William G. Roll Scholarship Fund for Education in Parapsychology

Support education in parapsychology with a donation to the William G. Roll Scholarship Fund.

The William G. Roll Scholarship Fund for Education in Parapsychology provides assistance for students who are interested in learning more about Parapsychology through the Rhine Education Center.

Students who are enrolled in courses at the Rhine Education Center may submit a Statement of Need to the administration of the Rhine Education Center. This statement should include the following information:

  • The student’s full name and contact information (including email address).
  • The course(s) for which the student has applied for the upcoming quarter.
  • A statement that indicates why the student is taking this course and how this course relates to the student’s interest in the field of parapsychology.
  • A statement of need that indicates why the student has a financial need and why the student is requesting this grant from the scholarship fund.

Applications for funding must be sent via email to: administration@rhineeducationcenter.org.

Applications must be received at least 7 days prior to the first day of the quarter or the beginning of the course for which the student has applied.

Each application will be reviewed by the administration of the Rhine Education Center, and each application will be evaluated based on the interests of the student, how those interests correspond with the mission of the Rhine Education Center, and financial need expressed by the student. Additional information or supporting documents may be requested to validate the statements made in the application.

Scholarships to the Rhine Education Center may provide up to 50% tuition for each course. The majority of the scholarships will provide between 10% and 25% in tuition for a specific course, but in extreme cases, the scholarship may provide up to 50% of the tuition.

The student will be notified of the decision of the Rhine Education Center administration within 7 days of receiving the application. If a scholarship is awarded, the notice will include information about the amount of the scholarship and the student’s responsibilities if they accept the scholarship. The student will have 3 business days to decide if they will accept the scholarship and the associated terms of the scholarship agreement.

The decisions of the Rhine Education Center administrators are final. The Rhine Education Center is under no legal or financial obligation to award these scholarships, and a limited number of scholarships will be available each quarter.

The William G. Roll Scholarship Fund for Education in Parapsychology is partially funded by a generous donation from the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research (www.alextanous.org).

This document was created on September 25, 2013.

Syllabus: Introduction to Parapsychology

Winter 2012

About the Course:

The class will take place on Thursday evenings, and begin at 6:00pm (Eastern Time). Each class will last 90 minutes and include a presentation, the opportunity to ask questions and chat with other students and be followed by a weekly activity which will be managed via an online discussion forum.

The class will be assessed with three components. First two tests will be comprised of multiple choice questions and short answers and will be submitted online. In addition, engagement with weekly activities and discussions will be assessed by students’ engagement with the online discussion forum (i.e., students are required to participate in class discussions!).

Students will receive a letter grade, and every student who passes the 2 assignments, participates in all discussions, and completes the course will be awarded a Rhine Research Center Certificate of Completion.

Learning Objectives:

1.      Students will learn about the topics covered by  “parapsychology”

2.      Development of critical thinking skills pertaining to subjective paranormal experiences

3.      Students will understand the need for  designing laboratory experiments for psi research

4.      Students will learn that there is also value in exploring the types of experiences people are having.

Learning Outcomes:

1.      Students will be able to list the varieties of experiences studied by parapsychologists

2.      Students will demonstrate critical thinking about a range of subjective paranormal experiences

3.      Students will demonstrate an awareness of the types of experiments which have been employed to explore paranormal experiences

4.      Students will demonstrate an awareness the subjective nature ( phenomenology) of paranormal experiences

Weekly Schedule:

Week 1 - Introduction to Parapsychology

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 1 & 2.

Discussion forum assignment I

Week 2 - Extrasensory perception I

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 3 & 4.

Discussion forum assignment 2

Week 3 - Extrasensory perception II – correlates of ESP

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 4 & 5.

Discussion forum assignment 3

Week 4Mind over matter

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 6 & 7.

Discussion forum assignment 4

 

Multiple Choice/Short Answer:  Assessment I

Week 5OBEs and NDEs

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 11 & 12.

Discussion forum assignment 5

                Week 6 – Special Topics 

                                Discussion forum assignment 6

                Week 7 – Special Topics 

                                Discussion forum assignment 7

                Week 8 – Special Topics 

                                Discussion forum assignment 8

Week 9 - Apparitions

Study Assignment: Irwin chapters 13.

Discussion forum assignment 9

Week 10Modern research in parapsychology

Study Assignment: Reading assignments provided at a later date.

Discussion forum assignment 10

Multiple Choice/Short Answer:  Assessment II

Course Materials

Irwin, H. & Watt, C. (2007). Introduction to Parapsychology (fifth edition). Jefferson, NC: McFarland publishers inc.

[Note: For the purposes of this course, students may purchase earlier versions of this text book, which are a little cheaper, and cover many of the topics covered in the most recent edition of this textbook. However, if this is the case, when students are referred to the book, chapters and page numbers may differ.]

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Parapsychology-Harvey-J-Irwin/dp/0786430591/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299583028&sr=1-1

Additional research articles will be provided when the class begins.

 

Grading and Assessments

Discussion Participation (30% of your grade)

Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course

Weeks 1-3 (10%)

Weeks 4-6 (10%)

Weeks 7-10 (10%)

Assessment I (30% of your grade)

Multiple Choice and short answer test (submitted online).

Assessment II (40% of your grade)

Multiple Choice and short answer test (submitted online).

 

 

Introduction to Parapsychology

 

Winter, 2012  (Thursdays January 19th through March 22)

 

This online course will introduce students to the basics of parapsychology; the scientific study of paranormal experiences.  This interesting course will examine case studies and experiments to explore extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (mind over matter), near death and out of body experiences, apparitions (including ghosts), and modern research in parapsychology.  In addition, there will be special topics presented by noted parapsychologists and leaders in the field including Julie Beischel, Mitch Horowitz, and Christine Simmonds-Moore.  Students taking this course will gain a deeper understanding of subjective paranormal experiences and the nature of consciousness, and learn that there are a variety of ways to explore these fascinating experiences.

 

This is an academic course designed to provide professional education in the field of parapsychology.  Students will be required to participate in weekly online discussion forums with other students and they will be evaluated on their progress in the course.  Each student will receive a letter grade for the course which may qualify them for a future certificate from the Rhine Education Center.

 Participating Instructors:

  • Steve Moore, with special lectures by
  • Special sessions by guest instructors

Details:

 

When:

Every Thursday, January 19th through March 22th.

 

What Time:

Classes will be broadcast each week from 6:00pm –7:30pm Eastern US Time, and they will be recorded for later viewing if you cannot attend the class live.

 

Where:

Since this is an online course, you can access the class from any computer that has a viable internet connection and meets the minimum system requirements.

 

Cost:

$245 per person.

$195 Rhine Research Center member or student enrolled in a degree program.

 

Note: Class times and dates are tentative and subject to change based on enrolment and instructor availability.


 

APPLY TODAY!

 

Class space is limited, so please apply early.  All applications must be received before January 11, 2011.

 

Click to apply for this course.

 

(There is a $15.00 non-refundable application fee which can be paid through paypal or by sending a check to the Rhine Research Center.)

 

View the full syllabus for Introduction to Parapsychology (Fall 2011)

 

Testing for ESP

 

Winter, 2012 (Every Monday, January 16th through March 19th)

 

This online course will introduce students to the basics principles involved in rigorous scientific testing in the field of psychology with a special emphasis on the issues involved with testing for ESP.  This course will provide insight into the scientific method and how it is applied in the field of parapsychology.  Discussions will focus on the basics of experimental design, considering ethical issues, evaluating results, and special discussions for testing telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis.

 

This course is an introduction to scientific testing, but it does require an understanding of the basic principles of parapsychology.  It is strongly suggested that students interested in this course first take the Introduction to Parapsychology course that is offered by the Rhine Education Center, but applications from students with a demonstrated understanding of the science of parapsychology will also be considered.

 

This is an academic course designed to provide professional education in the field of parapsychology.  Students will be required to participate in weekly online discussion forums with other students and they will be evaluated on their progress in the course.  Each student will receive a letter grade for the course which may qualify them for a future certificate from the Rhine Education Center.

 Participating Instructors:

  • John G. Kruth, Executive Director of the Rhine Research Center

Details:

 

When:

Monday January 16th through March 19th

 

What Time:

Classes will be broadcast each Monday from 6:30pm –8:00pm Eastern US Time, and they will be recorded for later viewing if you cannot attend the class live.

 

Where:

Since this is an online course, you can access the class from any computer that has a viable internet connection and meets the minimum system requirements.

 

Cost:

$245 per person.

$195 Rhine Research Center member or student enrolled in a degree program.

 

In addition, a $25 materials fee will be assessed to provide for a deck of Zener cards and resources that will be used for the class.

 

Note: Class times and dates are tentative and subject to change based on enrolment and instructor availability.


 

APPLY TODAY!

 

Class space is limited, so please apply early.  All applications must be received before January 11, 2011.

 

Click to apply for this course.

 

(There is a $15.00 non-refundable application fee which can be paid through paypal or by sending a check to the Rhine Research Center.)

Click Testing for ESP I : Syllabus for the full syllabus for this course.

Ed May

Edwin C. May, Ph.D.

Brief Biographical Data

Edwin C. May spent the first part of his research career in his chosen Ph.D.-degreed discipline, Low Energy, Experimental Nuclear Physics, which he earned in 1968 at the University of Pittsburgh. Before leaving that career he had published 16 papers in the peer-reviewed physics literature including his report of the first measurement of the singlet state of the deuteron which appeared in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters.

He became interested in serious research of parapsychological phenomena in 1975 when he joined the on-going U.S. Government-sponsored work at SRI International (formerly called Stanford Research Institute). In 1985, he became that program’s director, but in 1991, he shifted the effort to Science Applications International Corporation, another US Defense Contractor. His association with government-sponsored parapsychology research ended in 1995, when the program, then called STAR GATE, was closed by the US Government.

When the research was finally declassified in 1989, Dr. May was able to publish ground-breaking results and theories in the peer-reviewed literature—the latest of which appeared in an abstracted medical journal.1 To learn more about the STARGATE era and the research since then, including the complete set of publications, please visit www.LFR.ORG. Dr. May’s approach has earned him an international reputation for his research rigor and excellence even though the topic is considered controversial. He recently was honored to give a public talk about intelligence collection at the World War II famous site, Bletchley Park, in the UK. His technical presentations mostly to skeptical audiences, have been accepted worldwide where the venues include, Harvard University, the Universities of California at Los Angeles and at Davis, Stanford University, the University of Edinburgh, Trinity College—Cambridge, Eötvös Loránd University, the University of Stockholm, and Imperial College London to name but a few.

Dr. May has managed complex, interdisciplinary research projects for the US federal government since 1985. He presided over 70% of the funding ($20M+) and 85% of the data collection for the government’s 22-year involvement in parapsychological research. His responsibilities included fund raising, personnel management, project administration and planning, and he was the guiding force for and active in the technical research program. Currently, Dr. May is the Executive Director of the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, which now resides within the Laboratories for Fundamental Research. Since its founding in 1996, 13 of 17 research proposals to private foundations have been supported.

He accumulated over 12 years experience in experimental nuclear physics research, which included the study of nuclear reaction mechanism and nuclear structure. Dr. May’s accelerator experience includes a variety of tandem Van de Graaff generators and cyclotrons operating under 50 million electron volts. Other specialized experience includes four years of γ-ray spectroscopy, one year of trace-element analysis (x-ray, and α-particle techniques), numerical analysis, Monte Carlo techniques, digital signal processing, and cardiac blood flow research. In addition, he has conducted physiology research through the careful investigation of the efficacy of biofeedback in a clinical setting.

Dr. May is fluent in a variety of 3-G and 4-G computer languages including C, FORTRAN, IDL, Visual Basic, Matlab, SQL and various machine codes,

His Dissertation was “Nuclear Reaction Studies via the (p,pn) Reaction on Light Nuclei and the (d,pn) Reaction on Medium to Heavy Nuclei.” B. L. Cohen, advisor. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (1968). He is the author or co-author of a large number of papers, reports, proposals and presentations from both of his career activities.

The Parapsychological Association, an affiliate member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, granted him the Outstanding Achievement Award in 1996 for his contribution and research excellence and the Association presented him the Outstanding Career Achievement award in 2007. He was President of The Parapsychological Association in 1997 and has served often on its Board of Directors.

1May, Paulinyi & Vassy (2005). Anomalous Anticipatory Skin Conductance Response to Acoustic Stimuli: Experimental Results and Speculation About a Mechanism. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 11, 4, 695-702.