By Larry Urish, contributing writer
Are some people born happy, while others, somehow dealt the wrong cards from the same cosmic deck, are destined to struggle through life with angst and negativity? Jessica Kamrath, Cal State Fullerton assistant professor of human communication studies, says no. And her popular class, Communication and the Art of Happiness, proves her right.
While genetics and environment play a part in whether or not a person feels happy, Kamrath’s class shows how happiness can be attained through learning, positive intention, reflection and communication. Coming to a happier place in life doesn’t happen during some magical moment filled with butterflies and rainbows. It takes hard, focused work. So does Kamrath’s class; “happiness” in the course name shouldn’t fool anyone.
“Some students think this class is fluffy, that it’ll be easy,” Kamrath said. “Some say, ‘And besides, I’m already happy.’”
“I didn’t think I needed the happiness class,” said Elijah Kim, a CSUF human communication studies grad student. “I honestly thought I was happy or knew what happiness was. (But once the class started), I realized how unsatisfied and unhappy I was. It was like a façade of happiness I was living in.”
While not every student in the class undergoes such an epiphany, those who want to lean into a challenging transformational process to become happier — not merely learn about happiness — have to do the legwork. “I ask students to question their worldviews and think critically about what happiness and success is,” Kamrath said.
Week by week, students read and discuss different elements of happiness: gratitude, forgiveness, integrity and mindfulness, among many others. The real work begins when they apply these elements to their lives through critical thinking, journaling and communicating — the latter with others and within themselves. The process may involve deeper-than-expected soul-searching as the students ponder — and practice — how the various elements and communication behaviors apply to building greater degrees of well-being.
While Kamrath noted that research is lacking about happiness from a human communication angle, “There are some interesting things the class incorporates. For example, we use a model of compassion from a communication perspective. We talk about forgiveness as an act of compassion. And we look at the communication theory of resilience.
“One of the things we study is how language creates action,” Kamrath said. “In the beginning of class, I ask the students to dig deeply into how they define happiness and where their views come from, and (then) they try to destroy some of these dominant views about themselves and what happiness and success mean. They move to a space of intentional communication behaviors … with themselves and in their relationships.”
Along with the weekly assignments, both academic and experiential, students choose one of two projects: A Reflected Best Self Project, in which they collect data from 10 people who describe the students when they’re at their best; or a Life Model Interview Project, in which they interview three people they see as living happy, meaningful lives. Analyzing and documenting their feedback and experiences augment the weekly work and lead to greater insight.
In addition, each student creates a semester-long Happiness Project: They’ll choose at least three core topics (like those noted above, as well as optimism, conversational generosity, stress-reducing coping strategies and so forth).
The students then engage in an assortment of intentional activities related to these topics — applying, practicing and “living” each chosen topic — and ultimately share their plans to modify and more deeply engage each practice long after the class ends. These self-exploratory practices, along with associated research, documentation and reflection, are presented to Kamrath at semester’s end.
Done vigilantly, this work can pay off. “While I expected this class to educate me on how to create my happiness, I didn’t expect (it) to show me where my barriers to happiness stemmed from,” said Jacqueline Yu, another CSUF human communication studies grad student. “I often neglected self-care. But this class helped me uncover the root of this negligence. I did not feel worthy of it … The most challenging thing about the course was pushing myself to put myself first.”
Some students have made significant changes because of the class. Kamrath, who first began teaching it in 2016 as a doctoral student at Arizona State University, pointed to a competitive ASU swimmer who did a complete 180. “She was planning on doing the regular conventional steps (in life)” Kamrath said. “Finish college, get a stable job … but after taking the class, she moved to Australia to travel and figure out her next steps. Her plan was to not have a plan.”
Elijah Kim may not move to Australia, but the CSUF student is definite about the class’ positive impact: “I think (it) should be mandatory for all undergraduates.”
Kamrath explained why the course title includes the phrase “the Art of Happiness”: “Creating happiness isn’t a cookie-cutter process with specific steps taken in any order. It’s a creative art project that will be different for everyone.”
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February 10, 2021 at 11:11PM
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