Psychologist Laurie Santos to speak about science of happiness during virtual lecture hosted by Oregon State

By Sean Nealon, 541-737-0787, [email protected]

Source: Steve Clark, 541-737-3808, [email protected]

This news release is available online: https://beav.es/SGK

Photo of Laurie Santos: https://flic.kr/p/2okRBr2

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Nationally acclaimed psychologist, professor and podcast host Laurie Santos will talk about the science of happiness on April 4 as part of Oregon State University’s Provost’s Lecture Series.

Santos, the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology and head of Silliman College at Yale University, is an expert on human cognition and biases that impede better choices. Her course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” is Yale’s most popular course ever and has been taken by over 3.3 million people to date. Her podcast, “The Happiness Lab,” has been downloaded over 65 million times.

The lecture will be held via Zoom at 6 p.m. It is free to watch but registration is required. Following her talk, Santos will be joined by Dr. Brian Primack, dean of Oregon State’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences, who will moderate a question-and-answer discussion.

Santos studies how behavioral change through positive psychology can lead to a happy and fulfilling life.

She speaks to how people are biologically programmed to be motivated by sex, deeply influenced by other people — and repeat mistakes.

Her course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” teaches stu­dents what the science of psychology says about making wiser choices and living a life that’s happier and more fulfilling.

This lecture is the second in the 2022-23 Provost’s Lecture Series. The Provost’s Lecture Series is a partnership of the Office of the Provost and the OSU Foundation. It brings renowned thinkers, writers, scientists, artists and leaders to OSU to engage, challenge and inspire.

About Oregon State University: As one of only three universities in the nation designated as a land, sea, space and sun grant institution, Oregon State serves Oregon and the world by working on today’s most pressing issues. Our more than 35,000 students come from across the globe, and our programs operate in every Oregon county. Oregon State receives more research funding than all of the state’s comprehensive public universities combined. At our campuses in Corvallis and Bend, marine research center in Newport and top-ranked Ecampus online degree programs, we excel at shaping today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.

On-campus TV and radio services: Oregon State University is equipped with on-campus television and radio studios/services that can be used by journalists. Live or live-to-tape broadcast television and radio interviews can be conducted using Vyvx, Zoom, Webex or Comrex (IP Audio). Oregon State staff can also gather b-roll and coordinate live-to-tape interviews on locations throughout campus. For radio, Oregon State’s Comrex (IP Audio) provides a broadcast-quality audio feed.