Syllabus - Dreams and ESP

Instructors: To Be Announced


About the course:

This special four week adult education course will focus on the fascinating topic of Dreams and ESP. Each week will include a live class broadcast, some suggested readings or videos, a discussion forum on the topic of the week, and a dream/ESP project for those who wish to take part. Topics will include: dreams and ESP throughout history; the famous Dream Telepathy experiments conducted in the 1960s and 1970s, and how modern day researchers investigate seemingly psychic dreams; and the very interesting connection between precognition (seeing the future) and dreams.


Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

  1. Describe the history of dreaming and ESP from ancient times to today;

  2. Describe experimental efforts to understand the experience of ESP in dreams;

  3. Discuss how the future seems to influence dreams and what actions dreamers have taken in response to such dreams.

  4. Find more resources on ESP and dreaming for future study.


Weekly Topics

Week 1: The History of ESP in Dreams

Week 2: Dream Telepathy Experiments Then and Now

Week 3: Precognitive Dreaming

Week 4: Dream Research in the 21st Century


Class Materials

Suggested readings (articles, books, and blogs), YouTube videos, experiencer websites and links to other fascinating materials will be provided for those who are interested in delving more deeply into ESP and dreams.


To Get the Most out of the Class

Join us to watch the live broadcast or watch the recording at your leisure. Log into the REC Classroom, meet your classmates, join the discussions, and take advantage of the free materials uploaded to the classroom for further study. Take part in the weekly dream projects, and complete the final course project.


 

Syllabus - Lucid Dreaming: Discover the Power of Self-Awareness in Your Dreams

Instructor:  Ryan Hurd


About the course:

This special four week adult education course will focus on the fascinating topic of Lucid Dreaming, including discussions of how you can encourage lucid dreaming in your own life. Each week will include a live class broadcast, some suggested readings or videos, and a discussion forum on the topic of the week.

A lucid dream is when you know you are dreaming while still in the confines of sleep. This course shows you how to build a holistic and sustainable lucid dreaming practice, which will open up new vistas of insight, creativity and healing. You’ll wake up to your waking life too as you unlock old energy patterns, igniting confidence, creativity, and vitality.

This is a seminar course and will not be graded.


Course Outline

  1. Lucid Dreaming 101
    • Overview of the course topics and aims: a holistic practice for lucidity.
    • Science and history of lucid dreaming
    • Setting up your sleep sanctuary
    • Developing a strong intention
  2. MIND Practices
    • Cognitive practices for increasing and maintaining lucidity.
    • Scientifically-vetted practices based on the latest research
    • Practices drawn from the habits of frequent lucid dreamers
  3. BODY Practices
    • Bio-physical constraints to consciousness and practices that address them.
    • Sleep postures and vigilance
    • Supplements and the role of diet modification
  4. SOUL Practices
    • Emotional and healing practices for a balanced and grounded center.
    • Confronting nightmares and sleep paralysis
    • Ancestral dreams and visitations
    • The lucid void and beyond

Course Materials

Required readings will be provided in the REC classroom, drawn from Ryan Hurd’s ebook Lucid Immersion Guidebook (file provided with course) Students may read ahead.

More suggested readings (articles, books, and blogs), YouTube videos, experiencer websites and links to other materials will also be provided for those who are interested in delving more deeply.

To Get the Most out of the Class

Join us to watch the live broadcast or watch the recording at your leisure. Log into the REC Classroom, meet your classmates, join the discussions, and take advantage of the free materials uploaded to the classroom for further study.  Participating in the discussion forums is not required but is strongly encouraged to give you the full classroom experience.  Forums give you a great opportunity to share your ideas and learn about the ideas of other students. 


Syllabus: EVP, ITC, and Other Technologies Used to Investigate Paranormal Phenomena
Instructor: Loyd Auerbach


About the course:

This 4-week course will focus on the technology used to examine paranormal phenomena. The course will explore Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC), and other technology that is often used in the investigation of paranormal phenomena.

Instructor Loyd Auerbach is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable experts on the paranormal. His courses are always well attended and some of the most exciting courses offered at the Rhine Education Center.



Weekly Topics

  • Week 1: What Kind of Technology?
    1. Brief overview of what phenomena we'll be covering (spontaneous PK, ESP and mainly apparitions, hauntings and poltergeists)
    2. Brief History of Technology in parapsychological field investigation (from measuring tapes & talcum powder to today's electronic devices)
    3. Psychics and Mediums as detectors/sensors
  • Week 2: Visual Tech: Photography and Videography; use of video in ITC
  • Week 3: Audio Tech:
    1. More on ITC with a focus on EVP
    2. Phone calls from the Dead
    3. Infrasound and sound detectors
    4. Ovilus/digital dowser and other audio-based tech
  • Week 4: The Rest of the Tech
    1. EMF, temperature and other environmental sensors
    2. Other "new" technology
    3. Dowsing rods and seemingly random devices (like flashlights used for communication)
    4. Endgame: What does the Evidence actually show: Causal connections, Correlations or Wishful Thinking?

Readings

Required readings will be provided in the REC classroom. Students may read ahead.

Suggested readings (articles, books, and blogs), YouTube videos, experiencer websites and links to other fascinating materials will also be provided for those who are interested in delving more deeply into some aspect of Paranormal Investigations on their own.


Syllabus: The Wandering Mind: Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experiences
Instructors: Nancy L. Zingrone, PhD & Carlos S. Alvarado, PhD


About the course:

In this course students will be given an in-depth look at the history, features, research, and implication of two related experiences, the out-of-body experience (OBE) and the near-death experience (NDE).  This course will examine the phenomena from the perspective of the experiencers, from the point of view of researchers, and from the point of view of such theorists as Dr. Susan Blackmore, Dr. Olaf Blanke, Dr. Harvey Irwin, Dr. John Palmer, Dr. Bruce Greyson, Dr. Pim van Lommel, and many more.

Resources will include specific case studies, website and video references, and readings from the scientific and popular literature. This course is designed for the serious student, but the information will be accessible to anyone with an interest in the phenomena. Besides providing an interesting discussion of OBEs and NDEs, this course will also provide a good grounding for those who wish to contribute to the scientific side of parapsychology.

 


Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

  1. Discuss the definitions, features and after-effects of both OBEs and NDEs.
  2. Identify the various methodological approaches to the study of OBEs and NDEs, as well as describe their strengths and weaknesses.
  3. Discuss experiences, case collections and experiments in terms of their parapsychological, psychological and physiological features.
  4. Describe and compare retrospective and prospective research methodologies in NDE research.
  5. Discuss why some students of the subject consider OBEs and NDEs important to the issue of survival of death.

 


Weekly Topics

Week 1 :
Introduction to Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experience Research

Week 2 :
The Body Double: OBE Apparitions, Dopplegangers and Bilocation

Week 3 :
Seeing and Being Seen: Veridical OBEs and NDEs

Week 4 :
Features of the OBE in Case Collections and Surveys

Week 5 :
Demographic and Psychological Aspects of OBEs in Surveys

Week 6 :
Features of NDEs in Case Collections and Surveys

Week 7 :
OBEs in the Laboratory: From Scientific Parapsychology to Cognitive Psychology

Week 8 :
The Implications of the OBE and NDE for Survival Research

 


Readings

Required readings will be provided in the REC classroom. Students may read ahead.

Suggested readings (articles, books, and blogs), YouTube videos, experiencer websites and links to other fascinating materials will also be provided for those who are interested in delving more deeply into some aspect of OBEs and NDEs on their own.

 


Grading

Students will receive a letter grade for this course based on the Academic Policies of the Rhine Education Center. Students may also choose to Audit this course (take the course without being assessed), but all students are encouraged to participate in weekly discussions to gain the full benefit of the class. Students who choose to audit the course must notify the Rhine Education Center of their intentions before the first class, and this decision cannot be changed once the class has begun.

 


Assessments

Discussion Forums, Assessment #1 through #8

Each week will include a discussion forum. Students will be expected to complete one post of their own responding to the week’s question, and respond to at least one discussion post authored by another student. Students will receive points for responding to the discussion question in full, and for their reply to another student’s post. Extra points will be awarded for a student’s initial post if, after answering the discussion question, the student goes beyond it to raise additional issues or provide additional information on the topic. Extra points will also be awarded for additional responses to other students’ discussion posts beyond the single post that is required. Points for week’s discussion will be converted to a number scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the least amount of engagement completed in comparison to the rest of the class, and 5 being the most amount of engagement. If you write well, that’s wonderful! If you’re not the best writer in the world, or English is difficult for you, don’t worry. What will count the most will be your thoughts and your opinions. For some discussion topics, students may also have the option to upload an audio or a video discussion post or response.

Tests, Assessment #9 and #10

During Week #3 and Week #6, students will complete a 15-item multiple-choice quiz, with Week #3 covering the lectures and materials of Weeks #1 through #3, and with Week #6 covering the lectures and materials of Weeks #4 through #6. Correct answers will be awarded one point.

Presentation-Project, Assessment #11

At the end of Week #8 students will be expected to upload a 5 to 15 minute presentation or a 5 to 10 page term paper on some topic of the student’s choosing that is related to the course content. Presentations may be a short film with or without narration, a short audio clip, or a PowerPoint presentation. The range of points available for this assessment will be from 1 to 30, with 1 being altogether too brief and uninformative, to 30 being well-argued, well-made, and insightful, showing mastery of the course material. Tutorials on how to do this will be included in the classroom resources.

Assessments will contribute to the overall grade in the following proportions:

Grading Breakdown:

Discussion Post Assessments: 40% of the grade
Tests: 30% of the grade
Presentation-Project: 30% of the grade

 


Students will receive a letter grade for their overall efforts. Successful completion of this course with a passing letter grade will provide credit towards a Certificate program that will be offered in the future by the Rhine Education Center.



Syllabus: Traveling Out of the Body-A Practical and Historical Approach
Instructor: Graham Nicholls


About the course:

This 4 week continuing education course will examine the phenomenon of Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) and offer insights into how you can begin your own journeys to travel out of your body. OBE specialist and author Graham Nicholls will explore the history of OBEs, their relationship with near and shared death experiences, veridical OBEs, OBE science, and his own research into the nature of the experience. The course will provide an in-depth discussion of personal experiences and what these experiences suggest about the nature of out-of-body perception and the continuation of consciousness after death.

Theories of nonlocal consciousness and network theory will be included as well as the work of scientists such as Brian Josephson, Rupert Sheldrake, and Sir Roger Penrose.



Weekly Topics

Week 1 - The History of the Out-of-Body Experience
  • Overview of the course topics and aims
  • Early historical references to the OBE
  • Astral Projection and OBEs
  • Sylvan Muldoon, Oliver Fox, and other early writers
  • How viewpoints have evolved
Week 2 - Near and Shared Death Experiences
  • A look at OBEs within the context of NDEs
  • Major NDE researchers
  • Important NDE cases
  • Shared death experiences
  • Life after life
Week 3 - OBE Science
  • Research from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s
  • The work of Alex Tanous, Keith Harary, and Robert Monroe
  • Skepticism and the work of Olaf Blake, Jane Aspell, and Susan Blackmore
  • Remote viewing and its relationship to OBEs
  • Graham Nicholls own research and technology
Week 4 - Exploring the OBEs for yourself
  • Benefits of the OBE
  • What to expect while having an OBE
  • Popular methods and their mechanisms
  • Immersive approaches

Readings

Required readings will be provided in the REC classroom. Students may read ahead.

Suggested readings (articles, books, and blogs), YouTube videos, experiencer websites and links to other fascinating materials will also be provided for those who are interested in delving more deeply into some aspect of OBEs and NDEs on their own.