What you will learn
- The research-based benefits of experiencing happiness at work, for both individuals and organizations as a whole
- How to evaluate the level of happiness in an organization
- Concrete strategies for boosting happiness and resilience to stress
- How to build more cooperative and collaborative workplace relationships
- How to lead with social and emotional intelligence
Program Overview
People who are happier at work are more committed to their organization, rise to positions of leadership more rapidly, are more productive and creative, and suffer fewer health problems. More and more, research is suggesting that happiness should not be an afterthought for workplaces; it should be an essential goal, entwined with the kinds of 21st-century skills that are key to individual and organizational success today. But how can you increase happiness at work within yourself and across your organization?
In the Science of Happiness at Work Professional Certificate program, you will learn the hallmarks and benefits of a happy workplace, and you’ll come away with concrete, research-based strategies you can implement—individually or in teams—to boost your own emotional well-being, support the well-being of colleagues and employees, and foster a workplace culture of happiness. All lessons in the program are based on the most up-to-date scientific research, particularly from the fields of psychology, business, and neuroscience.
Over its three courses, the program will explain why happiness matters for your workplace; offer specific practices for fostering positive emotions like gratitude; help you build resilience to stress, particularly through the practice of mindfulness; and teach the importance of positive, trusting, collaborative relationships at work, drawing on the skills of empathy and emotional intelligence. Woven throughout the courses will be special tips for workplace leaders, helping them understand how to build a positive organizational culture through socially intelligent leadership.
The program will be taught by expert faculty from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC), a leading authority on the science of happiness. They will build on insights from the GGSC’s Science of Happiness MOOC, the global phenomenon that has brought this science to half a million students worldwide. This new program will zero in on the particular challenges—and opportunities—in bringing a greater sense of happiness and meaning to your life at work. Insights from leading scientific studies will be distilled into actionable lessons, and they will be brought to life by real-world case studies.
In completing this program, you’ll not only be better equipped to identify the level of happiness within your organization and help colleagues understand why happiness is a worthwhile goal. You’ll also be equipped to support engagement and productivity within your organization and strengthen your sense of belonging, purpose, meaning, and satisfaction—not only at the office but in your life as a whole.
A Course by BerkeleyX
Online courses from the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley was chartered in 1868, and its flagship campus — envisioned as a “City of Learning” — was established at Berkeley, on San Francisco Bay. Berkeley faculty consists of 1,582 full-time and 500 part-time faculty members dispersed among more than 130 academic departments and more than 80 interdisciplinary research units. Berkeley alumni have received 28 Nobel prizes, and there are eight Nobel Laureates, 32 MacArthur Fellows, and four Pulitzer Prize winners among the current faculty.
In September 2012, to mark Berkeley’s commitment to innovation in teaching and learning, The Berkeley Resource Center for Online Education (BRCOE) was formed. The Center is a resource hub and an operational catalyst for all internal campus-wide and external resources to advise, coordinate, and facilitate the University’s online education initiatives, ranging from credit and non-credit courses, to online degree programs and MOOC projects, including the MOOCLab initiative.
BRCOE’s new MOOCLab is a three-year research initiative to fund and develop Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as vehicles for pedagogical research in online education.
Berkeley is also working with edX to develop and foster the adoption of Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) on campuses around the world. SPOCs are designed to supplement and enhance the learning experience of on-campus students while providing local faculty an opportunity for more interactive activities and more time for “high-touch” pedagogy.
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Meet your Instructors
Dacher Keltner
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founding director of the university’s Greater Good Science Center. Keltner has devoted his career to studying the nature of human goodness and happiness, conducting ground-breaking research on compassion, awe, laughter, and love. He is the author of the best-selling books Born to Be Good (W.W. Norton, 2009) and The Power Paradox (Penguin Press, 2016), and a co-editor of the anthology The Compassionate Instinct (W.W. Norton, 2010), in addition to more than 100 scientific papers and two best-selling textbooks. An outstanding speaker who has earned many research and teaching awards, Keltner has received rave reviews for his “Human Happiness” course at UC Berkeley and the online “Science of Happiness” course that has reached more than 500,000 students worldwide. His work is featured regularly in major media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, and NPR, and the Utne Reader has named him as one of 50 visionaries who are changing our world.
Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Emiliana Simon-Thomas is the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. A neuroscientist who earned her doctorate from UC Berkeley, her research has explored the neurobiological roots of pro-social emotion and behavior, as well as the psychosocial benefits of emotional authenticity and connection. A gifted teacher, Simon-Thomas has presented on the science of happiness and compassion to the Dalai Lama and audiences worldwide. She is a co-instructor of the online “Science of Happiness” course on edX that has reached more than 500,000 students worldwide.
- Lectures 3
- Quizzes 0
- Duration 12 weeks
- Skill level All levels
- Students 64067
- Certificate No
- Assessments Yes
