Syllabus: A Scientific Approach to ESP

This 8 week academic course will define the phenomena and experiences related to Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and provide an in-depth study of the current and historical evidence and research of Telepathy, Clairvoyance, and Precognition. The differences and similarities between these categories of psi experience/abilities will be discussed as well as an overview of what has been learned about psychological and physical variables and theories and models of ESP. Some of the basic topics related to Remote Viewing and applications of ESP will also be introduced in this class.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1) WEEKLY: There are weekly discussion questions. Please be sure to post in response to the question of the week. Brevity is fine as long as you actually address the question and topic of the week in your responses. The Instructor will also be looking for intelligent/relevant responses to the posts of other students (in other words, consider this your "class participation")

Please be sure to post your answers to discussion questions no later than the start of the next week's lecture/webinar! Responses to other student posts should also be included.

Note: If you are going to experience a delay in posting due to work or travel commitments, please contact the Instructor.

2) WEEKLY: Be sure to read the weekly assigned articles/material (or watch videos, when in the assignments), and it's probably best to do so before you post in the discussion forums.

3) EXAMS: There is a mid-term and a final exam. Both are short essay type exams, similar in fact to the weekly discussion questions -- though there will be some short answer questions as well.

Mid term exam is due no later than the start of the Week 5 lecture/webinar.

Final exam is due no later than 10 days after it's posted/open to responses.

4) If you are interested in doing a project/paper instead of the final exam, that is possible -- but you must discuss this with the Instructor first.

5) Don't forget to ask questions that may be of interest to the entire class in the "Ask the Instructor" forum. Otherwise, contact the Instructor if you have questions you'd rather not ask in a public forum.

GRADING:

All students are considerd to be auditing the course without a grade. If you plan to use this course for a certificate program, you must take the course for a grade.

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 per week.

Exams (Total 60%) -- each exam is worth 30 points

Grades for assignments will be distributed as follows:

Discussion grade/points for weeks 1-4 will be distributed via email after week 4 posts/responses are assessed.

Course Outline:

WEEK ONE: General Overview of the course

  • Overview of the course flow, assignments and grading and structure of the classroom
  • Basic concepts and terminology with respect to Extra Sensory Perception
  • The point of scientific testing/experimentation with ESP vs. collection of spontaneous experiences
  • How spontaneous experiences feed laboratory studies, and how laboratory studies support understanding of spontaneous experiences
  • Origins of study of ESP in and out of the laboratory

WEEK TWO: Telepathy

  • Conceptual overview of Telepathy
  • Spontaneous Experiences
  • History of Research in Telepathy
  • Recent and Current Studies
  • What the studies have told us about Telepathy
  • Possible real-world applications


WEEK THREE: Clairvoyance/Remote Viewing

  • Conceptual overview of Clairvoyance, Remote Viewing and variants
  • Spontaneous Experiences
  • History of Research in Clairvoyance
  • History of Research in Remote Viewing
  • Recent and Current Studies
  • What the studies have told us about Real-Time Psi
  • Possible real-world applications


WEEK FOUR: Precognition

  • Conceptual overview of Precognition and its variants
  • Spontaneous Experiences
  • History of Research in Precognition
  • Recent and Current Studies
  • What the studies have told us about Precognition
  • Implications for our understanding of Time
  • Possible real-world applications
  • MID-TERM QUIZ


WEEK FIVE: General ESP

  • Conceptual overview of GESP
  • Spontaneous Experiences: Can we truly categorize experiences as Telepathy, Clairvoyance or Precognition, or are they mostly GESP?
  • History of Research in Telepathy
  • Recent and Current Studies
  • Can we test one ESP ability without considering the others? Is it all GESP?
  • Why does it matter?


WEEK SIX: Psychology, Personality, Altered States and Neurology

  • Why Psychology?
  • Psychological correlates
  • Personality variables
  • Belief factors
  • Creativity
  • Synesthesia
  • Schizotypy
  • Autism
  • Dissociation
  • Altered States of Consciousness
  • Neurological Research: EEG, fMRI and other peeks inside the brain


WEEK SEVEN: Unconscious ESP and Statistical Indicators/Results

  • Unconscious ESP studies: the use of biosensors in Presentiment, Sense of Being Stared At, and other ESP research
  • Why are statistics important to Parapsychology?
  • Studies and surveys of spontaneous ESP experiences
  • How common is ESP (statistically speaking)
  • Meta-analyses of ESP research

WEEK EIGHT: Theories of ESP and Summing Up

  • Overview of theories and models of ESP: past, present and going forward
    • How ESP theory fits (or currently does not fit) in with Physics and Psychology
    • Review of past theories and modes of ESP (e.g. electromagnetic, time-space related, quantum models, etc.)
    • Decision Augmentation Theory
    • First Sight theory
    • Entropy theory
  • Overview of laboratories/researchers that have studied ESP and are doing so now
  • Review of research and results for the last few years
  • The potential for future studies
  • Discussion of Final Exam


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