The overriding goal for this course is to give you conceptual tools and experiences to better understand your life, but tools that if practiced and honed will also help you achieve a sense of direction and purpose in college and beyond.

It can be argued that no other animal possesses the intellectual might of humans. Our mental abilities make us very adaptive, and part of that is because of our ability to reflect. Although humans can reflect on just about anything, including the future and things that have not yet occurred, we chronically reflect on and revisit three BIG questions. These are: Do I understand what’s going on…or how things in life work (Meaning)? Am I pursuing worthwhile goals that give me a sense of direction (Purpose)? How do I achieve outcomes in life that matter to me and to others (Significance)?

Philosophers have considered these big questions across the centuries. In recent decades, scientists have started examining these same questions, started developing ways to test them, and have begun to make a case for why answers to them matter for our lives. For example, research has shown that having a sense of purpose is associated with better health and lower risk of cognitive decline. Other research has shown that maintaining a sense of meaning is so important that when a person’s meaning is disrupted, they seek to re-establish it in diverse ways. Clinical scientists argue that many of the troubles patients seek help for stem from the sense that their lives lack significance for others. One way to think about these big, recurring questions is to regard them as chronic hypotheses we keep posing (and at times even rigorously test) as we pursue personal growth and try to develop our potential.

In terms of course content, we will cover diverse topics, including a little philosophy, lots of psychology, and topics in entrepreneurship. For example, we will discuss the underpinnings of intelligence and how that matters for keeping goals in mind, blind spots in how we understand ourselves, wellbeing, and the importance of social relationships for health and life satisfaction. We also will cover several concepts related to how organizations get started and obtain a sense of direction through emergent strategies and the honing of business models, and we will apply these tools to thinking about individuals seeking to establish themselves in life. We will move seamlessly among these concepts, which will allow us to broaden the tools we use to understand ourselves and how we can go about designing our lives intentionally and with purpose.

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