Courses

We will begin the course by virtually exploring the beautiful countries of Iceland and New Zealand. Both countries have consistently ranked in the top 10 of the world’s happiest people and lead world surveys of well-being, including the Global Peace Index and the Better Life Index, as well as on measures of income equality, gender equality, health, education, environmental quality, generosity, freedom, and absence of corruption.  Prime Ministers of both countries have enacted frameworks to foster sustainable development goals, driven by multiple well-being indicators. This system—and the impact of prioritizing and measuring human and environmental well-being—is forward-looking and sits in contrast to countries who rely strictly on GDP indicators (like the United States) to measure growth and success. 

Analyzing Icelanders’ and Kiwis’ ways of living and governance can provide insights into socio-economic factors that influence well-being at the individual and society level.  We will compare and evaluate the governmental frameworks used to measure “development” and “success” against those used in the US to explore their positive and negative impacts on humans and the environment. We will then identify specific socio-economic factors, policies, social programs, and human actions that influence the well-being, health, and life satisfaction of individuals, communities, and the environment.

Although we begin the class with a societal lens of well-being, we quickly transition to research gathered from individual well-being science, so that a large portion of the class will be spent learning about psychological factors associated with well-being and wholistic life satisfaction. Students will practice and reflect upon a wide variety of cognitive, behavioral, and physical strategies proven to increase individual human flourishing. The class will end with a final project in which students are asked to consider the interplay between individual and societal well-being, specifically how individual well-being is dependent upon and contextualized within societal well-being.  A personal laptop is required. 

This course is eligible for honors credit through Hutton Honors College.

Catalog Information: HON-H 237  LAW AND SOCIETY

Instructor:

Dawn Kutza

Email:

dkutza@indiana.edu

Department:

Kelley School of Business

Dr. Kutza holds a PhD in Educational Psychology, spent 10 years as a Human Performance Specialist in corporate settings, and teaches courses in the Professional Development Core at the Kelley School of Business and courses on the topics of Individual and Societal Well-being for Indiana University. She has spent 20 years applying the principles of psychology and education to develop skills and optimize performance in professionals and students. Dawn is also a certified Positive Psychology Practitioner and Coach, as well as a Thriving Relationships coach. She is passionate about helping others (especially Gen Z) learn to discover their authentic selves and create paths to flourish in their personal and professional lives. In 2023, she published a workbook entitled Creating Authentic Relationships: A Love Playbook for the Next Generation. Her son is a sophomore at IU, and she has two huge cats.

GenEd Information: Approved for the Social & Historical Studies requirement of the IU Bloomington General Education program.