The Happiness Project is a year-long series of celebratory events to present an academic approach to the idea of happiness.The School of Anthropology and Conservation are delighted to welcome Dr. Neil Thin from the University of Edinburgh to deliver his talk on Thursday 14th May 2015, in Grimond Lecture Theatre 3 at 17.30 for refreshments (18.00 for lecture).

Worldwide, the public recognition of the importance of happiness research has soared in the past decade. The pursuit of scientifically credible intertemporal and international population-level comparisons has resulted in excessive emphasis on crude numerical representations of happiness. Arguably, this has the paradoxical effect of making happiness research unscientific, since respondents are forcing endlessly uncertain and elusive self-evaluations into absurdly bold and simplified self-presentations. Will a new, more mature phase of happiness research embrace more complex, holistic, biographical, and culturally embedded accounts of happiness such as those provided by anthropologists? Will anthropology respond by mainstreaming systematic attention to happiness throughout the discipline, or just by developing a minor sub-discipline of happiness research?

For more information please visit the School of Anthropology and Conservation website.