2026 February Special Edition Newsletter
Seeking Alignment: Religious Imaginaries in the Past and Future of AI | "HAPPINESS" LECTURE |
Bill and Belle Levman Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship in Religion | Amir Hussain Profile | Catherine Maudsley Profile | Backpack to Briefcase 2026
The University of Toronto's Alumni Reunion features DSR faculty member Professor Kevin Lewis O'Neill who, on Saturday, June 20, as part of the DSR's 50th anniversary celebrations will deliver a Stress-Free Degree Lecture based on his very popular undergraduate course, "Happiness."
Are you happy? Today, happiness is a metric by which a growing number of people assess the quality of their lives, with a range of experts offering innumerable life hacks and opportunities to optimize life. But what does it mean to be happy? And how have people tried to achieve this ever-elusive state? Answers have varied: fast, meditate, pray, go to the desert, come together, get high, suffer, renounce God, and/or make lots of money. O'Neill's lecture considers questions, answers and traditions from around the world.
First offered in 2021-22, this course has garnered increased interest with every year. Today, the cap stands at 1,000, which represents a doubling between the previous and current academic years.For an insight into why this course has such appeal, see the Arts & Science News article, ‘Kevin O’Neill's “Happiness” course couldn't be timelier in today's unsettled world.’
The Stress-Free Degree Lectures are a long-standing highlight of the university's annual Alumni Reunion,offering thought-provoking talks by renowned U of T professors. A cultural anthropologist and 2021 Simon Guggenheim Fellow, Kevin Lewis O'Neill is a former Director of the Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies and is currently Dean of Arts & VIce-Provost of Trinity College.
More information at the Alumni Reunion website
