Laurie Santos, Yale psychology professor, created the online course – dubbed “The Science of Well Being” – in 2018. It was introduced the same year as her personal version of the course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” which has more than 1,200 students, or about one in four students on campus, in the first semester, according to a statement released by Yale.
Santos, who lived among the students as headmaster of Yale’s Silliman College, said the idea for the course came to her after seeing firsthand how her students were becoming increasingly depressed and anxious.
“This is a really challenging time, and it means students must learn new strategies to protect their mental health,” Santos said in the publication. “Our goal is to equip students with scientifically validated strategies to live more fulfilling lives, while also creating opportunities for low-income and high-achieving students of color to demonstrate their willingness to study.”
The course – which was developed in conjunction with the University of Connecticut and the National Education Equity Lab with support from the Arthur M. Blank Foundation – will “provide students with scientifically validated strategies to live more fulfilling lives and explore what psychological science shows how you can be happier, how you feel less stressed and how you can flourish more, “said the university.
The first half of the course provides students with insights from psychology and neuroscience on what drives happiness. The second half of the course includes behavior modification exercises designed to rewire the brain.
In March last year, Yale began offering the online version, “The Science of Well Being,” for free to the public on Coursera. To date, more than 3 million people have enrolled in the course.
Now Santos is bringing the program to the classrooms of more than 40 schools from 17 cities from February 2.
The online course offered to high school students – for which Yale has not released a name – will be slightly modified from the original.
In addition to access to the full course, students will also be supported by both a local high school teacher and a Yale Teaching Fellow.
The news comes as many in the US continue to struggle with their mental health. During the Covid-19 pandemic, one in six Americans first started therapy, and nearly 90% of people in the US experience one or more depressive symptoms, according to Vida Health and CNN.
If you are interested in bringing “Psychology and the Good Life” to your school, please visit the Santos website for more information.
CNN’s Ryan Prior contributed to this report.
