall Semester, 2023
DepartmentGeneral Education Courses in Humanities General Education Courses in Social Sciences
Course NameHappiness
InstructorNadeau Randall Laird
Credit3.0
Course TypeSelectively
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule

1. Sept 15        Orientations 



2. Sept 22       Defining “Happiness”  




  • Worksheet 1:  What is Happiness?

  • Exercise 1: “Satisfaction with Life Scale: Three Sources of Happiness” (due Oct 6) 



3. Sept 29        Moon Festival (中秋節): No class 



4. Oct 6         Happiness and Material Wealth 




  • Worksheet 2: Can Money Buy Happiness?

  • Exercise 2: “A source of happiness other than material objects” (due Oct 13) 



5. Oct 13                Happiness and Mental Health (on-line) 




  • Worksheet 3: Impacts of Depression and Anxiety 



6. Oct 20         Happiness and Physical Health 




  • Worksheet 4:  Happiness and Physical Health

  • Exercise 3: “Daily Record of Healthy Behaviors” (due Oct 27)       



7. Oct 27       Family and Social Support  




  • Worksheet 5:  Social Support

  • Exercise 4:  “Volunteering Scavenger Hunt” (with photos/video) (due Nov 3)



8. Nov 3          Gender and Sexuality  




  • Worksheet 6:  Gender, Sexuality, and Marriage

  • Exercise 5: “Will you marry?” (due Nov 10) 



9.  Nov 10     Experiencing Happiness 




  • Film viewing, “Shall We Dance?” (1996)

  • Exercise 6:  What are the lessons of this film? (due Nov 17) 



10. Nov 17      Due date for Exercise 6 (no class meeting) 



11. Nov 24      Mindfulness  




  • Worksheet 7: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives

  • Exercise 7: Contemplative Practice Project (Part I) (due Dec 1) 



12. Dec 1         “Flow” 




  • Worksheet 8: Knowing Myself, Discovering the World

  • Exercise 8: Contemplative Practice Project (Part II) (due Dec 8) 



13. Dec 8         Gratitude and “Small Happiness”  




  • Worksheet 9:  Gratitude for Others

  • Exercise 9: “Three Good Things” (due Dec 15) 



14. Dec 15       Population Change and University Enrollments 




  • Worksheet 10:  Population Change and University Enrollments 



15. Dec 22       Happiness and Employment  




  • Worksheet 11:  Happiness Impacts on Income and Productivity

  • Exercise 10: “Developing Personal Skills” (due Dec 29) 



16. Dec 29       Share what you care Presentation 



17. Jan 5          Final Exam on Worksheets 1-11


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant
Requirement/Grading

Guidelines for exercises:




  • Detailed, unique, specific:  do not use ChatGPT

  • Use proper nouns

  • Submit by email to the professor with file name “[Last name]_[First name]_Exercise_n”

  • Due date is noon of the following class meeting: minus 1 point for late submissions



This is a 3-credit course. 這是一個3學分的課程.    Grading  分級標準: 




  • 10%                     On-time attendance

  • 20%                      Weekly worksheets (must submit 10 out of 11 for full credit)

  • 20%                      Final exam 

  • 50%  (10 x 5)       Exercises (maximum 5 pts each – late submissions: maximum 4 pts)



(must submit 10 out of 10 for full credit)



 


Textbook & Reference

Self-compiled reader


Urls about Course
Attachment