CoursesThe Positive Humanities: Arts, Culture, and Human Flourishing (NEW)
PSYC 3400, Section 301

The Positive Humanities: Arts, Culture, and Human Flourishing (NEW)

This intensive, discussion-based seminar will equip you with useful insight and critical analysis about Positive Psychology by emphasizing scientific literacy. The workload for this seminar requires intensive reading. To excel in this seminar, students must be willing to enthusiastically read, dissect, and critique ideas within Positive Psychology. This requires students to articulate various ideas in verbal and written form.

Instructor(s)
  • James Pawelski
Semester

Spring 2026

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W 1:45pm-4:44pm

Positive psychology can be defined as the science of what makes individuals and communities thrive. In this seminar, we will be focusing on a core part of what makes individuals and communities—and even societies—thrive: arts and culture. Referring to these areas collectively as the humanities, we will be focusing on the Positive Humanities, a new field of inquiry and practice concerned with the relationship between arts, culture, and human flourishing. This course will rely heavily on reading and discussion of the relevant literatures, as well as on experiential activities within arts and culture.

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