This flier for the edX course The Science of Happiness really caught my atttention recently; as a participant in this course and as someone who is interested in wellbeing, I was delighted to see this course publicized via good, old-fashioned bulletin board.

As an educator, I’m often skeptical of MOOCs; I really like the in-person discussion and hands-on learning the “traditional classroom” makes possible, but certain topics and approaches lend themselves well to an online approach (I think Lynda.com absolutely nails it), and edX’s The Science of Happiness is one such case where the course material works well in web-based experience.

I’ve been working on this course for a couple weeks now, and so far, it’s an informative, engaging consolidation on recent happiness (and related well-being) research presented in a straightforward way that’s even directly actionable at times. It’s what I would expect from the course instructors who work at the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. The GGSC is a much need entity that collects and produces so much great material on, as they put it, “the science of a meaningful life.” I’ve been reading their articles for a few years now, and this course is the logical culmination of several enlightening, empowering thematic arcs in their work.

This edX course is self-paced, so if happiness is a topic that interests you, just jump right in!