Master of Arts in Happiness Studies

"I have completed the course.....What an amazing experience.....Tal is an extraordinary teacher!
The HSA program has holistically changed my life. It represents the most profound learning experience I have ever engaged. And as a Vice President and General Manager for a fortune 50 company, I was exposed to very electric, dynamic and forward thinking educational programs. And none of them resinated with me like The Hsa field of studies program..I am completely committed to the Happiness revolution!"

David Wooldridge

"Signing up for HSA was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Tal is an outstanding teacher; vastly knowledgeable, compassionate, and authentic. His ability to combine the rigorously scientific with wisdom traditions, literature and philosophy means that this multidisciplinary program has both great breadth and depth. The course material and tools are now a part of my life, and I will continue to use them, for the rest of my life.
My relationships have deepened, my health has improved, and I am happier and more resilient. I am a better coach, a better partner, sister and friend, and a better business person.
During this year of the pandemic, HSA became a cornerstone in helping me to deal with the challenges Covid-19 brought, and to align my life with a strong foundation of wholebeing. I learned tools that helped me, and also allowed me to help my family, my coaching clients and my co-workers deal with the pandemic certainly, and improve our lives overall too.
Take this program - you will be so glad you did! "

Catherine McNeill

"I have completed the course.....What an amazing experience.....Tal is an extraordinary teacher!
The HSA program has holistically changed my life. It represents the most profound learning experience I have ever engaged. And as a Vice President and General Manager for a fortune 50 company, I was exposed to very electric, dynamic and forward thinking educational programs. And none of them resinated with me like The Hsa field of studies program..I am completely committed to the Happiness revolution!"

David Wooldridge

"Signing up for HSA was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Tal is an outstanding teacher; vastly knowledgeable, compassionate, and authentic. His ability to combine the rigorously scientific with wisdom traditions, literature and philosophy means that this multidisciplinary program has both great breadth and depth. The course material and tools are now a part of my life, and I will continue to use them, for the rest of my life.
My relationships have deepened, my health has improved, and I am happier and more resilient. I am a better coach, a better partner, sister and friend, and a better business person.
During this year of the pandemic, HSA became a cornerstone in helping me to deal with the challenges Covid-19 brought, and to align my life with a strong foundation of wholebeing. I learned tools that helped me, and also allowed me to help my family, my coaching clients and my co-workers deal with the pandemic certainly, and improve our lives overall too.
Take this program - you will be so glad you did! "

Catherine McNeill

This short and intensive course provides students with a technical foundation as well as a psychological foundation for the entire program. In terms of the technical foundation, students will learn to navigate through the syllabus, understand the ins-and-outs of the Learning Management System (LMS) and become familiar with the building blocks of each course. In terms of the psychological foundation, students will learn a set of particular tools and techniques, as well as some general approaches, that will accompany them and help them grow throughout the program. The two-week course includes a fair amount of preparation that primarily includes reading texts, experimenting with various practices, and watching online lectures.

The course explores happiness through the lens of wholeperson wellbeing (wholebeing). Drawing on psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, economics, theology, literature and other disciplines, this survey course focuses on each of the five dimensions of wellbeing: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational, and Emotional (SPIRE). The course is both theoretical, providing an overview of the twelve principles that define wholebeing, as well as practical, providing tools and techniques for helping individuals and groups pursue and attain higher levels of wellbeing.

Facilitating Happiness focuses primarily on tools and techniques that can help individuals and groups increase levels of wellbeing. The course introduces the topic of change, followed by twelve lectures, each delving into a particular technique or set of techniques. Each of the lectures introduces the science behind a particular technique and then provides concrete steps that you can take to make a meaningful difference in your life and the life of others. To gain a deeper grasp of the material, beyond understanding the theory, it is essential that you experiment with, and apply, the tools and techniques in your life.

This course explores how philosophy, considered the mother of all disciplines, informs the study of happiness. Each week, students delve into a seminal philosophical text and with the help of complementary material explore its relevance for personal and societal wellbeing. The texts that students read each week are roughly associated with one of the twelve principles; however, given the interconnectedness of all things, each text sheds light on the different elements of happiness, on wholebeing.

In this course students get to apply as well as deepen their understanding of much of what they’ve learned in previous courses. The focus will be on bringing together reflection and action (ReflAction) for the purpose of personal and collective transformation—for students to help themselves become happier, as well as for students to learn how to help others do the same.Students will spendan average of 80 minutes each day engaged in individual as well as group activities that cultivate the SPIRE elements, including but not limited to the following: Meditation, Goalsetting,Yoga, Physical exercise, Breathwork, Different forms of journaling, Reminders.

This short and intensive course provides students with a technical foundation as well as a psychological foundation for the entire program. In terms of the technical foundation, students will learn to navigate through the syllabus, understand the ins-and-outs of the Learning Management System (LMS) and become familiar with the building blocks of each course. In terms of the psychological foundation, students will learn a set of particular tools and techniques, as well as some general approaches, that will accompany them and help them grow throughout the program. The two-week course includes a fair amount of preparation that primarily includes reading texts, experimenting with various practices, and watching online lectures.

The course explores happiness through the lens of wholeperson wellbeing (wholebeing). Drawing on psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, economics, theology, literature and other disciplines, this survey course focuses on each of the five dimensions of wellbeing: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational, and Emotional (SPIRE). The course is both theoretical, providing an overview of the twelve principles that define wholebeing, as well as practical, providing tools and techniques for helping individuals and groups pursue and attain higher levels of wellbeing.

Facilitating Happiness focuses primarily on tools and techniques that can help individuals and groups increase levels of wellbeing. The course introduces the topic of change, followed by twelve lectures, each delving into a particular technique or set of techniques. Each of the lectures introduces the science behind a particular technique and then provides concrete steps that you can take to make a meaningful difference in your life and the life of others. To gain a deeper grasp of the material, beyond understanding the theory, it is essential that you experiment with, and apply, the tools and techniques in your life.

This course explores how philosophy, considered the mother of all disciplines, informs the study of happiness. Each week, students delve into a seminal philosophical text and with the help of complementary material explore its relevance for personal and societal wellbeing. The texts that students read each week are roughly associated with one of the twelve principles; however, given the interconnectedness of all things, each text sheds light on the different elements of happiness, on wholebeing.

In this course students get to apply as well as deepen their understanding of much of what they’ve learned in previous courses. The focus will be on bringing together reflection and action (ReflAction) for the purpose of personal and collective transformation—for students to help themselves become happier, as well as for students to learn how to help others do the same.Students will spendan average of 80 minutes each day engaged in individual as well as group activities that cultivate the SPIRE elements, including but not limited to the following: Meditation, Goalsetting,Yoga, Physical exercise, Breathwork, Different forms of journaling, Reminders.

If happiness is indeed so central to human pursuits, then the academic establishment has an obligation to seriously and systematically study its nature, antecedents and consequences.

The collective wisdom generated between the times and places of the ancients and the moderns—by philosophers and psychologists, economists and theologians, biologists and educators—provides the foundation for the study and diffusion of happiness. This collective wisdom forms the building blocks of the MA in happiness studies (MAHS). In a similar way to existing degrees in economics, the MAHS degree focuses on both micro happiness (individuals and relationships) as well as macro happiness (organizations and nations).

The purpose of offering a degree in happiness studies is to provide students the opportunity to engage academically with that which William James refers to as “human life’s chief concern.” By receiving a broad theoretical foundation coupled with applied, practical knowledge, students will become positive change agents, creating a better, happier world.

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is the co-founder of the Happiness Studies
Academy, as well as the creator and instructor of the MA in Happiness Studies.

After graduating from Harvard with a BA in Philosophy and Psychology and a PhD in Organizational Behavior, Tal taught two of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history: Positive Psychology and The Psychology of Leadership. He also taught Happiness Studies at Columbia University.

He is an international, best- selling author whose books have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Tal is a certified yoga instructor whose work bridges Eastern and Western traditions, ancient wisdom and modern technology, science and art.

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is the co-founder of the Happiness Studies Academy, as well as the creator and instructor of the Certificate in Happiness Studies program.

After graduating from Harvard with a BA in Philosophy and Psychology and a PhD in Organizational Behavior, Tal taught two of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history: Positive Psychology and The Psychology ofLeadership, and currently teaches Happiness Studies at Columbia University.

He is an international, best- selling author whose books have been translated into more than 25 languages.

In addition to establishing The Happiness Studies Academy, he is also the co-founder of Potentialife and Happier.TV. Tal is a certified yoga instructor whose work bridges Eastern and Western traditions, ancient wisdom and modern technology, science and art.