What does it mean to be happy? Does happiness go hand in hand with financial success, unconditional love, or thoughtful life planning? Join award-winning sociology professor Temple Smith in this expansive exploration of happiness in America.

For most of us happiness is a primary life goal, yet it frequently eludes us. In this timely audio course, award-winning sociology professor Temple Smith examines the many elements that contribute to a happy life. Over the course of 12 compelling audio lectures, you’ll learn how various life factors - among them genetics, relationships, diet, location, and profession - affect your happiness. Along the way, you’ll gain the tools to write your own definition of happiness and develop a plan for achieving it.

Rather than offering a prescriptive set of recommendations, Prof. Smith consults both the works of great thinkers across fields and the survey responses of everyday Americans in her examination of sociological and interdisciplinary perspectives of happiness. As you soak in these definitions as well as those of contemporary Americans just like you and me, you’ll hone your own conception of what it means to be happy.

This course is part of the Learn25 collection.