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Contemporary thinkers feel that Americans are obsessed with happiness although they report that they aren’t very happy at all. What, exactly, is happiness, though? This course will offer a chance to read and discuss this topic from five vantage points:

• Ancient wisdom (Aristotle and Cicero);

• The Founders (Peter Moore, “Who Really Wrote the Pursuit of Happiness?” from The Atlantic);

• The promise of happiness through wellness (Matthew Solan, “Health and Happiness Go Hand in Hand,” Harvard Health);

• The political implications of using pharmaceuticals to promote happiness (Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited); and

• Contemporary thinking on the roots of happiness (New York Times interview with Laurie Santos, cognitive scientist and professor at Yale).

The readings will be posted online, along with “big idea” questions. The class will take a Socratic approach, with the instructor yielding to participants, in order to promote discussion, rather than directed learning.

Instructor Chrys Hahn (B.A. English, M.A. Writing) has enjoyed a variety of teaching experiences, including high school and first-year college English), as well as supervising English and Social Studies at a top New Jersey high school, where she instituted the use of Socratic learning in classrooms, and at Coastal Senior College where she led a group in discussion of Maine food products. An avid reader, Chrys also writes and has published poetry. Gardening and travel round out her life in retirement.