Wellness

What does it mean to be well? Who or what defines wellness? And what happens when we all, inevitably, become unwell? This subject critically explores the concept of wellness through history and across Buddhist, comparative religious, biomedical, and philosophical traditions, positioning contemporary wellness discourse against other concepts of ‘the good life’, including sukha, eudaimonia , health, and happiness. The subject invites reflection on how wellness functions today simultaneously as a moral approach to life, a routine for daily living, and as part of multi-trillion-dollar industry. Students will critically engage with wellness from a multidisciplinary perspective, analysing its promises of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual ‘well-being’ alongside its limitations, contradictions, and potential harms. The course further interrogates the commodification of wellness, online influencer culture, and the ways in which wellness discourses intersect with issues of privilege, inequality, and neoliberalism. Through experiential and object-based learning, students will examine new wellness techniques and texts and learn how to write for popular and academic audiences.

探讨健康与福祉的社会文化维度。

• 1Demonstrate detailed understanding of historical and comparative models of wellness, including biomedical, philosophical, and religious models
• 2Critically analyse contemporary wellness claims, their intellectual inheritance, biases, and privileges
• 3Articulate the influence of Buddhist thought and practice on global wellness trends
• 4Analyse and explain the relationship between wellness, language, aesthetics, and power
• 5Communicate ideas in both oral and written formats to a variety of scholarly and popular audiences