This Experiential Education course includes a travel component and an additional associated fee. Financial aid may be available.

Tentative Dates: Late May/Early June, 2027
Travel to: Ikaria, Greece
Cost: TBD (Cost 2026 $4,000, exclusive of airfare)
Certificate Pursuit: Character and Leadership or Global Citizenship & Awareness

The Blue Zones are identified areas around the globe where people live long and live well. The research done by Dan Buettner over the last 20 years has helped identify key characteristics within the cultures of these communities at the heart of why and how these are some of the world’s healthiest and happiest populations while also having the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. Through the Blue Zones research, the fundamental lessons learned in these communities have now been distilled into core practices or habits of being including: 

• Moving naturally (adding more regular movement & exercise into daily living)
• Finding a sense of purpose in life (Ikigai) 
• Downshifting and reducing stress (living a slower more mindful lifestyle)
• Eating a primarily plant-based Mediterranean diet (rich in vegetables & legumes)
• Eating in moderation (80% rule- hara hachi bu)
• Prioritizing relationships, especially with family and friends 
• Belonging to a community 
• Creating strong social networks

In this course, students will examine each of these core principles and the current research that has linked these essential practices to enhanced health and longevity. Using the Dimensions of Wellbeing as a foundation, we will study the dynamic relationship between each of these aspects of daily life and how they contribute to our sense of wellbeing. This course is heavily experiential and students will be asked to develop and practice their own habits of being consistent with those that we are studying from the Blue Zones. The course will culminate in a ten-day travel experience to the island of Ikaria, Greece, where we will connect content with real life by learning up close how each of these ways of being is genuinely cultivated in Ikarian life. While in Ikaria we will visit the markets, shop for local food, cook authentic Ikarian recipes, meet beekeepers and goat farmers, visit community centers and town gatherings, experience cultural festivities, swim in the Aegean Sea, soak in the therapeutic geothermal hot springs, and intentionally dial into the local pace and way of approaching life.

Prerequisite: Must have taken Foundations of Wellbeing. Open to all sophomores and juniors. Available spring term only.