Psyc 157, or Psychology and the Good Life, at Yale University has an incredible enrollment of nearly 1,200 students, approximately 25{4b67ba8b923a50fd3c2d318c36d85df0f722be16ef3877469216aec8196f2e86} of the Yale undergraduate student body. This enrollment number makes the class the most popular lecture to be taught at Yale University since 1992, beating out the previous record holder – Psychology and the Law.
Psychology and the Good Life is taught by Laurie Santos, a psychology professor. Yale students had been pushing for a positive psychology class for years, and Santos’s class was the perfect solution. The lecture meets twice a week and focuses on teaching students how to live a happier, more fulfilling life.
Santos commented on the popularity and effects of her class: “With one in four students at Yale taking it, if we see good habits, things like students showing more gratitude, procrastinating less, increasing social connections, we’re actually seeding change in the school’s culture.”