Can the Academic and Experiential Study of Flourishing Improve Flourishing in College Students? A Multi-University Study.

Objectives: Significant concerns have been raised about the "mental health crisis" on college campuses, with attention turning to what colleges can do beyond counseling services to address students' mental health and well-being. We examined whether primarily first-year (89.1%) undergraduate students (651) who enrolled in the Art and Science of Human Flourishing (ASHF), a novel academic and experiential for-credit elective course on human flourishing, would demonstrate improved mental health and strengthen skills, perspectives, and behaviors associated with flourishing relative to students who did not enroll in this course.

Does variability across three universities in the implementation of a college course on human flourishing affect student outcomes?

Objective: This study explores whether variability in the implementation of an undergraduate course on human flourishing is differentially associated with student outcomes.

Participants: 101 students in the "Art and Science of Human Flourishing" course across three large, public, R1 universities in Fall 2018 participated in the study.

Methods: Formative course data included researcher observations of weekly class pedagogy, students' weekly meditation practice logs and end-of-course assessments, and pre/post surveys measuring changes in participating students' outcomes related to flourishing (e.

Habitat restoration opportunities, climatic niche contraction, and conservation biogeography in California's San Joaquin Desert.

A recent global trend toward retirement of farmland presents opportunities to reclaim habitat for threatened and endangered species. We examine habitat restoration opportunities in one of the world's most converted landscapes, California's San Joaquin Desert (SJD). Despite the presence of 35 threatened and endangered species, agricultural expansion continues to drive habitat loss in the SJD, even as marginal farmland is retired.