First Year Writing 150: “The Good Life”: How To Be Happy
This course is being taught in a hybrid format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Course Description
In First Year Writing 150, students will develop their abilities to think critically, to evaluate and describe the world around them in clear and compelling prose, and to communicate their ideas in group settings — all of which are skills needed to excel in college and in any profession or trade. This is neither a course on grammar, nor a course in which students are expected to be “perfect” writers. If I’ve learned anything from my own experience as a writer, writing is a skill that takes extensive practice, and the best way to learn how to write well is to read and examine what makes a text a good piece of writing. Of course, we will also examine and practice all parts of the writing process: how to generate research topics, how to gather and organize evidence, how to write to different audiences, how to draft and revise, and how to produce finished, elegant prose. As I see it, my goal in this course is three-fold: to help students become comfortable and competent writers and critical thinkers inside and outside of the college setting, to provide students the opportunity for genuine self-discovery, and, ideally, to foster students’ passion for reading and writing.
The topic for our seminar is “’The Good Life’: How to Be Happy.” The topic comes from my own research interests, current events, and my personal search for happiness. What makes us happy? How does happiness vary from person to person and across cultures? Many of us imagine ourselves to be happy, but are we? How good are we at predicting or understanding what makes us truly happy? How willing are we to change our mindsets and behaviors to achieve true happiness? What is the point of happiness anyway? This course will explore how philosophers, writers, social scientists, and data scientists have attempted to answer these questions over time. Along the way, we will begin to answer these questions ourselves.
In this course, we’ll learn that happiness is not an ultimate goal we can chase after or finally achieve, but a process and a mindset that we must actively cultivate. The “Rewirement Challenge” is designed to get you to do just that — to rewire your brain, to cultivate the mindset, behaviors, and practices that help you make your own happiness. I want you to choose one to two “rewirement practices” to implement in your life over the course of the semester, with the goal of improving your level of happiness. Once you’ve decided on these, make a concerted effort to put them into practice in your life for the duration of the semester. You might decide to take more walks outside, to exercise more, to practice meditation, to strengthen relationships with loved ones, or even to pick up a new hobby or skill. The goal is to develop these practices into a habit, to make them a regular and meaningful part of your life. Throughout the semester, track your progress with a daily journal or with the ReWi app, an app developed in conjunction with Yale University’s course “The Science of Well-Being,” an online version of the course first offered by Dr. Laurie Santos in Spring 2019. Part of your Final Exam in this course will involve writing a self-reflection of 3-4 pages reflecting on what you did to rewire your brain and to work toward your happiness.
Course Schedule
1/26-28 | “The Good Life”
1/26: Course Intro. No reading or assignments due.
1/28: No reading or assignments due. In class, we will discuss the UN Resolution on the International Day of Happiness, and take the Happiness Survey. Begin your Rewirement Challenge.
Download ReWi app through Apple AppStore or Google Play.
Or, take the “Authentic Happiness Inventory” here: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcenter.
2/2-4 | Epicureanism
Lucretius, selections from On the Nature of the Universe
Book 1: lines 1-172, 215-249, 265-345, 418-502, 599-614, 921-1040
Book 2: lines 1-141, 216-263, 1048-1175
Book 3: lines 31-176, 830-1094
Book 5: lines 925-1457
Book 6: lines 1-41, 1090-1286
Writing Skill: Summarizing Sources
2/9-11 | Stoicism
Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
(*) John Sellars, “Want to be happy? Then live like a Stoic for a week,” The Conversation, September 28, 2018
(*) Listen to “Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo” podcast, The Partially Examined Life, January 2016 (Linked on Blackboard)
Writing Skill: Comparing Source Arguments
2/16-18 | Philosophy as Consolation
Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy
Optional podcasts: “Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy Parts One and Two,” The Partially Examined Life, February 2017 (Linked on Blackboard)
Writing Skill: Comparing Source Arguments
2/23-25 | Trapped in Pain
(*) Sophocles, Philoktetes
(*) Michel de Montaigne, “To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die”
(*) Listen to “How to Heal Stress, Trauma, and Mental Health Issues” podcast, The School of Greatness, December 2020
Writing Skill: Synthesizing Sources in a Meaningful Way
3/2 | No class. Writing Conferences during class and office hours.
3/4 | Self-Reliance
(*) Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
Literature Review Part 1 due.
3/9-11 | Morality and Happiness
(*) Watch “Mother Forkin’ Morals with Dr. Todd May – Part 2: Utilitarianism – The Good Place,” December 2018 (Linked on Blackboard)
(*) Watch “Mother Forkin’ Morals with Dr. Todd May – Part 4: Deontology – The Good Place,” January 2019 (Linked on Blackboard)
(*) Watch two clips from NBC’s The Good Place on Doug Forcett, the “Happiness Pump” (Linked on Blackboard)
Writing Skill: Entering the Conversation
3/16-18 | Existentialism
(*) Friedrich Nietzsche, “Parable of the Madman” (The Gay Science §125)
(*) Albert Camus, selections from Myth of Sisyphus
Writing Skill: Entering the Conversation (continued)
Note: To celebrate the UN International Day of Happiness on March 20, do something that contributes to your Rewirement Challenge!
3/23-25 | Rewilding
(*) Albert Camus, “Return to Tipasa”
(*) Seamus Heaney, “St. Kevin and the Blackbird”
(*) Ada Limón, “The Rewilding”
Writing Skill: Asking Meaningful Questions
4/6 | No class. Writing Conferences during class and office hours.
4/8 | The Psychology of Happiness
(*) Listen to “Unlock Self-Confidence, Heal Trauma & Make Money” podcast, The School of Greatness, November 2020 (Linked on Blackboard)
(*) Watch Dan Gilbert, “The Surprising Science of Happiness” TED Talk, February 2004 (Linked on Blackboard)
Writing Skill: Formulating an Argument
Literature Review Part 2 due.
4/13-15 | Love Your Body
(*) Jericho Brown, selected poems
(*) Ada Limón, selected poems
(*) Listen to or read audio transcript of Pádraig Ó Tuama, “Poetry Unbound: Ada Limón, ‘Wonder Woman,’” September 28, 2020 (Linked on Blackboard)
Writing Skill: Formulating an Argument + Crafting Effective Introductions
4/20 | Mindfulness
(*) Jenny Xie, selected poems
(*) Alvin Powell, “When Science Meets Mindfulness,” Harvard Gazette, April 9, 2018
4/22 | No class. Practice mindfulness and focus on Rewirement Challenge!
4/27 | Blue Mind
(*) Wallace J. Nichols, selections from Blue Mind
(*) Watch National Geographic’s “This is Your Brain on Nature” (Linked on Blackboard)
4/29 | Peer-Review Writing Workshop.
5/4 | The Happiness Algorithm
(*) Sigal Samuel, “American Happiness is Plummeting. Could a Few Words Change That?” Vox, November 20, 2019
(*) Sigal Samuel, “Have we gotten any happier over 200 years? Researchers analyzed millions of books to find out,” Vox, October 15, 2019
(*) Watch April 2017 interview with Mo Gawdat, “How To Be Happy: The Happiness Equation Revealed?” (Linked on Blackboard)
5/6 | Last day of class. Re-take Happiness Survey in class. Rewirement Challenge Check-In.
5/13 | Final Exam: Rewirement Challenge Self-Reflection and Final Research Paper (including Argument and Literature Reviews) due.