{"id":21159,"date":"2021-11-19T12:23:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T12:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=21159"},"modified":"2024-04-03T10:34:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T17:34:26","slug":"hunt-for-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/11\/19\/hunt-for-happiness","title":{"rendered":"The hunt for happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most of us are surrounded by technology from the moment we wake up \u2014 a digital alarm blares, coffee is brewed in an electric pot, our phones light up with notifications reminding us of the meetings we must attend each day. We stare at screens for hours on end, dependent on them for communication, work and even relaxation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
One of the Happy Places on campus as designated by students in the Discovery Core course Heads in the Clouds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew technology is changing the way we think, understand, remember, love, politic and play,\u201d said Dr. Ted Hiebert, professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. \u201cI mean, let\u2019s be honest, just about anything we do is mediated and mitigated by technology in some way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heads in the Cloud, a Discovery Core class team-taught by Hiebert and Dr. Jin-Kyu Jung, associate professor in the school of IAS, asks the students one, complex question: Is our technological environment simply the new architecture of life, or are there creative ways to think and rethink our possibilities for engagement? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the core of learning <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hiebert says the term \u201cheads in the clouds\u201d used to be reserved for the romantic daydreamer but not anymore. \u201cNow, we all have our heads in the cloud in one way or another,\u201d he said. \u201cOur heads are immersed in the technologies of daily living \u2014 hence the name of the class.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Ted Hiebert (l) and Dr. Jin-Kyu Jung<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Core classes aim to help first-year students transition to academic life. They introduce students to the campus values in small classes where the students can develop relationships with their faculty and classmates. For this particular class, Hiebert and Jung also made a point to incorporate a variety of projects that would facilitate peer discussions. One of the first assignments asked students to make hats out of tinfoil \u2014 a metaphor for digital living \u2014 and then have someone on campus take their picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a bit of trick because we wanted it to be an exercise for students to practice putting themselves out there. It also made them explain the course concept because who wouldn\u2019t ask why someone was walking around wearing a tin foil hat,\u201d Hiebert joked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Core classes also, by design, take on topics that call for the faculty and students to move between multiple academic disciplines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clash causes creation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jung\u2019s background is in geography and urban planning, while Hiebert is a photographer and artist. The two professors came together to teach this course because of their differences, not despite them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want the focus to be on points of contention,\u201d Hiebert said. \u201cIt is when we clash that interesting things start to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From their clash in backgrounds, for instance, came the course\u2019s Happy Place assignment that asked students to engage in the abstract concept of happiness. Hiebert describes the project as an intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are constantly surrounded by data, virtual signals and quantum particles \u2014 but also by creative forms of expression, activism and communication,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hope this assignment teaches students how to take control of their surroundings and integrate artistic practices with the critical geographic imagination.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making happiness material <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Playing off Jung\u2019s expertise in digital mapping, students first mapped happiness by attaching an emotion to a particular place. Some students remember feeling happy when out in the woods. Others recall enjoying the familiar comforts of their beds or family homes that often smelled of homemade meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge was to then use art to portray those feelings of happiness in a material form. The catch was that it also had to be accessible to others. \u201cYou can\u2019t hold happiness in your hands, take it or even own it, but you can share it,\u201d Hiebert said. \u201cThis assignment is asking them to figure out how.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Students prepare balloons and their messages before spreading happiness around campus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The class considered various forms of artistic expression such as painting, graffiti or making posters, but none resonated. When they came up with the idea of using balloons, however, they immediately knew they had found their answer. \u201cWe decided on balloons because they seem to be happy objects or at least objects used in happy contexts,\u201d Hiebert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as important as the objects themselves was their colors: blue for the sky and white for the clouds. \u201cThe cloud is an important metaphor in this class and in the project,\u201d Hiebert said. \u201cIt represents that transient space where invisible digital signals \u2014 and imaginations \u2014 surround us without us always being aware.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Places for emotion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the day they planned to conduct their Happy Place field research, students first gathered inside the classroom. Their minds, however, were somewhere else. They put pen to paper and described their happy places on campus \u2014 preparing to spread their joy to fellow students, faculty and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ismaila Sowe with the message he attached to his Happy Place balloon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When they finished writing their letters, they inflated their balloons, attached their message and braved the chill of a November morning in Washington. First-year student Ismaila Sowe headed straight for the soccer field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where I go to escape my real-life problems,\u201d he said. Sowe started playing as a child and said the sport has helped him cope with everything from anger and frustration to worry and sadness. \u201cIt\u2019s how I get through life,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamin Debu, also a first-year student, said his happy place is the second-floor study area in Founders Hall. \u201cIt\u2019s a designated eating space where I get to enjoy my two cups of ramen. Then I do my homework and study,\u201d Debu said. \u201cIt\u2019s where I feel and perform the best.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ismaila Sowe at his happy place, the soccer field at UW Bothell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sharing their joys <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the balloon experiment, students will begin the task of building a \u201chappiness archive\u201d by using GPS tracker tiles with QR codes. Students will each get to leave their tile in a happy place of their choosing for someone else to happen upon it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jung explained that on the back of each tile is a QR code that gives the finder access to an online map filled with happiness treasures. Along with the location, it will contain reflections written by students on why those particular places are special to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy creating this intervention, we are arguing that the current technological environment does not have to be the new or permanent architecture of life. The tiles are evidence that there are creative ways to rethink our possibilities for engagement,\u201d Jung said. \u201cThe hope is that whoever finds the tile gets to share in the happiness of the person who left it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students plan to leave their tiles in a variety of sites, such as a public park, favorite coffee shop, or nearby beach. Debu said he is planning on leaving his on the Redmond Central Connector Park because he fondly remembers spending one summer day cruising the trail on electric bikes with friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope someone finds the tile and enjoys it,\u201d he said. \u201cSpreading good thoughts and happiness is something the world at large needs right now, and I am happy to start doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A course final rarely brings happiness to students, but it certainly did for those in the Discovery Core class Heads in the Clouds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,229,204],"tags":[],"school":[419],"class_list":["post-21159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-faculty","category-students","school-school-of-ias"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nThe hunt for happiness - 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