Yale’s Most Popular Course Ever耶魯大學史上 最受歡迎的課程

On Jan. 12， 2018， three days after registration opened at Yale for Psychology and the Good Life， roughly 300 people had signed up. After three more days， about 1200 students， or nearly one-fourth of Yale undergraduates， were enrolled.

The course， taught by Laurie Santos， 42， a psychology professor and the head of one of Yales residential colleges， tries to teach students how to lead a happier， more satisfying life in twice-weekly lectures.

“Students want to change， to be happier themselves， and to change the culture here on campus，” 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 and increasing social connections， were actually seeding change in the schools culture.”

Santos speculated that Yale students are interested in the class because， in high school， they had to deprioritize their happiness as they worked to gain admission to the school， adopting harmful life habits that have led to what she called “the mental-health crises were 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 at the school.

“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.”

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 Santos proposal for the class.

Administrators like Ahn expected significant enrollment for the class， but none anticipated it to be quite so large. Psychology and the Good Life， with 1182 undergraduates currently enrolled， stands as the most popular course in Yales 316-year history. The previous record-holder—Psychology and the Law—was offered in 1992 and had about 1050 students， according to Marvin Chun， dean of the Yale College. Most large lectures at Yale dont exceed 600.

2018年1月12日，在耶魯大學的“心理學與美好生活”課程開放注冊三天后，注冊人數達到300人左右；又過了三天，約有1200名學生，也就是近四分之一的耶魯本科生報名選修這門課。

這門課程由42歲的心理學教授、耶魯大學一所寄宿學院的院長勞里·桑托斯講授。該課程試圖通過每周兩次的課程，教導學生如何擁有更快樂、更滿意的生活。

“學生們想要改變，讓自己變得更快樂，并改變這里的校園文化。”桑托斯在接受采訪時說，“既然耶魯四分之一的學生選修這門課，如果能看到學生的良好習慣，看到他們表現出更多的感恩、更少的拖延、更豐富的社會交往，那么我們就確實在為改變學校的文化播下種子。”

桑托斯推測，耶魯學生對這門課感興趣是因為在高中階段，他們為升學而不得不忽略自己的幸福快樂，養成了有害的生活習慣，導致了她所說的“在耶魯這樣的地方，我們正在目睹精神健康危機”。耶魯學院理事會2013年的一份報告顯示，逾半數耶魯本科生在校期間尋求過心理治療。

“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·梅尼茲說，“這樣的課程引起學生這么大的興趣，說明學生非常厭倦麻木自己的情緒——無論是積極的還是消極的——學生麻木自己的情緒是為了把注意力放在學業上，放在下一個任務上，放在下一個成就上。”

本科生心理研究主任安宇晶表示，長期以來，學生要求耶魯開設一門正能量心理學課程。她說，桑托斯提議開設這門課程時，她“特別高興”。

安宇晶等管理人員預計會有很多學生選修這門課程，但誰也沒預料到會有這么多。“心理學與美好生活”這門課程目前有1182名本科生報名選修，成為耶魯建校316年來最受歡迎的課程。耶魯學院的馬文·純主任表示，此前這項紀錄的保持者是1992年開設的“心理學和法律”課程，當時有約1050名學生選修。耶魯大多數“大課”的選修學生不會超過600人。

enroll /?n'r??l/ v. 注冊；登記

It took three days to enroll the new students.

gratitude /'ɡr?t?tju?d/ n. 感激之情

Tears of gratitude filled her eyes.

speculate /'spekjule?t/ v. 推測；猜測

No one can speculate on what hes thinking about.

emotion /?'m???n/ n. 感情；情緒

proposal /pr?'p??zl/ n. 建議；提議

The committee put forward a proposal to reduce the time limit.

anticipate /?n't?s?pe?t/ v. 預期；預料

A good speaker is able to anticipate an audiences needs and concerns.

exceed /?k'si?d/ v. 超過；超出

Working hours must not exceed 42 hours a week.