Syllabus Art of Happiness

1. Intergrated Literacy
Communication, the Art of Happiness & Living a Healthy Life
Spring 2013 - College of Saint Elizabeth
Dr. Gina Marcello
Department of Communication
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
-Dalai Lama
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in
harmony.” - Gandhi
“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best
anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between
you and them anyway.” - Mother Teresa
Required Book: Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The How of happiness: a scientific approach
to getting what you want. New York: Penguin.
Course Overview
In this course we examine how communication behaviors relate to constructing
happiness and wellbeing. Topics include gratitude, forgiveness, social support
appreciation, social networks, mindfulness, meditation, and communicative contagion
of mood -- intersecting with issues of dyadic (two), group and organizational
communication. Readings come a from a variety of disciplines including
communication, psychology, management, and sociology. In this course, we will learn
and apply the tools of happiness --- how to achieve greater peace, slow down the self-
talk, how to increase our perceptions, and communicate with others applying non-
violent communication patterns.
Weekly activities include reading, field exercises, and journal writing. The course has
weekly journal entries due, a mid-term presentation and paper, and culminates with a
happiness project presentation and research paper.

2. COURSE POLICIES & PROTOCOLS
READINGS & ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES - All readings and any work must be completed on
time as indicated on the syllabus. This class can only be successful if everyone arrives prepared
to participate in discussion.
ATTENDANCE - Attendance is critical. I expect you to attend every class and participate
attentively.
BEING ON TIME -- Promptness is also critical, as well as being an indicator of respect for me,
your fellow students, and our scholarly endeavors. I reserve the right to consider students who
arrive to class after attendance is taken, especially more than once, to be absent for the class, as
well as those who leave early.
I enforce a policy on no late work and no lateness to class very strictly.
Assignments may not be completed any later than the start time of the
class the day they are due, and students may not walk into class late. This
will train you for the requirements of work in the “real world,” in which
lateness and excuses for lateness are simply not acceptable. It also afford
maximum fairness, in that students who complete their work on time and
arrive to class on time are equally advantaged, and students who do not
are equally disadvantaged. Get into the habit of finishing your work early
and arriving to class early, fully prepared to begin on time!
ON BEING ABSENT - If you're absent, you must get all the notes, assignments, and
announcements yourself, including possible adjustments to the course calendar. Get these from
a classmate and/or moodle BEFORE you may choose to see me for extra help; I cannot be solely
responsible for helping every absentee student catch up. Be smart and get this info before the
next class in case the next class is affected (e.g. I give an extra assignment, I move the location, I
change the reading or a due date, etc.). Besides, you stay up to date if you make up missed work
immediately. Quizzes and class exercises can not be made up if you're not here.

JOURNAL ENTRIES & WRITING ASSIGNMENTS -- All assignments must be typed and backed
up. Keep an additional back-up copy or email it to yourself for your own protection in case
something gets lost or accidentally deleted.
PERSONAL EMERGENCIES - Serious, personal emergencies which interfere with your
participation in this class and its requirements should be documented in writing and brought to
my attention immediately. I will attempt to work with you to craft a mutually acceptable
resolution for the situation. I can not do so if you inform me of your situation after the fact, and
if it can not be documented. If you are unable to complete some portion of the course for some
reason I must be informed before the day that the work is actually due. Extensions are rare and
are granted only at my discretion in the event of extenuating circumstances, in order to protect
and reward the large majority of students who work so hard and so diligently to get their work in
on time.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY - Academic integrity is to be maintained at all times. No cheating, no
plagiarism, no using internet sources without attribution, and no using any form of work that is
not your own and that has not been created specifically for this class.

3. COURSE WORK - No work for this course may be handed in for credit after the date that the
semester officially ends. A grade of incomplete will only be given to students who request it
before the semester ends, have extenuating circumstances that can be documented, and at the
discretion of the instructor.
LEARNING DIFFERENCES- Every accommodation will be made for students with learning
differences and students who have special needs. Please see me immediately so we can discuss
how best to accommodate your needs.
MOODLE -- This class will utilize the moodle course management system. In the event of bad
weather or an emergency which could conceivably prevent a regular class from being held, check
moodle and your email for details. In any case, continue your reading so as to be up to date and
so we can move forward when class resumes. Also, check your email every day during an
academic semester. Messages will be sent frequently from professors and administrators during
the semester; you are responsible for seeing and responding to them as necessary.
ASSIGNMENTS
Mood Tracker Assignment - begin tracking your mood the first few week of the
semester. You are going to track your mood 3 times a day over the next six weeks -
starting the first week of classes and ending the week after Spring Break.
Graph your results and observe your patterns and experiences while tracking the results.
You can choose your own mood tracker (on-line or on a smart phone - e.g. Moody Me)
or you can do it free hand. You can make notes in your phone or on your calendar. It is
up to you where you track the results, but you must start paying closer attention to your
moods throughout the day and identify why you might be feeling the way you do.
For example, rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how you are feeling - in morning, afternoon and in
the evening. On the scale, 1 is extremely SAD and 10 is extremely HAPPY.

Extremely SAD Extremely HAPPY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
EXAMPLE
DateMorning Afternoon Night Average Notes
Jan 22 4 7 6 5 Sleep is very important to my
happiness.
Jan 23 6 7 8 7 I enjoy hanging out with my
friends
Jan 24 3 5 4 4 Too much work to do,
overwhelmed. Only slept 5 hours.
not enough sleep.

4. REFLECTION JOURNAL & ACTIVITY ENTRIES
A primary part of this class is maintaining a journal that responds to weekly discussion
questions and activities. Completing the assigned readings and the activity before you
write the journal entry is integral for writing a meaningful response. The journal
prompts are located in moodle. Students should use moodle to upload their weekly
journaling assignment.
Points awarded depend on:
1)Did it follow the formatting submission guidelines below?
2)Was it submitted on time? Due most weeks before Thursday’s class.
3)Was it complete? Did it evident that the activity was accomplished? Does it
adequately attend to all parts of the journal question prompts?
4)Was it roughly 500 words or more in length?
5)Was it well-written (using good grammar, punctuation, sentence-structure)?
Students should complete 10 of the 11 journal entries for up to 100 points. All students
are required to complete the “Reflected Best Self exercise” Students are welcome and
encourage to complete all 11 journal entries as a way to earn up to 10 bonus / extra
credit points.
Please follow these formatting directions for submission:
1)Draft response in a separate word processing program and save a copy for yourself as
backup.
2)Please us black print and standard readable font.
3)Copy and paste response into moodle. Please do not attach a separate document.
4)Include the word count of your response at the end. (e.g. word count 575).
5)Journal entries should be 500 words or more each.
Happiness Project Proposal & Final Research Paper
Over the course of the semester, you will engage in your own “Happiness Project” by
adopting goals and resolutions related to two or more topics. For help and motivation, I
encourage you to visit www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com. This website is full of ideas,
goals-setting tools, and way to record your progress. Read “How to use this site” and
play around with it.
By week five of class, choose at least two areas to focus upon for improving your
happiness. Across the semester, engage in activities to cultivate these areas in your own
daily life. Keep a record of these activities (trust me, you will want this record to succeed
in your final paper). Use the happiness project website or another mechanism to track
your activities.
1. Gratitude
2. Optimism
3. Avoiding social contagion
4. Acts of kindness

5. 5. Nurturing relations
6. Giving affections
7. Coping strategies that curb negativity
8. Tacking mood contagion (e.g. through monitoring your complaints).
9. Therapeutic Writing
10. Forgiveness
11. Finding Flow
12. Savoring
13. Committing to goals
14. Practicing spirituality
15. Caring for body / exercise
16. Focusing on strengths
The culmination of this course will be you writing a 5-7 page paper applying class
discussions, expertise on interviewing, data from three interviews, research from at
least three scholarly articles (from class or library) and three popular-culture
sources (e.g. magazines, self-help books, websites, etc.)
As part of your paper, your mid-term presentation will include a proposal for your
project the week after Spring Break. You will receive a grade for your proposal and
presentation. It should include the following information:
1)A one paragraph description of your personal happiness project
2) A description and rationale of your selected interviewees
3)A list of proposed interview questions.
4)Your 3-4 four happiness objects
For your final paper you will conduct research and interview three people in which you
will ask them questions about the search of happiness you focused on for your happiness
project - and analyze how their experience differs from your own and how this all relates
to the research.
Mid-Term Presentation (Related to Final Project & Paper)
Relatedly, you will locate 3-4 artifacts of happiness -- associated with your key areas of
focus. Happiness artifacts are things that are positively or heavily related to, about or
show the value of your key happiness areas. These could include material objects, self-
help books or websites, advertisements, magazine articles, television programs, photos,
or other popular sources that implicitly or explicitly provides advice on how to live a
happier life. You will include your results and findings from your mood tracking activity.
All aspects of your journey should intertwine for the final project and presentation.
Participation
You can earn points toward participation through attendance and focused attention for
the full class period, thoughtful and appropriate verbal participation (more does not
always mean better), listening alertly, taking notes, concentrating on course material

6. rather than external distractions, and providing enthusiastic and supportive interaction
with other class members. Good course participants foster collective focus on the course
materials.
Assignments are explain in class, and many activities / mini-assignments are completed
during class. Being present is integral to fulfilling and getting credit for these activities.
Assignment Points
Journal Entries (10 entries) 50
Mid-Term Presentations 10
Final Paper & Presentation 20
Class Participation 20
TOTAL 100

7. COURSE SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO REVISION & CHANGE
Date & Topic Readings/Assignments / Journaling Activities
Week 1
Jan 22-24
Introduction to
Course
Welcome!
Thursday ---
Come to class prepared to tell a story about your happiest
day. Describe what you did or were motivated to do that day.
Is happiness a good thing, or does is simply feel good?
Week 2
Jan 29-31
THEME: Is Happiness a Legitimate Science?
Before Tuesday’s Class
*To you --what does it mean to be happy and how important
is it to be happy?
*What makes you feel good? What activities do you find fun,
satisfying, or energizing?
*What makes you feel bad? What are sources of anger,
irritation, boredom, frustration, or anxiety in your life?
*In what areas of your life do you find progress, learning,
challenge, improvement, and increased mastery?
*What areas of your live don’t feel right? Why?
Soon After Class --- CHECK MOODLE FOR THE LINK
Complete the authentic happiness questionaire
www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu
Week 3
Feb 5-7
THEME: Is it possible to become happier? How happy are
you and Why?
Before Tuesday’s Class read Chapter 1
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE

8. Date & Topic Readings/Assignments / Journaling Activities
Week 4
Feb 12-14
THEME: How to find Happiness Activities That Fit Your
Interests and Needs.
Chapter 2
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 5
Feb 19-21
THEME: Gratitude, Positive Thinking, and Emotional
Contagion
Chapter 3
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 6
Feb 26-28
THEME: Kindness & Social Connections
Chapter 4
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 7
March 5-7
THEME: Managing Stress & Coping. Learning to Forgive.
Chapter 5
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 8
March SPRING
BREAK
SPRING BREAK

9. Date & Topic Readings/Assignments / Journaling Activities
Week 9
March 19-21
THEME: Living in the Present & Committing to Goals.
Explanation of Best Self Exercise
Chapter 6
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Mid-Term Presentations Begin
Mood Tracker Activity Reports, Happiness Artifacts,
Interviewees & Presentation Due
Week 10
March 26-28 (No
Thursday Class -
Easter)
Mid-Term Presentations Continue
Week 11
April 2-4
THEME: Taking Care of Your Body and Soul. Spirituality,
Meditation, Physiology.
Chapter 7
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 12
April 9-11
THEME: Compassion and Happiness at Work
Chapter 8
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 13
April 16-18
THEME: Best-Self Exercise and Faking it to You Make It.
Chapter 9
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE

10. Date & Topic Readings/Assignments / Journaling Activities
Week 14
April 23-25 Interview Questions and Research
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 15
April 30 - May
2nd
THEME: Living a Healthy Life --- Lifestyle, environment,
social circles & organizational life.
JOURNAL ENTRY QUESTIONS IN MOODLE
Week 16
May 7-9
FINAL HAPPINESS PAPER & PRESENTATIONS DUE