Interpersonal relationships are key to happiness and well-being. Christopher Peterson, one of the pioneers of positive psychology, used to say that the field could be summarized in three words: “Other people matter.” This course takes a deep dive into the research on relationships that work well and foster well-being. Study positive relationships at different levels, including close bonds such as families and romantic partnerships, friendships, and professional relationships among colleagues and teams as well as broader relationships with communities, nature, and our planet. For each of these domains, the course explores practical ways to nurture and improve relationships and to help people flourish through them. This class will combine academic rigor with experiential learning, and it will provide many opportunities for self-reflection, small group conversations, and applied “experiments” in real-world contexts.
*Academic credit is defined by the University of Pennsylvania as a course unit (c.u.). A course unit (c.u.) is a general measure of academic work over a period of time, typically a term (semester or summer). A c.u. (or a fraction of a c.u.) represents different types of academic work across different types of academic programs and is the basic unit of progress toward a degree. One c.u. is usually converted to a four-semester-hour course.
- Faculty, Penn LPS Online Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology
Dr. Margarita Tarragona is a psychologist who specializes in positive psychology, the scientific study of happiness, and well-being. She is Professor of the Practice and Director of the ITAM Center for Wellbeing Studies at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México in Mexico City. Margarita is… Read more
