2010-11 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Religious Studies [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
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Dance of Consciousness
Sarah Williams, Donald Middendorf and Ratna Roy anthropology consciousness studies cultural studies dance gender and women's studies religious studies somatic studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | –Isa Upanishad The “it” that defies definition in this 2nd century BCE sacred text has become an equally perplexing focus of study—a “question that towers above all others” according to —in the contemporary life sciences. What is consciousness? Our inquiry will hold open this question within an intentional learning community for nine months as we explore dance as metaphor and practice for how mystics, as well as scholars, artists and scientists, experience the movement of consciousness. If you want answers, especially answers that someone else can provide, this program isn’t for you. "If you want to think about consciousness, perplexity is necessary—mind-boggling, brain-hurting, I can't bear to think about this stupid problem any more perplexity...” advises Susan Blackmore. Furthermore, she says, “if you do not wish your brain to hurt (though of course strictly speaking brains cannot hurt because they do not have any pain receptors—and, come to think of it, if your toe, which does have pain receptors, hurts, is it really your toe that is hurting?), stop reading now or choose a more tractable problem to study." This program is an invitation to explore the movement of consciousness in relationship to Indian and Greek wisdom traditions. We’ll practice Orissi dance, study our dreams as science and science as dream, and read postcolonial Indian English literature as manifestations of the dance of consciousness. Our work will include lectures, book seminars, films, workshops (dance and yoga), introspective journaling (dreams), and what an Evergreen faculty elder named “autobiomythography” in order to explore the multidimensional movements of consciousness. We'll consider anew mythic texts that bridge beliefs about East and West, mysticism and science, such as Gary Zukav’s and Fritjof Capra’s , that have formed consciousness studies from such fields of inquiry as transpersonal psychology, ecofeminism, somatics, ecopsychology, neurobiology and quantum physics. Students should expect to work 40 hours per week and will benefit most from a full-year commitment. During spring quarter students will have the opportunity to focus more intensely on specific program themes and practices by developing research projects, workshops, in-program internships, and individual studies. All students should expect to use intensely experiential methods to explore the dance of consciousness in a collaborative manner that creates and sustains a yearlong intentional learning community. | anthropology, feminist studies, consciousness studies and dance, mythology, psychology, yoga, and postcolonial literature. | Sarah Williams Donald Middendorf Ratna Roy | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Individual Study: East-West Psychology
Ryo Imamura cultural studies philosophy psychology religious studies study abroad Signature Required: Spring |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | Individual Study: East-West Psychology offers opportunities for sophomore, junior and senior students to create their own course of study and research, including internship, community service, and study abroad options. Before the beginning of spring quarter, interested students should submit an Individual Learning or Internship Contract to Ryo Imamura, which clearly states the work to be completed. Possible areas of study are Western psychology, Asian psychology, Buddhism, counseling, social work, cross-cultural studies, Asian-American studies, religious studies, nonprofit organizations, aging, death & dying, deep ecology and peace studies. Areas of study other than those listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. | counseling, cultural studies, peace studies, psychology, social work, religious studies, and human services. | Ryo Imamura | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Winter |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger. Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply. Ariel Goldberger supports interdisciplinary studies and projects in the Arts, Humanities, Consciousness Studies, and travel. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Spring |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger. Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply. Ariel Goldberger supports interdisciplinary studies and projects in the arts, humanities, consciousness studies, and travel. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Individual Study: Interdisciplinary Projects, Arts, Consciousness Studies and Humanities
Ariel Goldberger aesthetics anthropology architecture art history classics communications community studies consciousness studies cultural studies field studies gender and women's studies geography international studies language studies leadership studies literature music outdoor leadership and education philosophy psychology queer studies religious studies sociology somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Fall |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unqiue combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research or internship in the humanities, or projects that include arts, travel, or interdisciplinary pursuits are invited to present a proposal to Ariel Goldberger.Students with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply.Ariel Goldberger supports projects in the Arts, Humanities, Consciousness Studies, Arts, and interdisciplinary studies. | humanities, arts, social sciences, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Medieval Art History and Sacred Geometry
Ann Storey art history cultural studies gender and women's studies history religious studies visual arts |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | FFall | This program will examine the art and sacred geometry of the Medieval era, a singular period of creativity, spirituality, and change. We will study the motivating ideas and issues of the age: the dynamic influence of migrating tribal cultures on inherited classical traditions, the problem of iconoclasm, the arcane goals of the alchemists, and Neoplatonic philosophy expressed through the visions of the mystics. The idea that both mystic and artist were "seers"—seeing beyond the physical into the transcendent and metaphysical—impelled them into visionary realms. We will learn about the mysticism of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and other charismatic figures, as we see their visions expressed in superb mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, sculpture and architecture. Sacred music of the era will be experienced through recordings and a possible field trip. We will also learn about the outstanding art, architecture and geometry of medieval Islamic Spain. Islamic dictates forced artists of the period to use ingenious geometrical techniques (rather than figurative ones) to create sacred and secular architectural adornments. Art, design and simple geometry workshops will enable students to move from theory to practice. Students will use geometry skills to create Islamic tilings and to design, draw, and paint a Gothic rose window. | art history, education, history of mathematics, geometry, fine art, humanities, and museum studies. | Ann Storey | Mon Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Student Originated Studies: Travel-Based Education
Ariel Goldberger business and management consciousness studies cultural studies field studies geography history language studies maritime studies outdoor leadership and education religious studies somatic studies theater visual arts writing Signature Required: Fall |
SOS | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | This SOS is for students seriously interested in study-related or research projects involving an individually designed journey or travel. There is a long and revered tradition of humans embarking on journeys for the purpose of learning to develop self-awareness, get to know the world outside of what is familiar, engage in a spiritual quest, or expand the student's sense of what is possible. Travel has been a powerful academic, experiential and research component in the life of many scholars, artists, writers, mystics, and scientists. For thousands of years, humans have developed intercultural awareness, valuable communication skills, resourcefulness, spiritual awareness, cultural understanding, and a sense of the relativity of their personal views by engaging in it. Travel can be deeply transformative. This program is an educational offering designed for self-directed students who desire to benefit from engaging in educational travel as part of their learning at Evergreen. Students interested in registering must have a project in mind that requires travel as a central component of their learning. Individual projects should involve or prepare for some form travel for the purpose of learning, research, interdisciplinary studies, writing, volunteering, learning languages, studying historical events at their source, studying spiritual quests, understanding or studying other cultures, learning about a culturally relevant artifact or artistic expression at its source, developing a career in the leisure or tourism industry, or any combination thereof. Serious, self-directed, and responsible students are encouraged to register. Students will spend the first one or two weeks finishing intensive preparatory research on their specific destinations, to acquaint themselves the historical and cultural context of their place of destination, understand cultural norms, and study any relevant legal issues. Participants will prepare plans to be ready for emergencies or eventualities as well, as each student might have a different project and the faculty will remain as a resource for all participants. Students will be responsible for making all necessary arrangements for their travel, room and board, as well as budgeting for individual expenses related to their projects. Once the initial one or two weeks of preparation are completed, participants in the program will embark on their travel-related practicum or project, and report regularly to the faculty using a procedure negotiated in advance. Participants will be required to document their experience effectively in order to produce a final report. Participants will return to Olympia by week 10 to present the final report of their experience and project to the class at the Olympia campus, unless specifically arranged in advance with the faculty by week two. Please Note: This program is not a Study Abroad academic offering. Students interested in Study Abroad should work on an Independent Learning Contract with Ariel Goldberger separately, or pursue offerings listed in the corresponding section of the catalog. Those students who have demonstrated academic progress and who have projects that take more than a quarter are advised to negotiate an ILC with professor Goldberger to accomodate their learning needs. | humanities, cultural studies, arts, social sciences, and the leisure and tourism industry. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Turning Eastward: Explorations in East-West Psychology
Ryo Imamura consciousness studies cultural studies psychology religious studies Signature Required: Winter |
Program | FR - SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | Western psychology has so far failed to provide us with a satisfactory understanding of the full range of human experience. It has largely overlooked the core of human understanding—our everyday mind, our immediate awareness of being with all of its felt complexity and sensitive attunement to the vast network of interconnectedness with the universe around us. Instead Western psychology has chosen to analyze the mind as though it were an object independent of the analyzer, consisting of hypothetical structures and mechanisms that cannot be directly experienced. Western psychology’s neglect of the living mind—both in its everyday dynamics and its larger possibilities—has led to a tremendous upsurge of interest in the ancient wisdom of the East, particularly Buddhism, which does not divorce the study of psychology from the concern with wisdom and human liberation. In direct contrast, Eastern psychology shuns any impersonal attempt to objectify human life from the viewpoint of an external observer, instead studying consciousness as a living reality which shapes individual and collective perception and action. The primary tool for directly exploring the mind is meditation or mindfulness, an experiential process in which one becomes an attentive participant-observer in the unfolding of moment-to-moment consciousness. Learning mainly from lectures, readings, videos, workshops, seminar discussions, individual and group research projects, and field trips, we will take a critical look at the basic assumptions and tenets of the major currents in traditional Western psychology, the concept of mental illness, and the distinctions drawn between normal and abnormal thought and behavior. We will then investigate the Eastern study of mind that has developed within spiritual traditions, particularly within the Buddhist tradition. In doing so, we will take special care to avoid the common pitfall of most Western interpretations of Eastern thought—the attempt to fit Eastern ideas and practices into unexamined Western assumptions and traditional intellectual categories. Lastly, we will address the encounter between Eastern and Western psychology as possibly having important ramifications for the human sciences in the future, potentially leading to new perspectives on the whole range of human experience and life concerns. | personality theory, abnormal psychology, Jungian psychology, ethics in psychotherapy, cross-cultural counseling, gerontology, Buddhist Studies, Asian psychology, socially engaged Buddhism, Chinese spiritual paths, social work, education, Transpersonal Psychology, and studies in death and dying. | Ryo Imamura | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall |