Course Description: ‘The pursuit of happiness.’ It seems obvious, does it not, that we all want to be happy? But what, really, is happiness? How do we achieve happiness for ourselves? For others? Who deserves to be happy? Who or what is responsible for happiness? In this writing course we turn a critical eye to classic and modern attempts to answer these and related questions focused primarily on the happiness within groups. We consider what others have written from various perspectives: psychology, philosophy and ethics, neuroscience, economics, political science, etc. We define key questions and create our own answers relying on the evidence collected. We incorporate various media: academic articles and books, fine arts and literature, television and film, the Internet. We read authors as diverse as Aristotle and Freud, the National Academy of Sciences and the Tao te Ching, John Keats and Zadie Smith. We study words, sounds, and images, and also places, people, and artifacts. You will practice critical thinking and synthesis by reading, writing, and speaking. Coursework includes many short informal writing pieces, review of other students’ writing, reflection on your writing, and oral presentations. You will be asked to present three formal essays by walking through the entire process from research to drafting and revision. Each essay may also include various media (visual or audio), as appropriate.
Searching for Spin: A narrative driven essay arguing the meaningless nature of happiness, but how this is actually a rather hopeful and empowering prospect.
The Clown’s Paradox: A scientific research paper exploring the paradoxical nature of humor in an attempt to understand how humor is often associated with happiness, but the funniest people, comedians, are seemingly more at risk for mental illness.