Coming to a B-school near you: A crash course in happiness

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Titled ‘A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment’, the course will be conducted online (www.coursera.org) from June 16 by Prof Rajagopal Raghunathan, aka ‘Dr. Happy-smarts’, who teaches marketing at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and is a visiting professor at ISB.

“An increasing number of studies suggest that no matter how successful people are, they are curious to learn how to stay happy. Through this course, one would learn why we aren’t as happy as we could be and what we can do to enhance happiness levels,” Raghunathan told The Indian Express from ISB, Hyderabad.

Interestingly, the course draws its content from a variety of fields, including psychology, neuroscience and behavioral decision theory to offer a “tested and practical recipe” for leading a life of happiness and fulfillment. “I have put together 12 videos online, each around eight minutes long, that would be shared with the students online,” said Raghunathan. Around 24,000 people have already registered for the course. Asked about the recommended background to enrol for the free course, an open-minded curiosity about human nature should suffice, said Raghunathan. Students would be graded too as the course will include online quizzes, four assignments and a final exam, he added.