HHUM 112Mindfulness

3 credits · Health Humanities · Penn State

HHUM 112 provides students with a comprehensive and balanced introduction to the practice of one of the most popular health and wellness practices today. We will cover the ancient roots of this technique, how it was extracted from religion and secularized, its scientifically verified health benefits, and the emerging social critiques of the practice. Mindfulness will be studied in an interdisciplinary way, weaving together perspectives such as history, religious studies, Asian studies, philosophy, psychology, social sciences, economics, and neuroscience, depending on the specific expertise of the instructor. The class will also allow students to spend a significant amount of time learning to actually practice mindfulness for themselves.