Chatter: Positively Philly

This month, Philadelphia, the natural nesting ground of the boo-bird, is poised to become the most positive place on earth

The mood elevation starts with a Penn course called “Foundations of Positive Psychology,” a come-one, come-all noncredit Internet offering ($820) taught by Tal Ben- Shahar, who’s transplanting a psych course he  teaches at Harvard — minus downers like grades — that has become the most popular undergraduate class at the Ivy League flagship.

Positive Psych, one of the fastest growing movements in the field’s history, has a founding father here: Penn prof and best-selling author Marty Seligman. Later this month, he’ll host hundreds of adherents of the so-called “science of happiness” from around the world for the first international Positive Psychology summit, a four-day confab (profab?) at the Sheraton City Center. There will be symposia on such subjects as how to construct the proverbial happy day and the ultra-topical “Psychological Health in Difficult Times.” No positive confirmation that attendees will try to levitate City Hall.