Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of philosophical, biological, psychological, sociological, and religious approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. This course will examine how happiness is defined, believed, studied and practiced from these perspectives. It will compare how happiness is understood and cultivated in different societies and times. It will also introduce the classic studies of happiness in Chinese society as well as in other societies. Ultimately, it will attempt to enhance students’ subjective happiness while studying at CityU as well as their capacity to discover/pursue happiness in everyday life. In addition, given the increasing academic and social challenges of university life, offering of this course also hopes to enable enrolled students to learn to appreciate and engage life better.

This course aims to enhance students’ understanding and mastery of happiness, which is an essential goal of the whole-person education advocated by our CityU. It will lead students to discover how happiness is conceived and developed from philosophical, psychological, sociological, biological, religious perspectives. It will introduce to students the essential facilitators of happiness, such as subjective well-being, optimism, resilience, humour, creativity, gratitude, and faith. It will enable students to develop positive emotions and positive traits for the benefit of mind flourishing at both individual and institutional levels.
  
Students taking this course are encouraged to demonstrate creativity in completing the required coursework. Students are also encouraged to consult teachers for innovative ideas and approaches to making group projects of the course.