{
  "id": 19086310,
  "title": "Stanford now offers a ‘Namjooning’ course on mental health, inspired by BTS’s RM",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/stanford-now-offers-a-namjooning-course-on-mental-health-inspired-by",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-09T03:50:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/stanford-now-offers-a-namjooning-course-on-mental-health-inspired-by-btss-rm-1.500740718"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Stanford has introduced a new Introductory Seminar called \"Namjooning: And Other Well-being Inspiration from BTS.\" The course draws its name from the fan term for the Korean star RM's habit of recharging through various activities such as museums, bike rides, parks, and reading. This seminar is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of wellness advice through a quantitative lens, examining how much, for whom, and what the research supports.\n\nRM, whose real name is Kim Namjoon, is the lead vocalist of the global K-pop sensation BTS. In May 2026, the band performed sold-out shows at Stanford Stadium, which led to a separate summer K-pop course through Stanford Continuing Studies. Beyond his musical career, RM is an art connoisseur and is currently co-curating an exhibition at the nearby San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.\n\nThe syllabus of this course covers a wide range of topics that can impact students' well-being, including nature, biking, art, literature, sleep, anxiety, creative block, self-love, self-awareness, medication, diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements. What sets this course apart is its rigorous approach. Instead of merely accepting common wellness advice, students will be encouraged to question the meaning of terms like \"plenty of sleep,\" the quality of sleep, the costs of sleep deprivation, and the most effective ways to achieve restful sleep.\n\nThe course reading list combines fiction with scientific papers, and class sessions may also involve watching art and YouTube videos. Students will engage in short presentations, writing assignments, and quantitative reasoning tasks. The capstone project will be a final presentation inspired by RM's 2022 solo album, \"Indigo,\" which he viewed as a record of his twenties before military service.\n\nThe prerequisites for this course are a desire for personal growth and a willingness to approach wellness with a critical mindset, while also having a respectful attitude towards BTS. The last requirement, admiring BTS, might be the easiest to fulfill for students who grew up following the band. However, the real challenge will be translating inspiration into actionable habits backed by evidence.",
  "summary": "Stanford freshmen now have a new way to study how to stay sane in college: follow the lead of a Korean star. A new Introductory Seminar, “Namjooning, and other well-being inspiration from BTS,” takes its name from the fan term for RM’s habit of recharging through museums, bike rides, parks and books. BTS’ RM urges ARMYs to stop gathering outside hotels in Peru: ‘We haven’t been able to sleep’ But…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}