David Fischman, director of the Management School of the UPC, recently wrote an article in El Comercio about a course taught by Tal Ben Shahar that was the most popular course on the Harvard campus last year. Psychology 1504 (Positive Psychology) is a course about “how to be happy.” Fischman's article started me off on a web scout expedition to learn more about Tal Ben Shahar, that lead me on to some of the leading university centers for positive psychology research and writing about influences on well-being, and then on to the best-selling “gurus” of self-help publishing. I hope you find some of the tips from these interesting people useful in some way.
Interesting Teachers
Tal Ben Shahar Teaching the World to Think Positive (Consultant, Lecturer)
http://www.talbenshahar.com/
For links to the syllabus for Psych 1504 see
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~psy1504/
For NPR news story see
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5295168
Martin Seligman University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
Bob Thurman Columbia University
http://www.bobthurman.com/index.shtml
and for a talk
http://fyminc.typepad.com/bob_thurman_podcast/
Dan Gilbert Harvard University
http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dtg/gilbert.htm
TedTalk on Why are we happy?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97
Nick Baylis Cambridge University
http://www.nickbaylis.com/
Jon Kabat Zinn University of Massachusetts Medical School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTERS
Authentic Happiness University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center
See questionnaires, reading suggestions, links
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/teachinghappiness.htm
Quality of Life Center, Drucker Center of Management, Claremont University
http://qlrc.cgu.edu/about.htm
See abstracts of research on creativity and optimal experience
http://www.qlrc.org/pmachine/research.php
University of Michigan Business School Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship
http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/
See list of readings (some introductory are on line)
http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/POS-Research/Readings-to-Get-Started.htm
See Building Great Places to Work for an application to organizations
http://www.hr.umich.edu/greatplaces/
The University of Cambridge Well Being Institute
http://www.cambridgewellbeing.org/
Center for Mindfulness University of Massachusetts
http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx
Stress Reduction Program U Massachusetts
http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/srp/index.aspx
PAPERS ON THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS
Richard Layard: Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20050209happiness.htm
Carol Graham: The Economics of Happiness
http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/graham/200509.htm
http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20040603.htm
AUTHORS/RECENT BEST SELLERS
Sergio Bambaren, The Dolphin
http://www.sbambaren.com/web/00.asp
Deepak Chopra, Peace is the Way
http://www.chopra.com/3.html
Paulo Coelho, El Alquimista
http://www.paulocoelho.com/engl/index.html
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/1871.asp
Explanation of flow concept
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso%2C_14th_Dalai_Lama
See also http://www.theartofhappiness.com/
Wayne W. Dyer, The Power of Intent, Being in Balance
http://www.drwaynedyer.com/
Lou Marinoff, Plato, Not Prozac
http://www.loumarinoff.com/
Quotes about Happiness
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Happiness
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_happiness.html
http://www.choosetobehappy.com/quotes/index.html
http://www.learningtogive.org/search/quotes/Display_Quotes.asp?subject_id=78&search_type=subject
History of Ideas and Database about Happiness
http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/
http://pursuit-of-happiness.org/projects.aspx
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pleasure/
