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  • Early historical references to the OBE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.