Is happiness a private emotion or a collective project? Where are the sources of happiness located? Should we look for happiness in a hedonistic lifestyle, in love, romance, family, or in our work and creative pursuits? Is it a personal responsibility or is happiness determined by our environment? Why is ‘positive thinking’ making us more miserable? These and other questions are at the center of this elective course “Happiness: private/public feeling”. In this course students will read a broad range of sources that try to tackle these issues from the perspective of psychology, the social sciences, and the humanities. While we do not promise that you will become happier as a result of completing this course, you will be able to better understand the sources of your distress and misery, and will become aware that another world is possible.
- Teachers: Mohira Suyarkulova