What types of experiences do people report? Who reports them? What are some of the theories behind some of these experiences? How are these experiences evaluated and investigated?
About Experiencing the Exceptional and Extraordinary
This 4 week course will provide overview of the full range and depths of exceptional experiences, also known as anomalous events, including experiences of hallucinations, lucid and precognitive dreams, near-death and out-of body events, UFO sightings, alien abductions, psychokinesis, remote viewing, mysticism, anomalous healing, psi-events and past-lives.
Experiencing the Exceptional & Extraordinary (EEE) will evaluate whether there are underlying similarities among all the phenomena and the issues with moving forward with a new scientific paradigm.
Introduction and Overview
Varieties of Exceptional Experiences
Who reports EEs
Types of classifications
Early studies of the Society for Psychical Research 1886
Present studies overview Rhine, PA, SSE, PRS, PEAR, SoC
The scientific method and the objective vs. subjective crisis in research
What is Reported?
Overview of reports: human figures, animals, objects
Investigations of hallucinations, lucid, precognitive dreams, OBEs
Investigations of hauntings & apparitions
Investigations of UFO and alien & apparitions
Investigations of remote viewing, psychokinesis
Investigations of anomalous healing
How is it Reported?
Examining Scientific Evidence
A few classic case studies
NDEs, & after life
Past lives and reincarnation
Training for EEs
Where do we do from here?
Beyond classification - understanding how to learn from spontaneous psi event in context
Recognizing genuine exceptional experiences
The unexpected cost of EEs
The academically treacherous phenomena of scientific research of exceptional experiences
Dreams provoke mystery and curiosity as we ponder the workings of our unconscious mind. Some dreams are fun and exciting or even frightening or confusing. Other dreams have a special, unique quality that gives the dreamer a strong sense of meaning, and even other dreams seem to be a source of communication or a peek into events in the future.
Psychic dreams are recorded in cultures through the ages, but what exactly are they and are they real? How do people experience them, and is there a way to encourage yourself to have psychic dreams?
The course will take an in-depth look at dreams and dreaming in general and specifically how psychic information and abilities manifest in the dream state. We will consider out-of-body experiences in the dream state, apparitional visitations, clairvoyant dreams, past-life dreams, telepathic/mutual dreaming and the most prevalent form of psychic dreaming: precognitive dreams. In the course, we take a look at methods of working with dreams in order to further discover and influence your own psi-filled dreaming, and also look at the Lucid Dreaming state and how one might use it to enhance psi even in the waking state.
This eight week academic course introduces students to the theories of psi.
Many people claim that there is no theoretical foundation for psi phenomena, but over a century of research has involved many theories of psi activity and the best way to demonstrate psi phenomena. From theories of animal magnetism to quantum physics to astrology, researchers have been testing the validity of theories that may contribute to the events that so many people experience in their lives.
This course is an introduction to the theories that guide psi researchers in their quest to better understand how psi works. It includes practical theories like the experimenter effect and the decline effect, psychological theories like the sheep-goat effect, and more recent theories like Decision Augmentation Theory, First Sight Theory, and even an exploration of similarities between psi phenomena and quantum physics.
Students should have a foundation in parapsychology with a focus on reviewing research articles. It is an introduction to the theories of psi, but does not include an introduction to parapsychology.
Recommended prerequisites: Introduction to Parapsychology or experience or courses that include reading and evaluating scientific parapsychology articles from peer reviewed journals.
Real Magic by Dean Radin (Accessible and easy to read, but very well researched)
First Sight Theory of Psi by Jim Carpenter (academic and complex, but well structured)
Various articles and other media provided by the instructor through the courseroom.
Evaluations and Grading
Students who are taking the course for a grade will be assessed using a letter grade based on the standard letter grade format.
A – 90 - 100
B – 80 – 89
C – 70 – 79
D – 60 – 69
F – Below 60
Participation in the forums is a large component of the grading, and substantive postings are necessary to get full credit for each discussion topic.
The following activities will be considered to contribute to the courses as follows:
Discussions (Total 40%): 5 points for each of the 8 weeks including responses to other people's posts
Assessment #1 (30%)
Research Summary (30%)
This 6-week course provides a discussion of the ethical issues that can arise in psi research and field investigations and introduces practices to ensure ethical considerations are being addressed. Topics will include the basic foundation of ethics including an introduction to Institutional Review Boards and the ethical guidelines used by professional researchers. In addition, examples will be provided from real-life investigations and situations that are often encountered by field investigators.
Besides paranormal investigations, investigations also include exploring reincarnation, and practices related to mediumship and after-death communications.
This course will introduce students to the topics related to ethics of investigations and research that involves animals or human participants. The general topic of ethics will be introduced, and students will be provided with the tools necessary to create a document for ethical review. In addition, the terminology related to ethics and an Institutional Review Board (IRB) will provide examples that will enable students to create professional documents for review.
In addition to the basic concepts and processes for ethical review, examples will be provided to stimulate discussion of real-world situations that may introduce ethical dilemas.
Various articles provides by the instructor and provided for download throughout the course.
Students who are taking the course for a grade will be assessed using a letter grade based on the standard letter grade format.
A – 90 - 100.
B – 80 – 89.
C – 70 – 79.
D – 60 – 69.
F – Below 60.
Participation in the forums is a large component of the grading, and substantive postings are necessary to get full credit for each discussion topic.
The following activities will be considered to contribute to the courses as follows:
Discussions (Total 40%)
Final Project(70%)
This 4 week course is designed for anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of how Art has given us a series of clues about the Psi human experience. We will review critical artworks going back to ancient times and we will wander across the Art history timeline to present for illumination. Who were these renegade artists who saw the creative potential of expressing what Psi meant to them, and who tried to capture the miraculous and mystical through various art media and across various cultural contexts? We will explore how artists have used art to convey the extraordinary, the unimaginable...
As we critically examine various art and art forms, the biography of a few selected artists will be placed within the framework of their time and their own personal and societal/cultural expressions. This journey shall enable the course participants to gain a deeper appreciation of a more obscure artistic legacy that has been given to us over the millennia, and to develop the tools to understand Art's more profound impact on our understanding of Psi phenomena and, equally, the importance of the creative muses in the exploration of consciousness.
Week 1: Introduction and Overview
Week 2: Types of Psi Phenomena in Art
Week 3: Art as Spiritual Activity
Week 4: How Art Gives Us a Deeper Scientific Understanding of Psi
Suggested Reading Materials
Students taking this course for a letter grade will be evaluated using the following information.
Grading and Assessment
FINAL PROJECT- Complete a minimum 1000 word paper (with references)
Chose either 1. a specific period in art history ( as per the historical timeline presented in first class) or 2. a specific artist to demonstrate how the art has been used to communicate a “deeper” more “invisible” meaning which gives us clues to the mystical, magical, mysterious of the world of psi phenomena.
Provide minimum of 5 images, maximum of 20, all work must be referenced and artwork used identified by artist, year if known, title, & source.
Please send a 2-3 sentence proposal as to the topic you will chose for approval after the first class, email to cmc.toporow@gmail.com
The final project is due seven (7) days after the final class is taught, and should be emailed to the instructor.
SUGGESTED FINAL PROJECT IDEAS FOR ART AS PSI PORTAL TO THE MYSTERIOUS, MYSTICAL, MAGICAL & MIRACULOUS
Aboriginal Art
Alchemical Art
Icelandic Art Tradition
Brazilian Art
Eight Trigrams, Fúxī, & the Prior Heavens Art
Hallucinatory Art
Kabbalistic Art
Remote Viewing Art
Tarot Card Art, Origins & Permutations
Sacred Geometry Art
Voodoo Art
Jungian Art
African Traditional Art
Hermetic Art
Indian, SouthEastern Mystical Art
Russian Art
Ancient Divinatory Art
OBE and/or NDE Art
UFO &/or Alien Abduction Art (personal accounts)
Artists of your choice as related to their psychic experiences and Art
… etc., etc., etc... endless possibilities!
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