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Winter Registration Opens Nov 30
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WELL 40 — Living with Purpose

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Diane Friedlaender
Duration: 8 weeks
Location: On-campus
Date(s): Jan 19—Mar 9
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Tuesdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 6:30—8:20 pm (PT)
Tuition: $495
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 21
 
Unit(s): 1
   
Enrollment Limit: 45
  
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Tuesdays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 6:30—8:20 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 19—Mar 9
Unit(s): 1
Location: On-campus
 
Tuition: $495
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 21
 
Instructor(s): Diane Friedlaender
 
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
 
Enrollment Limit: 45
 
Recording Available: No
 
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
 
Purpose is less a fixed destination than an ongoing way of orienting one's life around what matters most. Adapted from a popular class for Stanford undergraduates, this course examines purpose as a lived practice shaped by values, self-understanding, and engagement with the world. In a supportive, highly interactive setting, we explore how inner awareness connects to outward action and supports purposeful living in any stage of life. Drawing on artistic, contemplative, and design-based approaches, the course offers practical tools for self-understanding and well-being. Students work in an artistic workbook that integrates journaling and creative exercises throughout the course, including insights from a brief self-guided retreat. They also complete a small-scale purpose project that translates reflection into action, helping them gain clarity and practical strategies for navigating life’s transitions and aligning daily choices with deeper values.

Students must purchase a required workbook directly from the instructor ($40), payable at the first class session.

DIANE FRIEDLAENDER
Former Associate Director, Stanford Living Education

Diane Friedlaender is the founder of Deep Currents Consulting and a former associate director of Stanford Living Education, where she led the Leadership, Community Building, and Social Change (LEAD) program. She has taught more than 25 courses at Stanford and previously spent two decades as a senior qualitative researcher at the Stanford Graduate School of Education studying holistic education. She co-created an elementary mindfulness program and a K–8 public school. She received a BA from UC San Diego and a PhD from UCLA.