Course Syllabus

Description of Course

What does it mean to live a happy life anno 2025? Is happiness something to be pursued, a goal one can strive for, or is it a given for some, whilst almost impossible to achieve for others? And what role does societal structures and the physical environment in which we are imbedded, play in the individuals’ pursuit of happiness?

Through the lens of philosophers and artists, this course examines the pressing, age-old question of human existence: “What is a happy life?” Dispelling the illusion that “happiness” is self-evident, in this course, we engage thinkers, writers, and works of art that prioritize questions about how we ought to live, and, importantly, how to promote a sustainably happy existence for ourselves, others, and the planet we inhabit.

The course will be structured around three main themes that will be explored in the first three weeks of the course:

• Happiness and the natural world (week one)
• Happiness and societal structures (week two)
• Happiness, angst and melancholia (week three)

We will be reading and engaging with a broad selection of texts, ranging from Aristoteles to contemporary ecocritical poetry by poets such as Juliana Spahr and Alexis Pauline Gumbs; from Kierkegaard’s existentialism to Sara Ahmed’s modern feminist theory. And along the way we will watch movies (Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia), visit art museums (Glyptoteket) and immerse ourselves in the cityscape of Copenhagen (the harbor, the city center and the parks) to discuss how happiness and city-life connect to each other.

With these thinkers and artists as our guides, and Copenhagen as our platform for exploration, we turn our thoughts towards our relationships, activities, commitments, and thoughts and examine them to find out what truly drives happiness and to contemplate the importance of the natural world in our 21st century lives.

There may be no single key to happiness found at the end of this course, but in searching for it, we follow in the philosophical and literal footsteps of those who came before us and sought to understand the mystery behind the nature of a happy life.

Learning Objectives

Together, we will be aiming to: (1) enter into dialogue with philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions that have grappled with existential questions; (2) acquire academic skills in navigating and interpreting philosophical works, novels, and artworks; (3) develop abilities in nuancing and articulating our own views and positions in dialogue with those of others; (4) build a deeper understanding of how mind, body, intellect and creativity connect with different types of natural landscapes; (5) relate our particular lived experience of the search for happiness to universal philosophical concepts that elucidate the human condition.

Faculty

Anne-Sophie Bogetoft Mortensen, Ph.D. in literature and cultural studies from Roskilde University, 2024.

A bit about me: I was born and raised in Copenhagen, and I still live in the city with my two-year-old son. I work as an external lecturer at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at Copenhagen University and teach the DIS-course The Good Life at the Faculty of Theology at Copenhagen University. In my free time I love to go swimming in the harbor all year round, stay updated and engaged in current affairs, particularly related to climate (in)justice and gender politics, read and write, visit museums and art exhibitions, and lastly, enjoy all the wonderful bars, cafes and restaurants the city has to offer.

Readings (tentative, open to changes)

• Aristotle, "Book A" in The Nicomachean Ethics, pp. 1-20.
• Ahmed, Sara. "Conclusion 2. A Killjoy Manifesto" in Living a Feminist Life (2017), pp. 235-268. 
• Ahmed, Sara. "Killing Joy: Feminism and the History of Happiness." In Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (2010) 35(3), pp. 571–594.
• Brinkmann, Svend. ”Living Well and Living Right - Aesthetic and Ethical Dimensions of Happiness” in Critical Happiness Studies (2020), pp. 131 – 143.
• Gumbs, Alexis Pauline. Undrowned Black feminist lessons from marine mammals (2020). (Selections)
• Haraway, Donna. Staying with the Trouble - Making Kin in the Cthulhucene. Duke University Press, 2016. (Selections)
• Kierkegaard, Søren. “The Unhappiest One” in Either/Or, Part I (org. 1843, ed. 1988).
• Lorde, Audre. “A Litany For Survival” in Black Unicorn (1978).
• Mateja Kurir. “The Garden, Pleasure, and Epicurus.” In Kucan, Ana, and Mateja Kurir (eds.), Garden and Metaphor (2023), pp. 276–85
• Pierre Hadot, "Only the Present is Our Happiness," in Philosophy as a Way of Life (2001), pp. 226–230.
• Rankine, Claudia. “The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning”. Essay published in The New York Times (2015).
• Rosa, Hartmut. The Uncontrollability of the World. Cambridge: Polity Press (2020). (Selections)
• Spahr, Juliana. This Connection of Everyone With Lungs (2005). (Selections)
• The Care Collective. The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence (2020). (Selections)

Approach to Learning

We use the Socratic method in this course, which includes a close study of texts and persistent exploration of concrete life, always with a goal of raising everyday experience to a reflective level. We will employ an array of short lectures, student presentations, dialogue between partners, small group activities, full-class discussions, and assignments out and about in the city and nature. Our approach involves working together to mutually question assumptions, clarify positions, and help each other give birth to new thoughts and ideas. The focus is not so much on final answers as on good questions that open up further possibilities for inquiry. We are complementing our work in the classroom with a number of outdoor activities.

Expectations of Participants

Active participation in all activities is essential for the success of the course. In each meeting, whether in the classroom or on excursions, you are asked to raise questions in relation to the assigned texts or other material, to respond to your peers’ contributions, and to collaborate in group work. Full preparation before meetings includes close textual readings, note-taking, writing of discussion posts (see below), and reflection on possible directions for our dialogue once we are together.

Students with accommodations should reach out to faculty within the first 3 days of their arrival.

If a student misses 2 classes (excused or unexcused) Academic Support at DIS will be notified. Academic Support will also be informed if you are late to class multiple times.

You are expected to do all preparations for all classes, also classes you miss. If you miss a class, reach out to another student from class to hear if you can see their notes. Also go over the slides from class (and other material, if relevant) in the 'Slides from Class' folder in 'Files.'

Classroom Etiquette

Dialogue involves candid questioning. Thus, the feedback we give one another may be penetrating and challenging, but it will truly thrive only where it also achieves respect and charity. A helpful measuring bar is to consider our procedure as tending toward questioning rather than asserting. Computers are allowed in the classroom, however during certain sessions you will be asked to not use your computers due to the nature of the activities.  

Evaluation

No previous experience in the discipline of philosophy is required, and you will be receiving guidance in the learning process. Nevertheless, the class aims to challenge you (whatever your starting point) to apply yourself in developing your fluency in the genre, both intellectually and creatively. The purpose of the course assignments is to deepen and nuance your understanding of particular topics that deeply interest you, while acquiring tools for philosophical thinking useful across life.

Discussion Posts

In preparation for or in reaction to some of the classes, you are asked to contribute to a discussion thread on Canvas (this will be marked out in the course calendar). After having engaged with the assigned material, but before we meet in class, you will post your reflections and questions on the reading in paragraph form (ranging from 250-400 words each time). The discussion posts serve as preparatory work for your final paper.

Final Paper

The final paper (6-8 pages) will draw from and comprise content from your own discussion board posts. It will be a chance for you to bring together your reflections on the various themes we have touched upon throughout the course – into one paper. While the content of your final paper can overlap with your previous submissions (what you wrote in your discussion board posts), you must write a unique introduction and conclusion, edit the paper for clarity, and update your reflections wherever relevant. Include a unifying idea, addressed in the introduction and conclusion, and emphasized throughout wherever relevant. Don't worry if some of your content does not tie back directly to this theme; that is to be expected in this sort of assignment. 

 

Grading Breakdown

Assignment	Percent
Participation:	35 %
Discussion Posts:	35 %
Final Paper:	30 %