Virtual Course Equips Educators with ‘Transformative’ Roadmap to Teaching ‘Human Flourishing’
Art and Science of Human Flourishing: Essentials for Educators is a new, globally available course from the Student Flourishing Initiative at the Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison.
March 3, 2026
Are you flourishing? Susan Huber, Center for Healthy Minds (CHM) director of wellbeing in higher education, hopes you’ll soon know the answer to that question. It gets to the heart of a new virtual course that launches in April from the Student Flourishing Initiative at the Center for Healthy Minds.
The Art and Science of Human Flourishing: Essentials for Educators course expands on the science-backed curriculum and learnings of the Art and Science of Human Flourishing (ASHF) student course, currently taught at University of Wisconsin–Madison.
As the director of the Student Flourishing Initiative for over 6 years, Huber saw ASHF: Essentials for Educators as a way to grow support for student wellbeing by empowering educators around the world. In fact, the new virtual course evolved from the formerly in-person Student Flourishing Teaching Workshop. By shifting to an online/hybrid offering, many more educators will have access to the material, Huber says. The new course is geared toward college and university educators who wish to better understand what it means to flourish through the science of wellbeing, how to integrate it into their teachings, and use practical tools to help students flourish.
Susan Huber, CHM Director of Student Wellbeing in Higher Education
The ASHF course first started in 2017 as a pilot and became a permanent UW course in 2020. Faculty at UW–Madison, University of Virginia and Penn State University co-created the curriculum to address the growing mental health crisis among college students.
Huber said she and colleagues at CHM recognize the urgency for this type of learning in higher education. In fact, spots for the UW course fill up every semester. That may be, in part, due to mental health challenges many youth face before and after they head off to college. The COVID-19 pandemic led to more research on the topic, both in educators and students, says Dr. Matt Hirshberg, a research assistant professor at CHM, who studies wellbeing in youth, teachers and health care providers.
“Educators report very high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and burnout,” he said, adding that research has similarly shown at least a “two-decade decline in youth mental health and wellbeing.”
A 2022 study led by Hirshberg on the ASHF course found students who completed it reported significantly improved mental health and lower levels of depression symptoms.
ASHF students learn about the science of wellbeing, drawing on the Healthy Minds framework, and hands-on exercises related to weekly themes about resilience, emotions, interdependence, identity, and other topics, to cultivate self-awareness, social connectivity, and our inherent capacity for change.
Former ASHF student Zoe King says one thing she learned is that one can still flourish, even if they are having a bad day.
“It’s really about the way that you take care of yourself, the way you notice your emotions, and the way you’re present in your everyday life,” she said in a video about the Student Flourishing Initiative.
Students, including King, are inspired to continue focusing on flourishing, outside of the classroom and even after they complete the course. Dozens of former ASHF students at UW find ways to stay involved by becoming part of the Student Flourishing Ambassador program to help spread wellbeing to the broader campus community. They also can get involved in Healthy Minds on Campus, a registered UW–Madison student organization that was started by former ASHF students.
Student Flourishing Ambassadors and graduate student Lily Smith, meet for a workshop at the Center for Healthy Minds in Madison, WI.
Huber emphasizes you do not need to have the intention of teaching the full ASHF course to benefit from taking “Essentials for Educators.” Participants are encouraged to adapt the content to fit their teaching style and work context. University instructors who previously learned about ASHF in an in-person teaching workshop have already adapted the course for their context. That’s true for University of Oregon Clark Honors College History of Art and Architecture Professor Kate Mondloch. Mondloch prioritizes student wellbeing in her teaching and leadership roles, she said. Adapting the ASHF course for Honors College freshman seminars was the “perfect way to put this commitment into action.”
Mondloch, who has taught a version of ASHF since 2021, says the course is an “extraordinary gift” for people in higher education.
“It has been transformative not only for my students, but also for me as an educator,” she says.
The Essentials for Educators course, Huber says, aims for participants to gain a “renewed sense of purpose” in their work, as well as personal enrichment.
“If you want to teach human flourishing, embodying it yourself matters,” she says. “Knowing that this content is grounded in science and that we, as a community of educators, can meaningfully shape the lives of young people is a powerful thing to carry into a classroom.”
Details & Registration for ASHF: Essentials for Educators
The course, available on the edX platform through UW–Madison, officially starts on April 20 and will be available through mid-October. Registration is open now! You can audit the first two modules of the course for free and earn a course certificate for $350.
Participants are encouraged to register for the course before April 20, so they can participate in three upcoming live zoom sessions in real time.
Other course details
- Who should enroll? College and university instructors interested in teaching, adapting, or integrating ASHF wellbeing practices into their courses. Also valuable for student affairs staff, other professionals, and anyone committed to fostering human flourishing
- Nearly 50 videos feature ASHF teaching team members and scientists from the Center for Healthy Minds. Participants will learn from Huber, Hirshberg, Director for Community Wellbeing Dr. Tony Chambers, CHM Founder and Director Dr. Richard J. Davidson, as well as core faculty members Dr. John Dunne, Dr. Teri Pipe, and Dr. Melissa Rosenkranz.
- Those who complete ASHF: Essentials for Educators will get a signed certificate from Davidson, have access to three live Zoom sessions or recordings and numerous course materials, plus an opportunity to join an online network of like-minded educators.
Learn more about the course and register here.
By Victoria Vlisides, CHM digital content editor
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