Love Lessons

The increasingly popular course is both academic and experiential. Students learn statistics and read studies about the institution, but they are also charged with interviewing a volunteer couple and, if possible, their own parents. One goal is to put preconceived notions about marriage into perspective, including the idea that perfect, argument-free relationships exist.

“The best prediction of whether or not a marriage will last is how conflict is handled,” Nielsen says. Self-knowledge, he stresses, is a key component to successfully managing a tiff. Without it, people often blame their spouses for their own problems.

So, how can the non-campus set get some training?

• For a list of marriage classes and retreats for couples across the country, visit www.smartmarriages.com. Added bonus of attending such classes: several states, such as Oklahoma and Florida, provide marriage license discounts to engaged couples enrolled in pre-nuptials courses.

• If you and your significant other aren’t able to get into a class, let us help you out with a useful tidbit from Nielsen’s Marriage 101 course. As one recent student reported, “The professors mentioned over and over that you should never expect that you can change a person… That’s not going to happen.”