(N.Y. Post: Brian Zak)
(Getty Images)
BACK TO SCHOOL: At One Day University classes, “students” listen to presentations on offbeat topics such as how to be a happier person. (
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On a sweltering Tuesday evening last week, 500 people are packed into the Trianon ballroom at the Hilton hotel in Midtown to hear Cambridge University professor Brian Little present a “class” on “What Makes Us Happy? Surprising New Insights in Human Nature.”
Seated under five chandeliers, the students pick up the notepads and pens on their seats to jot down the bon mots that come out of Little’s mouth, finding out if they are extroverts or introverts, as though they are preparing for a quiz — a quiz that will never come.
The class is an evening event for One Day University, the brainchild of Steven Schragis. The former national director for the Learning Annex, Schragis started One Day University in 2006 to give adults the college experience after dropping his daughter off at Bard College and thinking, “I wish I could go back to college.”
Schragis brings together professors from top universities — Harvard, Columbia, Cambridge, Brown — to present their best, most engaging lectures in a variety of topics to paid attendees. While the majority of ODU events are a half or a full day long — thousands of people pay between $9 and $239, depending on the length of the “curriculum” — other sessions, like the one on Tuesday, are one-off, two-hour-long, after-work events. “University” is a bit of a misnomer — it’s more like a series of TED talks for the older generation or a longer version of a 92nd Street Y series.
“Most of our events are much bigger, with thousands of people, who take a number of different courses and learn about all sorts of subjects they didn’t know they had interest in,” Schragis says. “They learn about a sample of things that wouldn’t be in their comfort zone[s], and hearing interesting talks is enjoyable for a lot of people. It’s like what goes on in college campuses, but nothing is really at stake. You can’t fail, you can’t get in trouble if you’re late and there are no tests. It’s the positive parts of college without the negatives.
“You’re investing a day, not four years.”
And the idea has taken off. Many of the attendees at Tuesday’s class are returning “students,” and many of them have made the evening a family occasion. Art Weisel, 66, a radiologist, and his wife, Judy, 63, a speech pathologist, are meeting their two children at the lecture. “I like coming to these [lectures],” Art says. “It’s the fun of learning.”
“It’s intellectual with no exams,” adds Judy. When asked why they came to this specific lecture, Judy says, “We’re happy.”
“But you can always be happier,” Art interjects.
Across the room, Pat Matich, 77, is also attending with her family members — her sister Jane Dineen, 67, her brother, Bill Dineen, 71 and his wife, Kathleen, 66.
“I like adult education,” says Pat, a retired nurse. “I take classes at the Bergen Community College in music and art appreciation. I also did sign language, but I totally forgot it. I enjoyed it though.”
Kathleen adds, “I like this idea of making a choice to see the positive. Sometimes I can get swept away in the negative, and I felt it might be time for a review.”
This is exactly what Schragis likes to hear — his “university” is about expanding your mind. “[ODU] was meant to be an alternative,” Schragis says. “It’s for people not looking to get ahead in careers but looking for an interesting way to spend an evening.”
Still, the fact that the audience could use the underlying message in the talk in their professional lives is undeniable. This particular class, on how to look at happiness and yourself differently, can help people approach their jobs and lives with a fresh perspective. Upcoming classes include topics such as “How Our Intuitions Deceive Us,” “How To Make Better Decisions” and “Free Will: What Is It and Do We Have It?” — all of which sound like Malcolm Gladwell corporate retreats.
After the event, Bill Dineen, a retired bartender, says, “I never went to college, so I never attended a class like that. I picked up that it’s not so much your personality that makes you happy or not. You can pick out a thing to want to do and concentrate on it, and that can make you happy. We have grandchildren, and I was thinking I can take a course in magic and make them laugh and smile. If I don’t think I can succeed at something, a lot of times I won’t try — but this made me reevaluate and feel inspired. I will definitely do this again.”