Syllabus: Paranormal in American Culture
From Film and TV, to Popular Literature & Comics

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.

About 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.

Course Outline

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).


Grading for this 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

  • 5% for each discussion question for the 8 weeks of the course  (total 40%)
  • Besides answering the discussion questions, students should participate in the discussions by posting responses to the posts of other students.
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.

All information contained on this page is the sole property of the Rhine Education Center and the Rhine Research Center. This information cannot be reproduced or reused without the expressed written permission of the Rhine Research Center.