Decoding the Science of Happiness with Laurie Santos and Tamar Gendler

Ideas Summit: How We Live

Join Laurie Santos, host of the Happiness Lab Podcast, and Tamar Gendler, Yale Professor of Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature, for an enlightening discussion on the science, history, and philosophy of happiness. Learn useful tips and ideas on how to live a more positive life. Whether you're curious about what makes us happy or just want some advice on feeling better, this conversation will be packed with helpful information and good vibes.

Tamar Gendler

Tamar is dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science. She holds a BA summa cum laude with Distinction in Human¬ities and in Mathematics & Philosophy from Yale University and a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. Since joining the faculty at Yale in 2006, Tamar has earned a reputation as a legendary teacher and scholar, earning the Yale College Sidonie Miskimin Clauss ’75 Prize for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities and teaching an Open Yale course “Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature” which has garnered hundreds of thousands of viewers. She has held numerous distinguished fellowships, including from the Mellon Foundation; the American Council of Learned Societies; and the National Science Foundation, and has served on boards or steering committees for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine; the Smithsonian Institution; and the Tata Corporation.

Laurie Santos

Dr. Laurie Santos is the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. Dr. Santos is an expert on the science of happiness. Her Yale course, Psychology and the Good Life, teaches students how the science of psychology can provide important hints about how to make wiser choices and live a life that’s happier and more fulfilling. Her course recently became Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years, with almost one of our four students at Yale enrolled. Her course has been featured in numerous news outlets including the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, GQ Magazine, Slate and O! Magazine. A winner of numerous awards both for her science and teaching, she was recently voted as one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” young minds, and was named in Time Magazine as a “Leading Campus Celebrity.” Her podcast, The Happiness Lab, has over 100 million downloads.

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