Students: Take a class where your homework is to re-train your brain.
PITT0130: Wellness and Resilience will teach undergraduate students skills for having resilience in the face of commonly experienced stressors and difficulties.
- Learn advanced psychotherapy techniques to ease your mind and improve your life.
- Learn positive habits like mindfulness, strategies for reducing stress and other uncomfortable emotions, coping skills, and relationship skills.
- Break down the psychology behind why these skills work and learn to apply them to your life.
- Practice using these skills and positive habits through homework and in-class practice.
This course will provide you with a personalized set of strategies and skills for self-care and optimize your academic and social experiences while at Pitt and beyond. Talk to your advisors to get enrolled in the course.
Download a sample course syllabus
What Are Students Saying?
Other past participants have said:
"Best class I've taken. Thank you."
"Thank you for creating this class! I really had a blast and I'm sad it's going to be over. This was an amazing experience that I'm never going to forget... I think this class is going to benefit a lot of people."
"This was the best class! You created such an amazing resource for students, and I can confidently say my mental health is better as a result of this class."
"I am so grateful for this class and this has been one of my favorite classes that I've taken at Pitt."
"I enjoyed this class so much, and it was a safe space. I learned so much and enjoyed each class."
"This course definitely helped me a lot... you guys really struck gold with this course idea. Looking back, I'm shocked this wasn't taught to me as a freshman. A ton of the skills I learned would have been VERY useful in the transition to college."
Information for Interested Instructors
Review the instructor responsibilities, requirements, and qualifications for the Wellness and Resilience course, as well as more details about the program and how to apply.
- Overview
Wellness and Resilience for College and Beyond is a 3-credit course designed to teach undergraduate students evidence-based skills for mental health and wellbeing. For more information about the course, including a short video of what former students say about their experiences with the course, visit Wellness and Resilience (PITT0130) on the Undergraduate Studies website. The course includes weekly 90-minute lectures and weekly 1-hour recitations. The program coordinator, along with the course lecturers, hold primary responsibility for most administrative tasks (e.g., responding to student concerns, exam administration, entering grades, etc.). Recitation instructors teach in teams of 2 instructors per section of 30 students. Recitation instructors who have never previously taught the course will be paired with an experienced instructor. Recitation instructors need not have any formal training in a clinical area (e.g., counseling, social work, psychology, etc.).
- Responsibilities, Requirements, and Qualifications
Recitation Instructor Responsibilities
- Co-lead weekly recitation sections (1 hour of class time per week)
- Grade weekly homework posts (each post is 3-4 pages double spaced; estimated time commitment is approximately 2 hours per week, per co-instructor)
- Grade weekly diary card homework submissions (these are extremely easy to grade and can be completed in 30-60 seconds per submission)
- Participate in bi-weekly teaching team meetings (Two 30-minute meetings per month)
- Respond to student emails (e.g., extension requests, etc.) as needed in collaboration with lecture instructors
Requirements and Qualifications for Recitation Instructors
- You must have permission from your supervisor to participate, as some of the responsibilities (e.g., teaching, responding to emails) occur during business hours.
- Agreements about whether participating in this course constitutes fulfillment of your current job duties or not must be made with your supervisor, as the Office of the Provost does not have oversight on these matters.
- Participation in a mandatory training event to learn the course content and how to teach the course. Training for 2024 is TBD and will include approximately 4 hours of training per day for that week.
Compensation
Recitation instructors are compensated at a rate of $2000 per semester. Compensation is paid by the Office of the Provost and will be processed as a lump-sum payment at the end of the semester.
- How to Apply
Applications are not currently being accepted.
Please direct any questions to Ahmed Ghuman at ahmed.ghuman@pitt.edu.