Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Students choose one of 10 FASSFirst Special Topics seminars open only to first-year FASS students by invitation from the Dean’s Office. Top ranked professors from across the Faculty work with students to discover the surprising, profound and interdisciplinary reach of the arts and social sciences. Students will learn to draw connections between values, ideas and evidence while developing core academic skills, from reading to research, writing and dialogue.

COURSE DETAILS:

The Search for Well-Being: What Science Can Tell Us
      Well-being is a dominant topic in current media communications and a priority for governments, communities, universities, families, and individuals. This course will introduce students to the social and psychologial science literature on well-being with the aim of helping students understand the nature of well-being and learn how to implement these lessons into their own lives. In this course, we will examine the research literature on different historical and contemporary conceptualizations of well-being and consider how these pertain to college students. Students will be asked to make links between the research literature and their lives as SFU, with special consideration to the varied resources at SFU that are in place to support them. Looking to the research literature, we will examine different strategies that have been used to measure, monitor and promote aspects of wellbeing, and consider ways in which the science of well-being could be advanced and communicated.
      Throughout the term, students will have a series of ungraded and graded activities to promote their learning. These will include a selection of assignments (oral and writen). Through interaction with peers and the instructor, students will obtain feedback on their presentations and in the development of their final projects. 
      In addition to developing academic knowledge and skills, students will
a) gain exposure to empirical research of direct relevance to their experience as a student
b) become familiar with resources and support services at SFU that may help promote their success at SFU
c) identify personally relevant strategies to monitor/promote well-being that they may deploy during the course, at different periods during their university career, and/or in their post-secondary lives
d) develop academic/professional contacts with individuals conducting research on well-being and/or providing support services

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This course will help students
a) develop research/writing skills including use of online research databases, literature review, critique, and synthesis
b) learn essential principles for the conduct of empirical research including measurement, data analysis, and results summary
c) develop skills of oral presentation and writing of research reports
d) develop collaborative study/research skills including how to give feedback to peers in concise, specific, and helpful ways

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: