Cross-listed with PSYCH 2311-01

College students face the challenge of how to craft meaningful lives for themselves. This course provides them with a combination of knowledge, tools, inspiration, and space for reflection. This course exposes students to the ways in which the most essential topics of their everyday lives (i.e. happiness, intimacy, money, despair) have long been taken up by scientists and artists alike. Monday lectures will focus on the science of these topics and the Wednesday lectures will approach those same topics through a variety of artistic disciplines (literature, music, art, theatre, etc). In smaller Friday break-out sections, students will engage in a series of hands-on activities (i.e. meditation, drumming, drawing, yoga, etc.) that complement what they have been learning in the classroom. 

Please note that attendance and in-class participation are essential and are a graded part of the course. Other required assignments include weekly mastery quizzes in Canvas on the science lectures (12 total), 5 short creative assignments in response to the art lectures, a pre- and post-assessment, and participation in a data collection project. There will be a variety of optional, exciting activities – such as a theater performance and a book club – which students are encouraged to participate in.