About this course

This course introduces the principles, scientific research and application methods of positive psychology, especially the research and methods on the meaning of life. It helps students understand their own positive potential and development path mentally for a nicer, more prosperous and meaningful life.

Faculty Author

Professor Peng Kaiping, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Dean of the Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, and Co-chair of the Happiness Technology Laboratory (H+ Lab) of Tsinghua University; China Council Member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and the International Positive Education Network (IPEN), and Executive Chairman of the China International Conference on Positive Psychology (2009 to present). Winner of 2004 Best Paper Award from the American Social Psychology Association, 2006 Best Paper Award from the Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business, and Second Prize of 2015 Scientific Research Outstanding Achievements Awards for Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China. In 2013 and 2014, "Introduction to Psychology" taught by Peng was one of China's most popular MOCCs. He has published more than 300 academic journal articles, and 8 books in Chinese and English including Cross-Cultural Communication and 吾心可鉴-澎湃的福流 (Surging Flow in Hearts). He has won numerous major academic awards. In 2007, he was rated as the most cited young and middle-aged social psychologist in the world by the American Personality and Social Psychology Association. In 2015, he won the Second Prize of 2015 Scientific Research Outstanding Achievements Awards for Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of China. In 2015 and 2016, he was selected as one of the Most Cited Chinese Researchers of Elsevier’s List of Top Ten Psychologists.

Dr. Zhao Yukun, Deputy Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology Research of the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, and advisory member of the International Positive Psychology Association. Zhao has attained a PhD in psychology trained under Tsinghua-Peking University-Berkeley cooperation, a master’s degree in applied psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (supervised by Professor Martin Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology), and also a master of chemistry and a master of computer science from Rutgers University in the United States. Zhao is a columnist of American Positive Psychology News Daily, author of positive psychology monographs including 消极时代的积极人生 (Positive Life in Negative Times), 自主教养：焦虑时代的父母之道 (Autonomous Education: Parenting in Anxious Times), and 幸福的科学 （Science of Happiness), and translator of Martin Seligman’s Flourish, Mitchel Resnick’s Lifelong Kindergarten, and Alison Gopnik’s The Gardener and the Carpenter.