The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents “What is Happiness?”

The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
Williams College Professor Jana Sawicki on

What is Happiness?

Tuesday, February 22, 7 pm

Online via Zoom 

Click here to register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190.

Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, philosophers have discussed happiness: What is it? Is it primarily a pleasurable feeling? A psychological state of mind? A sense of well-being? In what sense can we describe a life as happy, and what makes a life happy as such? What makes someone worthy of happiness? What can science tell us about happiness? Can happiness by measured? Is the value of happiness over-rated? What role does adversity play in a happy life?

Although this lecture will not be able to engage all of these questions, we will discuss some of the key debates in the philosophical literature with the aim of laying the groundwork for an interesting discussion and sharing our collective wisdom about the value of happiness.

Jana Sawicki is the Morris Professor of Rhetoric (in Philosophy) at Williams College, and has been teaching at Williams for 30 years. Working closely with students, she has had the opportunity to read and think together with them about questions of central concern: the challenges they face, the experiences that they find meaningful, their preoccupations and values, their considerable capacity and potential role as future leaders. Many of their questions continue to be at the center of her own research and writing: Who are we today? How has the rise of the digital age and recent trends in globalization changed our ways of life and self-understandings in the contemporary US? What are some of the most significant problems facing us in the present, and what can philosophy contribute to addressing them? How do we reconcile democratic liberalism with multiculturalism? How should we think about racial and political polarization and the threats posed to democracy? Professor Sawicki’s areas of expertise include published work on the widely influential French thinker Michel Foucault and receptions and uses of his work in feminist and queer theories, as well as 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy, particularly ethics and politics. 

Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC and Berkshire Museum members, and $15 for the general public. Admission is free for Berkshire Community College students, youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

Presented in partnership with the Berkshire Museum