Syllabus: Art & Parapschology: Exploring Psi through Art

Instructor:Mark Boccuzzi

Course Description

This 4-week online course examines the intersection of art and psi experiences through the lens of creativity and the scientific findings of parapsychology.  This is a continuing education course, but the presentation will be professional and academic in nature while encouraging and inspiring creativity.

Do you bring creativity or artistic inspiration to your everyday tasks or even scientific endeavors?  Have you ever had a vision during a creative session? Does it feel like your artisitic creations have been inspired or even guided by some unseen force?

This corse is designed for artists, creative people, scientists, and anyone who has a sense that creativity and extended human consciousness may work together in artistic, and possible even the scientific process. 

Course Objectives

By reviewing the science of parapsychology and the works of contemporary and psi-inspired artists, this course will:

  • explore how creative expression can help you to recognize your own psi
  • inspire aspiring and experienced artists to draw on the findings of parapsychology as a basis for creative projects
  • encourage researchers to promote public engagement by presenting their findings in creative and artistic ways

Though the information presented in this interactive course is designed for everyone, additional material will be available people who want to take a deeper dive into the research, technology, or creation of more complex products.

Course Outline

  1. Introduction
    • Learning the lingo: Some quick definitions
    • What parapsychology offers artists and makers
    • As art and science collide: A growing trend
    • Researching creativity and psi: The elusive link
    • Channeling the muse: Modern stories of psi-inspired creations/li>
    • Nurturing your creativity: A pathway for accessing personal psi

  2. Art from Data
    • Data visualization: Data as images
    • Data sonification: Data as sound
    • Numerical Data sources: Random Number Generators, The Global Consciousness Project, physiological data
    • Non-numerical data sources: Drawing from near death experiences and controlled remote viewing
    • Virtual Reality and experience reconstruction<
    • Research as performance art
    • 3D printed data sculptures

  3. Data as Art
    • Photographic data: Exploring mediumship, hauntings, psychokinesis, and healing with thermal, Kilian, and low-light photography
    • Physical manifestations of psi

    Art Inspired by Para-related Themes and Experiences
    • A survey of selected contemporary artists who incorporate paranormal and parapsychological themes into their work. Fire, channeling, electronic voice phenomena (EVP), paranormal artifacts, personal experiences, archived materials, and published research all provide a rich palette for creative expression that challenge our understanding of reality.

  4. Final Thoughts
    • Got Psi?
    • What will you make?
    • Review of additional resources
    • Wrap-up

Course Materials

Various articles provides by the instructor and provided for download throughout the course.

Course Activities

  • Students will be expected to view the class broadcasts or the recordings of the classes each week.
  • Students will be expected to participate in weekly discussion forums and activities. Each student will be expected to provide an original posting each week and to respond to at least one other student in the discussion forums. Greater participation in this area will be considered during class evaluations