COURSE NUMBER:
MBA257.1
This course is
dual-listed with the Evening-Weekend Program
COURSE TITLE:
Work, Wisdom and Happiness
UNITS OF CREDIT:
2 units
INSTRUCTOR:
Barry Schwartz
E-MAIL ADDRESS: bschwar1@swarthmore.edu
PREREQUISITE(S):
Completion of Core Curriculum
BASIS FOR FINAL
GRADE: Final paper and class participation
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S
CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES For centuries, work was regarded
as nothing but toil— a requirement for earning one's daily bread. But in recent
decades, expectations about work have been transformed as has its very
nature. While it still provides one’s daily bread, it is also regarded as
a major opportunity for people to find purpose, meaning, and happiness in their
lives. In this course we'll study the latest research on what makes people
happy at work, on how happiness at work improves the quality of work, on how
people and organizations develop wisdom, and on what makes a career not just
successful but meaningful. We will also discuss some of the
impediments—both individual and organizational—to doing meaningful and
satisfying work. Students will develop their own visions of their ideal
career, and of the ideal company they’d like to lead or work for.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Barry Schwartz is an emeritus professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and
a visiting professor at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. He has spent
forty years thinking and writing about the interaction between economics and
morality. He has written several books that address aspects of this
interaction, including The Battle for Human Nature, The Costs of Living, The
Paradox of Choice, Practical Wisdom, and most recently, Why We Work. The
Paradox of Choice was named one of the top business books of the year by both
Business Week and Forbes Magazine, and has been translated into twenty-five
languages.
Schwartz
has written for sources as diverse as The New York Times, The New York Times
Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Slate, Scientific American, The
New Republic, the Harvard Business Review, and the Guardian. He has appeared on
dozens of radio shows, including NPR’s Morning Edition, and Talk of the Nation,
and has been interviewed on Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), the PBS News Hour, The
Colbert Report, and CBS Sunday Morning. Schwartz has spoken three times at the
TED conference, and his TED talks have been viewed by more than 16 million
people.