Hack Yourself: Live, Code, Learn (6.S056)

About the Class

Faculty

What if your biggest leadership gaps were sabotaging your team’s motivation? Or if time pressure was silently killing your startup’s creativity? This course dives into counterintuitive, evidence-based insights from psychology and translates them into practical tools for success. You’ll learn how to sustain your own well-being, foster a high-performance culture, and build resilient teams. Through hands-on projects, you’ll experiment with over 60 science-backed habits for thriving under pressure, maintaining momentum, and amplifying others’ success. We’ll pair this with practical data science and Generative AI techniques to help you validate ideas, test assumptions, and communicate results clearly. You’ll also strengthen your ability to propose, persuade, and lead—through writing, visualization, and presentation. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Students complete a group project in the last ¼ of the course.

Ana Bell

"I primarily teach introductory computer science in the EECS Department at MIT. I've recently pivoted to understanding positive psychology and applying these concepts to the courses I teach." Ana Bell teaches the introductory computer science courses, both on MIT campus and through MOOCs on edX. In addition to helping learners embrace computational thinking, she improves these courses by researching and implementing effective teaching strategies. She received her Bachelor of Applied Science in 2007 from the University of British Columbia in Canada. Then, her MA in 2009 and PhD in 2013 from Princeton University were for research in computational biology. After serving as a teaching assistant for the intro computer science course at Princeton, she discovered her love for teaching and helping students find their aha moments. She began her career as a lecturer at MIT in 2013. There, she earned the 2017 Digital Innovation Award and 2019 Louis D. Smullin Teaching award from the EECS Department at MIT, and the 2022 Teaching with Digital Technology Award from Open Learning at MIT.

Paola Rebusco

Paola Rebusco was born in Italy, near Lake Garda. She earned her master’s degree in theoretical physics from the University of Trieste (Italy) in 2003. Paola received her PhD in astronomy from the Ludwig–Maximilians–Universität (Munich, Germany) and the International Max Planck Research School on Astrophysics in 2007. She then crossed the Atlantic and spent three years as a postdoctoral Pappalardo Fellow in Physics at MIT. Paola is interested not only in teaching and theoretical astrophysics but also in how specialized knowledge is made publicly accessible. In addition to being the European Southern Observatory Network representative in the United States, from time to time she collaborates with Italian teaching and outreach institutions. Paola loves traveling, sailing, martial arts, writing, reading, fixing/making things, and torturing a ukulele.

Carter Jernigan

Carter Jernigan is a three-time entrepreneur, inventor with 22 issued patents, and visiting instructor at MIT. Carter's entrepreneurial journey began early—founding his first consulting business at age 12—followed by two subsequent ventures, including the mobile app Locale®, which won the $300,000 Google Android Developer Challenge in 2008. He later licensed patented technology to Intel, where he led teams developing AI coaching systems for wearable devices. His latest company is developing Sigma®, a leadership coach powered by AI. At MIT, Carter co-teaches 6.S056 Hack Yourself with senior lecturers Ana Bell and Paola Rebusco. The course blends data science, positive psychology, and hands-on experimentation to help students develop science-backed habits for thriving in personal, team, and entrepreneurial contexts. Carter brings these concepts to life with stories and insights drawn from 28 years as an entrepreneur and 17 years leading in industry. Carter holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.