TEP444H1 F - The Happy Engineer - Positive Psychology for Engineers

Course description: Humanities and Social Science elective Many disciplines have explored happiness - philosophy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, neurobiology, film, art and literature - to name a few.  Why not engineering?  During the first part of the course we will play catch-up, examining the scholarly and creative ways that people have attempted to understand what makes for a happy life.  Then we turn our attention to our own domain-expertise, applying engineering concepts like “balance”, “flow”, “amplitude”, “dynamic equilibrium”, “momentum” and others to explore the ways that your technical knowledge can contribute to a deep understanding of happiness.  This course is designed to challenge you academically as we analyze texts from a variety of disciplines, but it is also designed to challenge you personally to explore happiness as it relates to yourself, your own personal development and your success and fulfillment as an engineer. If the number of students electing to take the course exceeds the class size limit, selection of the final group will be made on the basis of an in-class assessment completed during the first class. 

Posting end date: July 18, 2025 

Number of positions (est): One (1) position 

Estimated TA support: TBA 

Estimated course enrolment: LEC 101 - 150 students, LEC102 - 80 students 

Class schedule: 1, 3-hour class per week, in person 

If during the application and/or selection process you require accommodation due to a disability, please contact Chanelle Small-Reid at istep.academic@utoronto.ca. 

This job is posted in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement.  

It is understood that some announcements of vacancies are tentative, pending final course determinations and enrolment. Should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail.   

Preference in hiring is given to qualified individuals advanced to the rank of Sessional Lecturer II or Sessional Lecturer III in accordance with Article 14:12 of the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 collective agreement. Please note: Undergraduate or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of the University of Toronto are covered by the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 collective agreement rather than the Unit 3 collective agreement and should not apply for positions posted under the Unit 3 collective agreement. 

Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities. and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to the position. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.