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More than 76,000 sign up for Science of Happiness MOOC

By Public Affairs

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Happiness is a powerful magnet, judging by the number of people who have signed up to take UC Berkeley’s new Science of Happiness Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): More than 76,000, with more than two weeks to go before the class goes live.

Millennials — people in the 18-to-33 age group — have signed up in droves, according to NewsCenter writer Yasmin Anwar’s recent article announcing the course. But so have many other people of all ages who are attracted to the subject.

The free, eight-week online program was created by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, which studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being. It’s being co-taught by Emiliana Simon-Thomas, the centers science director, and GGSC founder Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at Berkeley. It starts on Sept. 9.

As the fall semester gears up, the center is launching a #HappinessinAction campaign, complete with free posters, in association with Rec Sports for Berkeley students at Caltopia this Sunday and Monday.

Registration for the course is still open.