Yale’s Most Popular Course Ever耶魯大學(xué)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(xué)的“心理學(xué)與美好生活”課程開(kāi)放注冊(cè)三天后，注冊(cè)人數(shù)達(dá)到300人左右；又過(guò)了三天，約有1200名學(xué)生，也就是近四分之一的耶魯本科生報(bào)名選修這門課。

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(zhǎng)勞里·桑托斯講授。該課程試圖通過(guò)每周兩次的課程，教導(dǎo)學(xué)生如何擁有更快樂(lè)、更滿意的生活。

“學(xué)生們想要改變，讓自己變得更快樂(lè)，并改變這里的校園文化?！鄙Ｍ兴乖诮邮懿稍L時(shí)說(shuō)，“既然耶魯四分之一的學(xué)生選修這門課，如果能看到學(xué)生的良好習(xí)慣，看到他們表現(xiàn)出更多的感恩、更少的拖延、更豐富的社會(huì)交往，那么我們就確實(shí)在為改變學(xué)校的文化播下種子?！?/p>

桑托斯推測(cè)，耶魯學(xué)生對(duì)這門課感興趣是因?yàn)樵诟咧须A段，他們?yōu)樯龑W(xué)而不得不忽略自己的幸?？鞓?lè)，養(yǎng)成了有害的生活習(xí)慣，導(dǎo)致了她所說(shuō)的“在耶魯這樣的地方，我們正在目睹精神健康危機(jī)”。耶魯學(xué)院理事會(huì)2013年的一份報(bào)告顯示，逾半數(shù)耶魯本科生在校期間尋求過(guò)心理治療。

“事實(shí)上，我們很多人都焦慮、緊張、不開(kāi)心、麻木。”選修這門課程的19歲大一新生阿蘭娜·梅尼茲說(shuō)，“這樣的課程引起學(xué)生這么大的興趣，說(shuō)明學(xué)生非常厭倦麻木自己的情緒——無(wú)論是積極的還是消極的——學(xué)生麻木自己的情緒是為了把注意力放在學(xué)業(yè)上，放在下一個(gè)任務(wù)上，放在下一個(gè)成就上。”

本科生心理研究主任安宇晶表示，長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，學(xué)生要求耶魯開(kāi)設(shè)一門正能量心理學(xué)課程。她說(shuō)，桑托斯提議開(kāi)設(shè)這門課程時(shí)，她“特別高興”。

安宇晶等管理人員預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)有很多學(xué)生選修這門課程，但誰(shuí)也沒(méi)預(yù)料到會(huì)有這么多?！靶睦韺W(xué)與美好生活”這門課程目前有1182名本科生報(bào)名選修，成為耶魯建校316年來(lái)最受歡迎的課程。耶魯學(xué)院的馬文·純主任表示，此前這項(xiàng)紀(jì)錄的保持者是1992年開(kāi)設(shè)的“心理學(xué)和法律”課程，當(dāng)時(shí)有約1050名學(xué)生選修。耶魯大多數(shù)“大課”的選修學(xué)生不會(huì)超過(guò)600人。

enroll /?n'r??l/ v. 注冊(cè)；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(cè)；猜測(cè)

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(yù)期；預(yù)料

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

exceed /?k'si?d/ v. 超過(guò)；超出

Working hours must not exceed 42 hours a week.