Undergraduate Course: Happiness: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (SCAN10043)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will review the extent to which the social sciences have engaged with the topic of happiness from the Enlightenment to the present day. 'Happiness' will be broadly conceived, encompassing all subject appraisal of the quality of life and related matters such as aspiration and motives for this-worldly and other-worldly outcomes, and ethical judgements. Students will also address the literatures and policies relating to unhappiness and suffering, and discuss the pathologism of the social sciences as a cause for inadequate explicit analysis of social and cultural dimensions of happiness. The course will review cultural concepts and philosophies relating to happiness (such as utilitarianism and asceticism), as well as looking at the evidence of real-world differences in the achievement of happiness in diverse contexts and life-stages. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Anthropology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 36 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
166 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Short Essay (1500 words) ¿ 30%
2. Long Essay (3000 words) ¿ 70%
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| Feedback |
Written feedback on Long essay and short written assignment.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Better appreciation of the importance of happiness as a topic in social analysis, social policies, and ethical debate
- Stronger awareness of the importance of evaluative judgement in social analysis, and of the deficiencies in evaluation that result from a)inadequate cross-cultural perspectives, and b)inadequate explicitly attention to happiness as a criterion for judging social quality and quality of life
- Better awareness of the evidence concerning the achievement of happiness in diverse contexts worldwide, and of the gaps in understanding and evidence that need to be addressed
- An enriched understanding of the evolution of the social sciences through appreciating the ways in which happiness has been foregrounded in the past and backgrounded for the past 100 years
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr John Harries
Tel: (0131 6)50 4051
Email: j.harries@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Katarzyna Pietrzak
Tel: (0131 6)51 3162
Email: K.Pietrzak@ed.ac.uk |
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