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Syllabus: Art Through Psi

Course Description

This 5-session seminar course will follow the text An Artist’s Thought Book: Intriguing thoughts about the artistic process. Through an examination of five main topics (To be an artist, singing and music, painting, poetry, and the nature of creativity) students will explore their own artistic reactions to 80 maxims – one or two sentence observations – presented in the text and discussed in the context of an interactive class.

This course will integrate discussions of the dream process and how dreams can inspire or assist in the creative process. Does psi emerge through dreams or can it be expresses in artistic project or works?

This is a seminar course with a limited enrollment to accommodate live discussion, but students may also participate asynchronously in the online discussion forums in order to expand their exploration or attend classes they miss. Attendance of the live class meetings is strongly encouraged to get the most out of this course.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will:

  • Recognize that the dream environment is a rich source of your own creativity, humor and invention.
  • Learn about how psi experiences (e.g. dreaming) can a great source for creative projects.
  • Explore the intersection of psi experiences such as aesthetic chills and synchronicities are signals for personal meaningful projects.
  • Understand that everyday acts can have a creative quality to them.
  • Discuss the potential connection between creativity and psi experiences (e.g. data downloads).

Course Outline

  1. Week 1: (Chapter 1) What does it mean to be an artist?
    • Is an artist someone who is sensitive to the paranormal?
    • How does Openness contribute to both Art and psi experiences
    • Artists often feel misunderstood as do persons who experience the paranormal
    • Negative Judgements hurt both the artists and psi experiences
    • Childhood Playfulness is what survives in the adult artist.
    • To make art is to show a side of a subject that is often covered up.
  2. Week 2: (Chapter 2) Singing and Music
    • Stream of consciousness is similar to the meditative practices useful to help induce psi experiences
    • The flow state is important in singing and in some psi experiences (e.g. remote viewing).
    • Dreams are often a great source for the plots of songs
    • Thinking and self-consciousness are detrimental to singing and some paranormal phenomena.
  3. Week 3: (Chapter 3) Painting
    • Painting requires having a vision before you start working.
    • Painting is largely an intuitive action.
    • The Imagination is wide open with painting in ways that poetry and music aren’t. Painting can be completely unstructured.
    • A single second of insight can be the inspiration for a month’s work.
    • There is a not a single meaning to a painting as is the case with psi experiences.
  4. Week 4: (Chapter 4) Poetry
    • A poem should be over-determined just like a dream or other psi experiences
    • Free association, stream of consciousness, alliteration, and rhyme are important tools for poetry
    • To describe the dream world is to enter the poetic.
    • Words are the best thing we have to describe psi experiences.
    • Poems and automatic writing are ways to discover unique connection between diverse experiences.
  5. Week 5: (Chapter 5) Creativity
    • Creativity was often described as the work of a muse: an external force that overtook the artists in a similar way as some psi occurrences.
    • Numerous inventions have been attributed to coming to the creator during their dreaming state.
    • Numerous psi experiences occur in the hypnagogic state that happens between waking and sleeping
    • Creativity is a practice and so are some psi experiences (e.g. remote viewing), in which the artist is rewarded for accepting an unusual idea and playing with it

Course Materials

    • Bargdill, R. W. (2014). An Artist’s Thought Book: Intriguing Thoughts about the Artistic Process. 2nd Edition. University Professors Press.

This text is available as an ebook as well for students adding the class close to its start.

Suggested Readings:

  • Bargdill, R. W. (2024). An dreamer’s thought book: intriguing ideas about the dreaming process. University Professors Press: Colorado Springs, CO.
  • Maisel, E. (1995). Fearless creating. Jeremey P. Tarcher/Putnam: New York.
  • May, R. (1975) The courage to create. W. W. Norton: New York.
  • Rilke, M. R. (2004). Letters to a young poet. W.W. Norton: New York.

Course Activities

 

  • Students will be expected to either be at the live zoom classroom (preferred) or view the recordings of the classes each week.
  • After a brief introduction of the topic, the students will have to a chance to share their thoughts on one of the maxims from the Chapter up for discussion. The passages are short so even impromptu responses are possible, however, reading the chapter beforehand is encouraged.
  • 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.
  • For a final project, due on the fifth and final week, students are expected to Write a 3-5 double space paper (12 font, 1” margins- title page/bibliography not included in page count) on how art is like other psi experiences. Please include 3 references (with one being an academic style reference—journal or book on creativity).

 

Evaluation and Grading

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 50%): 10 pts for each of the 5 weeks including responses to other students' posts.
  • Final Project (50%)

 

CORT & NDEs - Syllabus

Course Description

In this eight-week academic course, students will examine two of the most carefully studied phenomena connected to the question of survival after death: Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and Cases of the Reincarnation Type (CORT). The first four weeks focus on NDEs—their characteristic features, the methods researchers use to investigate them, the range of physiological, psychological, and survival-oriented explanations, and what the strongest evidence currently reveals about consciousness after death. The second four weeks turn to Cases of the Reincarnation Type, exploring the classic research approaches developed in this field, the hallmarks of the most evidential cases, possible explanations, and the implications these reports hold for personal identity and the possibility of life after death.

The course emphasizes what science can—and cannot—currently tell us about the afterlife while remaining grounded in the evidence. For both phenomena, students will learn the factual findings from decades of systematic investigation, how to evaluate competing interpretations with clarity and balance, and how these spontaneous experiences are studied outside the laboratory.

Course Outline

Week 1

Introduction and the History of NDEs

  • Introductions and course overview
  • Science and the scientific method
  • The Basics of parapsychology
  • A survey of death-related phenomena
  • Defining NDEs and CORT
  •  

Week 2

Research Findings on NDEs

  • A sample NDE
  • Before the experience: who has NDEs?
  • During the experience: what happens?
  • After the experience: after-effects
  • Distressing NDEs
  • Cultural differences

Week 3

Explaining NDEs

  • Possible explanations
  • Natural explanations: fraud and misinterpretation
  • Paranormal explanations: living-agent psi and survival
  •  

Week 4

Field Investigation of NDEs

  • Possible Guest Lecturer
  • Mid-Term Quiz

Week 5

Field Investigation of CORT

  • Possible Guest Lecturer

Week 6

Introduction and the History of CORT

  • Reincarnation as a concept
  • Belief in reincarnation across traditions
  • Defining CORT
  • Where past-life claims come from
  • The history of CORT research

Week 7

Research Findings on CORT

  • A sample case
  • Before the memories: who has these cases?
  • During the memories: what the children say and do
  • After the memories: what becomes of the children
  • Measuring and profiling cases
  • Unusual forms of CORT

Week 8

Explaining CORT, and Wrapping Up

  • Possible explanations
  • Natural explanations: fraud and misinterpretation
  • Paranormal explanations: living-agent psi and survival
  • Personal identity
  • Course summary
  • Final Quiz

Course Materials

  • There is no specific text for this class, however, students will be provided with short readings or videos which will help them to better understand the content of the lectures.

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.
  • A multiple choice or short answer evaluations will be assigned after the 4th week of class.
  • Final Exam

Evaluation and Grading

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 (5 points per week; Total 40%)
  • Midterm (30%)
  • Final (30%)

Syllabus: Introduction to Parapsychology

Students who complete this course with a passing grade will receive a certificate of completion from the Rhine Education Center.

About the Course

This 8 week course is designed to introduce students to the field of Parapsychology and what parapsychologists study. Topics will include an overview of the phenomena (Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Precognition, Psychokinesis, and Survival Issues), history, research methodologies in the lab and for field investigation, and related issues that make up the vibrant field of scientific parapsychology. Also covered will be the major criticisms and critics of Parapsychology and a look at fraud as it applies to professionals and to consumers. The course textbook is Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th edition by Harvey Irwin and Caroline Watt, and will be supplemented by additional articles.

Required Text: Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th ed. by Harvey J. Irwin & Caroline A. Watt. McFarland & Company: 2007. Available from Amazon.com and other booksellers.

Additional articles will be assigned and provided in the classroom, or linked from the classroom.

Course Outline

 

Week 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: What is Parapsychology?

      • Definition of Terms
      • Scope of the phenomena
      • What makes psi research a science?
      • The Scientific Method
      • Popular Misconceptions: Parapsychology, the Occult & the New Age
      • The Interdisciplinary Nature of Parapsychology; where it overlaps with other fields of science

 

Week 2: A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY: An Overview

      • The Roots of Psychical Research
      • Spiritualism, Empirical Science and the Serious Investigation/Research of Psychic Experience
      • The Society for Psychical Research (and the ASPR)
      • Seances and Science in the early 20th Century
      • The Rise of Parapsychology and Controlled Laboratory Research
      • The Duke Era
      • Psi Research in the 2nd Half of the 20th Century

 

Week 3: EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION: An Overview

      • Phenomenology of ESP: Spontaneous ESP Experiences
      • Conceptual Issues
      • Experimental Research: Methodologies and Findings
      • Theoretical Considerations

 

Week 4: PSYCHOKINESIS: An Overview

      • Phenomenology of PK: Spontaneous PK Experiences
      • Conceptual Issues
      • Experimental Research: Methodologies and Findings
      • Theoretical Considerations
      • Mid-Term Quiz Available

 

Week 5: PSYCHOKINESIS: Special Topics AND PSYCHIC FRAUD OVERVIEW

      • Experimenter Effect
      • Experimental Research: Healing / DMILS
      • Macro-PK
      • Poltergeists
      • Psychic Fraud:
      • In the “Wild”: Psychics, Mediums, Magicians, and Mentalists
      • In the Laboratory: Controlling for Potential Fraud

 

Week 6: SURVIVAL OF BODILY DEATH: An Overview of Concepts and the Evidence

      • What is Consciousness? What Might Survive?
      • What is the Evidence for Survival?
      • Concepts
      • Out of Body Experiences
      • Near Death Experiences
      • Apparitional Experiences
      • Mediumship & Research
      • The Super-Psi Hypothesis vs. the Survival Hypothesis

 

Week 7: FIELD RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATIONS

      • Applying Experimental Parapsychology to Field Research and Vice Versa
      • How Parapsychological Field Investigation Differs from Methodologies of Modern Ghost Hunters (and Why)
      • Apparitions
      • Hauntings
      • Poltergeists
      • Reincarnation
      • How Good is Evidence Gathered in Field Investigation & Research?

 

Week 8: EXPLANATIONS, CORRELATIONS, CRITICISMS, IMPLICATIONS & APPLICATIONS and WRAPPING UP

      • Are ESP & PK Two Sides of the Same Coin?
      • Key Correlates to ESP and PK: Personality, Belief, Environmental, etc.
      • Criticisms of Parapsychology
      • Implications of ESP, PK & Survival
      • Applied Psi
      • Course Summary and Wrap Up
      • Final Quiz Available

 

  

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 and every student who completes the course with a passing grade will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from the Rhine Education Center.

Grading and Assessments
Discussion Participation (40% of your grade)
 

Engagement with discussion forums throughout the course (total 40%)

  • 5% for each discussion question for the 8 weeks of the course
  • Besides answering the discussion questions, students should participate in the discussions by posting responses to other students.
Assessment I (30% of your grade)
 
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
Assessment II (30% of your grade)
 
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
 
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.

Syllabus: Dreams & Altered States of Consciousness

Instructor: Loyd Auerbach

This unique eight week course will be broadcast live on Wednesday evenings, but many students choose to watch the recordings of the classes if they cannot attend them live. The first broadcast will be on Wednesday, February 7th through March 27th. 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.

About the Course

This survey course will examine altered states of consciousness (ASC) including those induced by meditation, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, music, and substances. ASCs will be explored from the perspectives of neuroscience, psychology, consciousness research, parapsychology, and anthropology. As this is a survey course, it provides essentially an overview of a spectrum of ASCs, with a deeper exploration/focus on dreams.

Course Outline

Week 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

      • Overview of the Course

      • What is Consciousness?

      • What is an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)?

      • The Importance of Perception to ASCs

      • Overview of Specific ASCs and Techniques to Induce Some of Them

Week 2: Meditation, Hypnosis, & Sensory Deprivation

      • Types of Meditation

      • Effects of Meditation on States of Consciousness

      • Effects of Meditation on the Brain

      • Hypnosis: An Overview

      • Is the Hypnotic State Really an Altered State?

      • Effects of Hypnosis on Perception, Memory and the Body/Brain

      • Sensory Deprivation Techniques

      • Effects of Sensory Deprivation on States of Consciousness

Week 3: Sleep and Dreams

      • Sleep and Dreaming in General

      • Cycles of Sleep and Dreaming

      • Types of Dreams

      • Lucid Dreaming in Brief

      • Nightmares and Night Terrors

      • Hypnogogic and Hypnopompic States

      • Normative, Repetitive, and Impactful Dreams

      • Brief Theories of Dreams and Dreaming

Week 4: Psychic Dreaming (Part I)

      • Psi Dreaming: Overview

      • Healing Dreams

      • Visitation Dreams

      • Telepathic and Mutual Dreaming

      • Past Life Dreams

      • Mid-Term Quiz Available

Week 5: Psychic Dreaming (Part II)

      • ">Real-Time Dreams

      • ">Precognitive Dreams

      • ">Deja Vu in Dreams

      • Dreams and Out of Body Experiences

      • Lucid Dreaming

Week 6: Sleep Disorders & Working with Dreams

      • Overview of Sleep Maladies

      • Sleep Paralysis & Hynagogic Visions

      • Dream Recall

      • Dream Incubation

      • Dream Symbols

      • Creativity and Dreams

      • Working with Psychic Dreams

Week 7: Consciousness Altering Substances and Technology

      • Overview of Mind-Altering Substances

      • How is the Brain Affected?

      • Food & Nutrition

      • Alcohol

      • Psychedelics & Hallucinogens

      • Stimulants & Depressants (Legal and Illegal)

      • PsychoTechnology: Biofeedback, Magnetic Fields (Natural & Man-Made) and More

Week 8: Additional ASC Inductions, Summary, & Wrap-up

      • Music/Sound as an ASC Induction Technique

      • Movement/Dance as an ASC Induction Technique

      • Disease and Illness as Inducing ASCs

      • Overview of Uses of ASC Induction: from Shamans to Modern Medicine

      • Parapsychology and ASCs

      • Summary and Wrap-Up

      • Final Quiz

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.
Mid-Term quiz: Short answer/essay (30% of your grade)
Final quiz: Short answer/essay (30% of your grade)
 
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.

Syllabus: Human Consciousness & Survival Studies

Instructor: Loyd Auerbach, MS

This unique eight week course will be broadcast live, but many students choose to watch the recordings of the classes if they cannot attend them live. 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.

About the Course

This 8 week academic course will examine the phenomena, experiences, and research related to the survival of human consciousness outside of the physical body. The course reviews the characteristics of Near Death Experiences (NDEs), Out of Body Experiences (OBEs), and after death communication (Mediumship) and examines the current research that is occurring in this area. Additional topics related to the survival of consciousness, including apparitions and hauntings, will also be explored.

Besides a discussion of the description of the phenomena and the evidence supporting the survival hypothesis, the course will also discuss qualitative investigations and laboratory studies into the effects of these experiences on individuals, and counseling efforts that have been used to help people with these experiences.

Required Text: Articles will be assigned and provided in the classroom, or linked from the classroom.

Course Outline

WEEK 1: OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

            Overview of the course topics, assignments and grading

            Concepts and Definitions

            What is Consciousness?

            Philosophy & Consciousness: Materialism, Dualism, and Pluralism

            Physics, Neuroscience and Consciousness

            The Question of “What Survives?”

WEEK 2: A) EVIDENCE FOR SURVIVAL OF BODILY DEATH?

Looking at Survival-related phenomena/experiences in general as potential evidence for Survival of Consciousness

Out of Body Experiences

Near Death Experiences

Apparitions & Hauntings

Mediumship and Channeling

Reincarnation

B) OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES

            Characteristics of the OBE

            OBEs and Dreams, Apparitions, and Bilocation

            OBEs and Near Death Experiences

            The Skeptical Viewpoint

Veridical OBEs vs. Non-Veridical

Are OBEs in and of themselves Evidence of Survival?

WEEK 3: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES

NDEs, further defined

            Characteristics of Near Death Experiences

            History of NDEs

            NDEs and the Afterlife

            NDEs and Cross Cultural Issues

            After-Effects of the NDE

            Research on NDEs: Past and Present

            Neuroscience Research and Explanations

            Psychological Research and Explanations

            Debating the Explanations

            Are NDEs in and of themselves Evidence of Survival?

            Counseling Issues

WEEK 4: APPARITIONS & HAUNTINGS

            Apparitions and Hauntings, further defined and examined

            Apparitions of the Living

            Crisis Apparitions

Apparitions of the Dead

            Deathbed Apparitions

            Investigative Questions     

The Skeptical Viewpoint & Alternative Explanations

Place Memory vs. Consciousness

            Are Apparitions Evidence of Survival?   

Mid-Term Quiz

WEEK 5: REINCARNATION

Cross Cultural/Religious Belief in Reincarnation

Signs of Reincarnation

Spontaneous Past Life Recall by Adults

Children Who Remember Previous Lives

Past Life Regression: Evidence of Reincarnation?

Investigative Questions

The Skeptical Viewpoint & Alternative Explanations: Past Lives or Something Else?

Is Reincarnation Evidence of Survival?

WEEK 6: AFTER-DEATH COMMUNICATION: MEDIUMSHIP AND MORE

Forms of After-Death Communication

Field Investigations/Research of Spiritualist Mediums: 19th – early 20th centuries

Mediumship Around the World

Evidential Mediums and the Evidence

           

WEEK 7: AFTER-DEATH COMMUNICATION: MEDIUMSHIP AND MORE, CONTINUED

            Recent Field Research & Investigation with Mediums

            Mediums, Apparitions and Hauntings

Laboratory Research with Mediums: Historically and Today

Skeptical Arguments/Explanations

The Place of Mediums in the Grief Process/Therapy

After-Death Communication Research (other than mediumship)

Is Mediumship/After-Death Communication Evidence of Survival?

WEEK 8: A) SURVIVAL OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SUPER PSI, OR SOMETHING ELSE?

The Super-Psi hypothesis, Especially as Applied to OBEs, NDEs, Mediumship and Survival in General

Arguments Against Survival from the Perspective of Materialism

            B) COURSE WRAP UP:

Summary of Points

Is there Evidence for Survival of Human Consciousness, or is it Wishful Thinking?

           

Final Quiz

 

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 participat 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).
Assessment II (30% of your grade)
 
Multiple Choice and/or short answer test (submitted online).
 
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.

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