Christianity is the world’s largest religion. Approximately one third of the global population identifies as Christian, and it had an influential role in the development of parapsychology. Yet many have the impression that Christianity and parapsychology are incompatible and that all psychic phenomena are demonic deceptions. Even many Christians have the impression that “it’s always demons.” However, the scope of Christian thought is actually broader, and historic Christian thinkers have been open to psi phenomenon.
This course surveys the scope of Christian thought on parapsychological topics including extra-sensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), the survival of bodily death, and Church-sponsored field investigations of paranormal phenomena like apparitions, miracles, and spirit possession.
There is no specific text for this class, however, students will be provided with short readings or videos which will help them to better understand content of the lectures.
This will consist of multiple choice questions (scored automatically by the computer) and short answer/short essay questions (scored manually by the instructor). Total 60 points.
Evaluations and Grading
Students who are taking the course for a grade will be assessed based on thier participation and performance on the assigments.
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%): 10 points for each of the 4 weeks including responses to other people's posts
Final Quiz (60%)
Students who complete this course with a passing grade will receive a certificate of completion from the Rhine Education Center.
This 8 week course is designed to introduce students to the field of Parapsychology and what parapsychologists study. Topics will include an overview of the phenomena (Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Precognition, Psychokinesis, and Survival Issues), history, research methodologies in the lab and for field investigation, and related issues that make up the vibrant field of scientific parapsychology. Also covered will be the major criticisms and critics of Parapsychology and a look at fraud as it applies to professionals and to consumers. The course textbook is Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th edition by Harvey Irwin and Caroline Watt, and will be supplemented by additional articles.
Required Text: Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th ed. by Harvey J. Irwin & Caroline A. Watt. McFarland & Company: 2007. Available from Amazon.com and other booksellers.
Additional articles will be assigned and provided in the classroom, or linked from the classroom.
Week 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: What is Parapsychology?
Week 2: A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY: An Overview
Week 3: EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION: An Overview
Week 4: PSYCHOKINESIS: An Overview
Week 5: PSYCHOKINESIS: Special Topics AND PSYCHIC FRAUD OVERVIEW
Week 6: SURVIVAL OF BODILY DEATH: An Overview of Concepts and the Evidence
Week 7: FIELD RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATIONS
Week 8: EXPLANATIONS, CORRELATIONS, CRITICISMS, IMPLICATIONS & APPLICATIONS and WRAPPING UP
All students are considered to be auditing the courses, but students may choose to take this course for a letter grade. Whether being graded or not, all students are encouraged to participate fully in this class and join in the online discussions. This provides an opportunity to get the full experience of the online class and learn the most about the topics that are presented.
Students taking this course for a letter grade will be evaluated using the following information and every student who completes the course with a passing grade will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from the Rhine Education Center.
| Grading and Assessments | |
| Discussion Participation (40% of your grade) | |
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Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course (total 40%)
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Assessment I (30% of your grade)
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Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
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Assessment II (30% of your grade)
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Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
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Instructor: Loyd Auerbach
This unique eight week course will be broadcast live on Wednesday evenings, but many students choose to watch the recordings of the classes if they cannot attend them live. The first broadcast will be on Wednesday, February 7th through March 27th. Besides the weekly class broadcasts, there is an online discussion forum for students to share their ideas, answer questions about the lectures, and communicate with the instructors.
This survey course will examine altered states of consciousness (ASC) including those induced by meditation, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, music, and substances. ASCs will be explored from the perspectives of neuroscience, psychology, consciousness research, parapsychology, and anthropology. As this is a survey course, it provides essentially an overview of a spectrum of ASCs, with a deeper exploration/focus on dreams.
Week 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Overview of the Course
What is Consciousness?
What is an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)?
The Importance of Perception to ASCs
Overview of Specific ASCs and Techniques to Induce Some of Them
Week 2: Meditation, Hypnosis, & Sensory Deprivation
Types of Meditation
Effects of Meditation on States of Consciousness
Effects of Meditation on the Brain
Hypnosis: An Overview
Is the Hypnotic State Really an Altered State?
Effects of Hypnosis on Perception, Memory and the Body/Brain
Sensory Deprivation Techniques
Effects of Sensory Deprivation on States of Consciousness
Week 3: Sleep and Dreams
Sleep and Dreaming in General
Cycles of Sleep and Dreaming
Types of Dreams
Lucid Dreaming in Brief
Nightmares and Night Terrors
Hypnogogic and Hypnopompic States
Normative, Repetitive, and Impactful Dreams
Brief Theories of Dreams and Dreaming
Week 4: Psychic Dreaming (Part I)
Psi Dreaming: Overview
Healing Dreams
Visitation Dreams
Telepathic and Mutual Dreaming
Past Life Dreams
Week 5: Psychic Dreaming (Part II)
">Real-Time Dreams
">Precognitive Dreams
">Deja Vu in Dreams
Dreams and Out of Body Experiences
Lucid Dreaming
Week 6: Sleep Disorders & Working with Dreams
Overview of Sleep Maladies
Sleep Paralysis & Hynagogic Visions
Dream Recall
Dream Incubation
Dream Symbols
Creativity and Dreams
Working with Psychic Dreams
Week 7: Consciousness Altering Substances and Technology
Overview of Mind-Altering Substances
How is the Brain Affected?
Food & Nutrition
Alcohol
Psychedelics & Hallucinogens
Stimulants & Depressants (Legal and Illegal)
PsychoTechnology: Biofeedback, Magnetic Fields (Natural & Man-Made) and More
Week 8: Additional ASC Inductions, Summary, & Wrap-up
Music/Sound as an ASC Induction Technique
Movement/Dance as an ASC Induction Technique
Disease and Illness as Inducing ASCs
Overview of Uses of ASC Induction: from Shamans to Modern Medicine
Parapsychology and ASCs
Summary and Wrap-Up
Final Quiz
All students are considered to be auditing the courses, but students may choose to take this course for a letter grade. Whether being graded or not, all students are encouraged to participate fully in this class and join in the online discussions. This provides an opportunity to get the full experience of the online class and learn the most about the topics that are presented.
Students taking this course for a letter grade will be evaluated using the following information.
| Grading and Assessments | |
| Discussion Participation (40% of your grade) | |
|
Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course
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Mid-Term quiz: Short answer/essay (30% of your grade)
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Final quiz: Short answer/essay (30% of your grade)
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Instructor: Loyd Auerbach, MS
This unique eight week course will be broadcast live, but many students choose to watch the recordings of the classes if they cannot attend them live. Besides the weekly class broadcasts, there is an online discussion forum for students to share their ideas, answer questions about the lectures, and communicate with the instructors.
This 8 week academic course will examine the phenomena, experiences, and research related to the survival of human consciousness outside of the physical body. The course reviews the characteristics of Near Death Experiences (NDEs), Out of Body Experiences (OBEs), and after death communication (Mediumship) and examines the current research that is occurring in this area. Additional topics related to the survival of consciousness, including apparitions and hauntings, will also be explored.
Besides a discussion of the description of the phenomena and the evidence supporting the survival hypothesis, the course will also discuss qualitative investigations and laboratory studies into the effects of these experiences on individuals, and counseling efforts that have been used to help people with these experiences.
Required Text: Articles will be assigned and provided in the classroom, or linked from the classroom.
WEEK 1: OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION
Overview of the course topics, assignments and grading
Concepts and Definitions
What is Consciousness?
Philosophy & Consciousness: Materialism, Dualism, and Pluralism
Physics, Neuroscience and Consciousness
The Question of “What Survives?”
WEEK 2: A) EVIDENCE FOR SURVIVAL OF BODILY DEATH?
Looking at Survival-related phenomena/experiences in general as potential evidence for Survival of Consciousness
Out of Body Experiences
Near Death Experiences
Apparitions & Hauntings
Mediumship and Channeling
Reincarnation
B) OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES
Characteristics of the OBE
OBEs and Dreams, Apparitions, and Bilocation
OBEs and Near Death Experiences
The Skeptical Viewpoint
Veridical OBEs vs. Non-Veridical
Are OBEs in and of themselves Evidence of Survival?
WEEK 3: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES
NDEs, further defined
Characteristics of Near Death Experiences
History of NDEs
NDEs and the Afterlife
NDEs and Cross Cultural Issues
After-Effects of the NDE
Research on NDEs: Past and Present
Neuroscience Research and Explanations
Psychological Research and Explanations
Debating the Explanations
Are NDEs in and of themselves Evidence of Survival?
Counseling Issues
WEEK 4: APPARITIONS & HAUNTINGS
Apparitions and Hauntings, further defined and examined
Apparitions of the Living
Crisis Apparitions
Apparitions of the Dead
Deathbed Apparitions
Investigative Questions
The Skeptical Viewpoint & Alternative Explanations
Place Memory vs. Consciousness
Are Apparitions Evidence of Survival?
Mid-Term Quiz
WEEK 5: REINCARNATION
Cross Cultural/Religious Belief in Reincarnation
Signs of Reincarnation
Spontaneous Past Life Recall by Adults
Children Who Remember Previous Lives
Past Life Regression: Evidence of Reincarnation?
Investigative Questions
The Skeptical Viewpoint & Alternative Explanations: Past Lives or Something Else?
Is Reincarnation Evidence of Survival?
WEEK 6: AFTER-DEATH COMMUNICATION: MEDIUMSHIP AND MORE
Forms of After-Death Communication
Field Investigations/Research of Spiritualist Mediums: 19th – early 20th centuries
Mediumship Around the World
Evidential Mediums and the Evidence
WEEK 7: AFTER-DEATH COMMUNICATION: MEDIUMSHIP AND MORE, CONTINUED
Recent Field Research & Investigation with Mediums
Mediums, Apparitions and Hauntings
Laboratory Research with Mediums: Historically and Today
Skeptical Arguments/Explanations
The Place of Mediums in the Grief Process/Therapy
After-Death Communication Research (other than mediumship)
Is Mediumship/After-Death Communication Evidence of Survival?
WEEK 8: A) SURVIVAL OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SUPER PSI, OR SOMETHING ELSE?
The Super-Psi hypothesis, Especially as Applied to OBEs, NDEs, Mediumship and Survival in General
Arguments Against Survival from the Perspective of Materialism
B) COURSE WRAP UP:
Summary of Points
Is there Evidence for Survival of Human Consciousness, or is it Wishful Thinking?
Final Quiz
All students are considered to be auditing the courses, but students may choose to take this course for a letter grade. Whether being graded or not, all students are encouraged to participate fully in this class and join in the online discussions. This provides an opportunity to get the full experience of the online class and learn the most about the topics that are presented.
Students taking this course for a letter grade will be evaluated using the following information.
| Grading and Assessments | |
| Discussion Participation (40% of your grade) | |
|
Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course
|
|
|
Assessment I (30% of your grade)
|
|
|
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
|
|
|
Assessment II (30% of your grade)
|
|
|
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
|
|
Instructor: Loyd Auerbach, MS
This unique eight week course will be broadcast live on Tuesday evenings, but many students choose to watch the recordings of the classes if they cannot attend them live. The first broadcast will be on Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 9:00pm, and the course continues through Tuesday, August 23, 2016. Besides the weekly class broadcasts, there is an online discussion forum for students to share their ideas, answer questions about the lectures, and communicate with the instructors. You may take this course for a grade or audit the course.
This fun 8 week academic course will explore how popular culture is influenced by psi experiences, beliefs, and misconceptions about the phenomena. More importantly, it will explore how media representations of psi influence the public's misconceptions and beliefs in and about psi, even to the point of affecting people's perceptions of the experiences when they happen. Research in Parapsychology and the observed phenomena of psi will be compared with representations of psi as it appears in literature (including comic books), both scripted and reality TV, film, radio, and many other sources on the internet.
This course will involve watching films and clips of TV shows as well as readings in popular literature and comics in order to facilitate the academic discussion of psi and the media.
READINGS will include articles and book chapter sections by the instructor, as well as web-based articles TBD. The required reading list will always include alternates, and will be available partially (for the first few weeks assignments) before the course starts, and fully after the first class. A recommended reading list will be available before the course.
Films to be watched will be chosen so as to be readily available by inexpensive rental from Amazon.Com (or possibly part of Amazon Prime’s offerings) or from Netflix.
TV episodes will be under the same restrictions, though may also be available (where possible) from YouTube (for free).
Comic Book titles will be available in digital form from Comixology.com If published in paperback format as well, you might see if your public library has them in the interlibrary loan system. Such graphic novels/collections have become hot properties for public libraries in the last few years.
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW:
Introductory lecture covering the various pop culture and media sources we’ll be considering, as well as some of the themes (with examples) to be covered. Included will be:
Discussion of the course, the flow of individual classes/topics, and assignments
Definition of Terms
Scope and a little history of Pop Culture Sources and the Media (literature of all sorts, radio, film, TV and the Web) in relation to our topics
Some themes to be specifically covered in depth (and some not so much in depth)
WEEK 2: CONSCIOUSNESS, PSI, AND THE PARANORMAL IN 19TH and EARLY 20TH CENTURY (and before) POP CULTURE
Considering Fiction: general and the roots of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Supernatural Folklore
Ghost Stories
Science Fiction Rises!
The Pulps
The Golden Age of Superhero Comics
WEEK 3: OBEs, NDEs , SURVIVAL OF BODILY DEATH, AND REINCARNATION
Out of Body Experiences and Astral Projection in Film, TV, Literature and Comics
Near Death Experiences in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Survival of Bodily Death and the Afterlife in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Reincarnation in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
WEEK 4: GHOSTS, HAUNTED HOUSES, MEDIUMS, AND MORE, PART 1
Overview of ghostly phenomena and mediums in Radio Drama, Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in Film
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in Radio Drama
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in TV
Mid-Term Assignment: Students will be given a choice of taking a mid-term short essay quiz or writing a paper (dealing with films, TV episodes, comic books, or novels from a recommended reading/viewing list provided at the beginning of the course).
WEEK 5: GHOSTS, HAUNTED HOUSES, MEDIUMS AND MORE, PART 2
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in TV, continued
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Romance and other Genre Fiction
The Ghostly, Seances and Mediums in Comic Books
WEEK 6: POLTERGEISTS AND TELEKINETIC PEOPLE
The Continuum of Psycho-Kinetic Abilities and Experiences
Psychic Healing in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
PK in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Poltergeist Phenomena/Experiences in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
WEEK 7: PSYCHICS: ESP IN ALL ITS GLORY
Telepathy in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Clairvoyance and Remote Viewing in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Precognition in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
Psychics (real and fake) in Film, TV, Literature, and Comics
WEEK 8: POP CULTURE AND PSI TODAY
Comic Books & Graphic Novels
Movies
TV: Scripted
Reality TV
The Podcast/Internet Radio Revolution
The World Wide Web as Pop Culture Repository
Wrapping Up!
Final Assignment: Students will be given a choice of taking a mid-term short essay quiz or writing a paper (dealing with films, TV episodes, comic books, or novels from a recommended reading/viewing list provided at the beginning of the course).
All students are considered to be auditing the courses, but students may choose to take this course for a letter grade. Whether being graded or not, all students are encouraged to participate fully in this class and join in the online discussions. This provides an opportunity to get the full experience of the online class and learn the most about the topics that are presented.
Students taking this course for a letter grade will be evaluated using the following information.
| Grading and Assessments | |
| Discussion Participation (40% of your grade) | |
|
Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course
|
|
|
Assessment I (30% of your grade)
|
|
|
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online) or paper.
|
|
|
Assessment II (30% of your grade)
|
|
|
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online) or paper.
|
|
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