耶魯史上很受歡迎課程：快樂
紐黑文——1月12日，在耶魯大學(xué)(Yale)的Psyc 157課程——全稱為心理學(xué)與美好生活(Psychology and the Good Life)——開放注冊幾天后，注冊人數(shù)達(dá)到了300人左右。三天之內(nèi)，這個數(shù)字翻了一番多。又過了三天，約有1200名學(xué)生，也就是近四分之一的耶魯本科生選了這門課。
The course, taught by Laurie Santos, 42, a psychology professor and the head of one of Yale’s residential colleges, tries to teach students how to lead a happier, more satisfying life in twice-weekly lectures.
這門課程由42歲的心理學(xué)教授、耶魯大學(xué)一所寄宿學(xué)院的院長勞麗·桑托斯(Laurie Santos)教授。該課程試圖通過每周兩次的課程指導(dǎo)學(xué)生們?nèi)绾芜^上更快樂、更滿意的生活。
“Students want to change, to be happier themselves, and to change the culture here on campus,” Dr. Santos said in an interview. “With one in four students at Yale taking it, if we see good habits, things like students showing more gratitude, procrastinating less, increasing social connections, we’re actually seeding change in the school’s culture.”
“學(xué)生們想要改變，想讓自己更快樂，想改變校園文化，”桑托斯博士在接受采訪時說。“因為有四分之一的耶魯學(xué)生選了這門課，如果學(xué)生們能因此養(yǎng)成好習(xí)慣，比如更懂得感恩、減少拖延、增加社交聯(lián)系，那么我們實際上是在為改變校園文化播下希望的種子。”
Dr. Santos speculated that Yale students are interested in the class because, in high school, they had to deprioritize their happiness to gain admission to the school, adopting harmful life habits that have led to what she called “the mental health crises we’re seeing at places like Yale.” A 2013 report by the Yale College Council found that more than half of undergraduates sought mental health care from the university during their time there.
桑托斯博士推測，耶魯學(xué)子對這門課感興趣是因為，他們在高中時必須把快樂放在次要地位，一門心思只想拿到這所大學(xué)的錄取通知書，并養(yǎng)成了有害的生活習(xí)慣，導(dǎo)致了她所說的“我們在耶魯這樣的地方經(jīng)?？吹降木窠】滴C(jī)”。耶魯大學(xué)理事會(Yale College Council)在2013年的一份報告中發(fā)現(xiàn)，超過半數(shù)的本科生在大學(xué)期間尋求過精神健康支持。
“In reality, a lot of us are anxious, stressed, unhappy, numb,” said Alannah Maynez, 19, a freshman taking the course. “The fact that a class like this has such large interest speaks to how tired students are of numbing their emotions — both positive and negative — so they can focus on their work, the next step, the next accomplishment.”
“事實上，我們很多人都焦慮、緊張、不開心、麻木，”選修這門課程的19歲大一新生阿蘭娜·梅尼茲(Alannah Maynez)說。“這樣的課程引起了學(xué)生們這么大的興趣，說明學(xué)生們非常厭倦為了把注意力放在學(xué)業(yè)上、放在下一個任務(wù)和下一個成就上而麻木自己的情緒——無論是積極的還是消極的。”
Students have long requested that Yale offer a course on positive psychology, according to Woo-Kyoung Ahn, director of undergraduate studies in psychology, who said she was “blown away” by Dr. Santos’s proposal for the class.
本科生心理研究主任安宇晶(Woo-Kyoung Ahn，音)表示，長期以來，學(xué)生們一直要求耶魯開設(shè)一門積極心理學(xué)課程。她說，桑托斯博士提出開設(shè)這門課程時，她“特別高興”。
Administrators like Dr. Ahn expected significant enrollment for the class, but none anticipated it to be quite so large. Psychology and the Good Life, with 1,182 undergraduates currently enrolled, stands as the most popular course in Yale’s 316-year history. The previous record-holder — Psychology and the Law — was offered in 1992 and had about 1,050 students, according to Marvin Chun, the Yale College dean. Most large lectures at Yale don’t exceed 600.
安博士等管理人員預(yù)計這門課的選修人數(shù)會很多，但誰也沒預(yù)料到會這么多。“心理學(xué)與美好生活”這門課目前有1182名本科生選修，成為耶魯大學(xué)316年歷史上最受歡迎的課程。耶魯學(xué)院的院長馬文·全(Marvin Chun)表示，此前的紀(jì)錄保持者是1992年推出的“心理學(xué)和法律”(Psychology and the Law)課程，約有1050名學(xué)生選修。耶魯?shù)拇蠖鄶?shù)大型課程的選修人數(shù)都不超過600人。
Offering such a large class has come with challenges, from assembling lecture halls to hiring the 24 teaching fellows required. Because the psychology department lacked the resources to staff it fully, the fellows had to be drawn from places like Yale’s School of Public Health and law school. And with so many undergraduates enrolled in a single lecture, Yale’s hundreds of other classes — particularly those that conflict with Dr. Santos’s — may have seen decreased enrollment.
管理如此龐大的班級帶來了挑戰(zhàn)，包括安排授課大廳和聘請24名助教等。由于心理學(xué)系無法提供所有的師資，所以不得不從耶魯大學(xué)公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院和法學(xué)院等處借調(diào)助教。由于這么多本科生選修了這門課，所以耶魯?shù)钠渌麛?shù)百門課程——尤其是那些與桑托斯博士的課程時間沖突的課程——選修人數(shù)可能會減少。
At the start of the semester the class was divided between a live lecture in the 844-seat Battell Chapel, a historic place of worship on campus, converted to a lecture hall, and one or two smaller auditoriums where several hundred more students watched a live stream of Dr. Santos. After several weeks, the decision was made to move the lectures to Woolsey Hall, usually the site of events like symphony performances, which can accommodate the entire class.
學(xué)期開始時，這個班級被分成了幾個部分：一部分學(xué)生在可容納844人的巴特爾教堂(Battell Chapel)聽現(xiàn)場演講——該教堂曾是耶魯校園里的一個歷史悠久的禮拜場所，后來被改造成了一個演講廳——其他數(shù)百名學(xué)生在另外的一個或兩個較小的禮堂里觀看桑托斯博士的現(xiàn)場直播。幾周后，校方?jīng)Q定將講座搬到可容納整個班級的伍爾西音樂廳(Woolsey Hall)，它通常是舉行交響音樂會等活動的場地。
The course focuses both on positive psychology — the characteristics that allow humans to flourish, according to Dr. Santos — and behavioral change, or how to live by those lessons in real life. Students must take quizzes, complete a midterm exam and, as their final assessment, conduct what Dr. Santos calls a “Hack Yo’Self Project,” a personal self-improvement project.
這門課程既關(guān)注積極心理學(xué)——據(jù)桑托斯博士稱，它指的是能讓人蓬勃發(fā)展的特征——也關(guān)注行為改變，也就是如何在現(xiàn)實生活中應(yīng)用這門課的知識。學(xué)生們必須參加小測驗，完成期中考試，以及最終的自我改善評估項目，桑托斯博士稱之為“Hack Yo’self Project”(自我改進(jìn)項目)。
Some students admit that they see the course as an opportunity to take a relaxed lecture with few requirements.
一些學(xué)生承認(rèn)，他們認(rèn)為這是一個機(jī)會，可以上一門幾乎沒什么要求的輕松課程。
“I wouldn’t have known about the course if not for word of mouth, but it’s low-pressure, and maybe I’ll learn a few tricks to having a less stressful life,” said Riley Richmond, 22, a senior who enrolled in the class with several of his friends.
“如果不是口口相傳，我都不知道這門課，但它壓力小，并且我也許會學(xué)到一些技巧，讓生活壓力不那么大，”22歲的畢業(yè)班學(xué)生賴?yán)?middot;里士滿(Riley Richmond)說。他和幾個朋友一起報名學(xué)習(xí)這門課。
Charlotte Emerson, 18, a freshman in the course, says she worries some students will take advantage of the lack of accountability that comes with a lecture of this size. For example, Dr. Santos is not monitoring whether students complete weekly “rewirement” assignments, like performing acts of kindness and forming new social connections, Ms. Emerson said. 18歲的大一新生夏洛特·埃默森(Charlotte Emerson)也選了這門課。她擔(dān)心一些學(xué)生會利用這種規(guī)模的課程缺乏問責(zé)制這一點。比如，埃默森說，桑托斯不監(jiān)督學(xué)生是否完成了每周的“更換”作業(yè)，如做出友善的行為和建立新的社交關(guān)系。
But while others might see easy credits, Dr. Santos refers to her course as the “hardest class at Yale”: To see real change in their life habits, students have to hold themselves accountable each day, she said.
盡管其他人可能認(rèn)為這門課學(xué)分好拿，但桑托斯博士稱它是“耶魯最難的課”。她說，要想看到生活習(xí)慣發(fā)生真正的改變，學(xué)生必須每天都要對自己負(fù)責(zé)。
She hopes that the social pressures associated with taking a lecture with friends will push students to work hard without provoking anxiety about grades. Dr. Santos has encouraged all students to enroll in the course on a pass-fail basis, tying into her argument that the things Yale undergraduates often connect with life satisfaction — a high grade, a prestigious internship, a good-paying job — do not increase happiness at all.
她希望，和朋友一起上課帶來的社交壓力會促使學(xué)生努力學(xué)習(xí)，又不會引起對成績的焦慮。桑托斯鼓勵所有學(xué)生上這門成績只分及格和不及格的課程，并大力宣傳自己的觀點，即耶魯本科生往往把高分、寶貴的實習(xí)機(jī)會和高薪工作與生活滿意度聯(lián)系在一起，但它們根本不會增加幸福。
“Scientists didn’t realize this in the same way 10 or so years ago, that our intuitions about what will make us happy, like winning the lottery and getting a good grade — are totally wrong,” Dr. Santos said.
“大約10年前，科學(xué)家并沒有意識到，我們以為可以讓自己感到快樂的那些個直覺，比如彩票中獎和獲得好成績，其實是大錯特錯，”桑托斯說。
College courses on positive psychology have a track record of attracting scores of students. At Harvard, about 900 students enrolled in a lecture titled Positive Psychology in 2006. What distinguishes Dr. Santos’s course from the one at Harvard in 2006, she said, is that it also focuses on behavioral change.
大學(xué)里的積極心理學(xué)課程向來會吸引大量學(xué)生。2006年，哈佛大約900名學(xué)生報名學(xué)習(xí)一門名為積極心理學(xué)的課程。桑托斯說，有別于哈佛2006年開設(shè)的那門課的是，她這門課還重視行為改變。
Still, Dr. Santos says she does not plan to offer the course again. Dr. Ahn, of the psychology department, said, “Large courses can be amazing every once in a while, but it wouldn’t be fair to other courses and departments to take all of their students away.”
但桑托斯說，她不打算再開這門課了。心理學(xué)院的阿恩說，“偶爾出現(xiàn)一門大課挺不錯的，但這對其他課程和院系不公平，它們的學(xué)生都流失了。”
She added, “It causes conflict, and we can’t afford to offer this every year in terms of teaching fellows and resources.”
她接著說，“這會造成沖突，并且就助教和資源而言我們也做不到年年都開設(shè)這門課。”
Dr. Santos said a multipart seminar-style series on the course material — filmed last year in her home and titled the Science of Well-Being — will soon be available for free on Coursera, an online education platform. For now, she is eager to see whether her teachings alter campus life.
桑托斯說，去年她按照課程教材在家中拍攝了一個研討班風(fēng)格的課程系列，名為《幸福的科學(xué)》(Science of Well-Being)”。該系列由幾個部分組成，很快就可在網(wǎng)絡(luò)教育平臺Coursera上免費(fèi)觀看?，F(xiàn)在，她迫切地想知道自己的教導(dǎo)是否改變了校園生活。
“We have this moment where we can make a difference in Yale’s culture, where students feel like they are part of a movement and fighting the good fight,” she said.
“我們迎來了可能會改變耶魯文化的這一刻，學(xué)生們覺得自己是一場運(yùn)動的一部分，正在為正義而戰(zhàn)。”
