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Consciousness Studies [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Bret Weinstein
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | Nearly all of the complexity in the observable universe is due to one process: Selection-natural, sexual and otherwise. And though the basics of evolutionary selection can be summarized in a single phrase ("survival of the fittest"), the details are surprising in the extreme, raising profound questions at every juncture. Why, for example, has a simple, shared drive to increase 'reproductive success' taken aardvarks and spruce trees in such different directions? And why would a peahen choose to burden her sons with a giant handicap to their movement by mating with a male carrying genes for massive tail? We will take a broad approach to selection, studying what is known, but focusing on that which remains mysterious. The adaptive interplay between genetic, epigenetic (regulatory) and cultural traits will be of particular interest. We will also place special emphasis on understanding the tension between selection exerted by mates, and that exerted by environmental factors. Fall quarter will be spent constructing a basic toolkit for evolutionary analysis: What is an adaptation and how can it be recognized? How can we infer function? What is the relationship between a trait's short and long-term adaptive value? We will scrutinize structures; behaviors and patterns found in the wild, and refine our ability to understand them through the language of game theory. During the winter quarter, we will focus on pushing our model of selection to its limits, and beyond, by applying it to the most complex and surprising adaptive patterns in nature, with a special emphasis on adaptive patterns manifest in We will read, have lecture, and detailed discussions. Discussions will be central to our work. Students will be expected to generate and defend hypotheses and predictions in a supportive and rigorous environment. We will go out and look at nature directly when conditions are right. Each quarter, we will take a multi-day field trip to observe thought-provoking patterns in unfamiliar environments. There will be assignments, but the program will be primarily about generating deep predictive insight, not about producing a large volume of work. It is best suited to self-motivated students with a deep commitment to comprehending that which is knowable, but unknown. | biology, medicine, psychology, and public policy. This program will focus on how to think, not what to think. As such, it will be useful to in any career in which critical thinking is important. | Bret Weinstein | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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Cindy Beck and Wenhong Wang
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 2 | 02 | Evening | W 12Winter | Approaches to Healing is a guest lecture series designed to help students explore the theory and practice of the many types of healing arts that our regional wealth of outstanding practitioners provide. Throughout the quarter, students will be asked to look at broad health care questions and policy, as well as personal healing practices, stress management, and the importance of thoughtful critical analysis at all levels of approaches and outcomes. Guest speakers representing body work, complementary medicine, Chinese medicine, bacteriophages as antibiotics, and plant medicine will be featured. Students will also spend time each week outside of class exploring new activities that could contribute to their own health, as well as reading current literature to help expand their understanding of health and wellness.This course meets in conjunction with the program . (You may enroll either in for 8 credits or for 2 credits, but you may not enroll in both.) | Cindy Beck Wenhong Wang | Mon | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
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Dariush Khaleghi
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening and Weekend | Su 12Summer Session II | The Art of Leadership is a highly interactive course, encouraging personal reflection and deep learning to help students explore their own leadership qualities. This course provides a multi-disciplinary approach to learning by blending behavior theory with business principles to provide practical applications to learn critical topics in leadership. This course is centered on personalized learning opportunities where students are encouraged to develop their full potential and become the leader they always desired to be. This course also introduces a set of comprehensive exercises and engaging self-assessment tools to allow students learn more about themselves and their capacity to lead. The course teaches concepts, principles, and skills of leadership in a way that is appropriate for both new and experienced leaders, as well as anyone who must influence others to achieve common goals and objectives. | Dariush Khaleghi | Fri Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
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Ariel Goldberger
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | S 12Spring | This program will immerse students in studying the intense and lively cultural life of New York City, the most active arts production center in the United States, and perhaps the world. Sessions will meet weekly in different cultural institutions to participate in art events as active audience members, to develop an educated and critical appreciation of the richness, complexity and current trends of artistic production in New York.We will spend two weeks on campus doing preparatory research in areas of each student's interest in order to create the structure for an individual project or practicum. Students may choose to create a project by engaging in artistic work, research, or both. Students will be responsible for making all necessary arrangements for room and board, as well as budgeting for individual event tickets. All students will be expected to present a final report of their experience and project.After the initial two weeks of research and preparation, participants in the program will fly to New York City for six or seven weeks, where they will engage in group and individual activities, depending on each student practicum or project. Students will attend some events as a group and some related to their own projects. We will attend events in a wide range of sites, from established world-renowned institutions to emergent art spaces.Depending on the season, performance events may include events in places such as PS 122, La MAMA, The Kitchen, HERE Art Center, off-off-Broadway small theaters, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Broadway productions and Lincoln Center. Regular dance events may include modern dance performances, experimental works, festivals at the Joyce Theater, and more traditional ballet events in venues such as the New York City Ballet. Specific visual arts events may consist of trips to the gallery "scene" in Chelsea, PS1, MOMA, DIA Arts Center, The Met, under the radar spaces and other sites. We may attend poetry readings at places such as The Bowery Poetry Club, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The St. Marks Poetry Project, The Academy of American Poets and The New York Public Library. The class will also endeavor to attend other culturally relevant institutions such as the Japan Society, the Asia Society, The Jewish Museum, The Schomburg Center, The Dwyer Cultural Center and El Museo del Barrio to experience a wide range of cultural diversity. Most weekly group activities will be followed by a discussion or seminar.We will spend the final week of the quarter back on campus in Olympia, completing final report presentations for the whole class. | architecture, community studies, consciousness studies, cultural studies, dance, field studies, language studies, literature, media studies, moving image, music, queer studies, somatic studies, theater, visual arts, and writing. | Ariel Goldberger | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Cindy Beck and Jamyang Tsultrim
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Course | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 4 | 04 | Weekend | S 12Spring | Interest in Eastern philosophy and the influence of contemplative practice on the body has been growing over the past few decades. This class will explore Eastern models of the theory of knowledge, particularly traditional epistemological models of cognition based on Indo-Tibetan studies. Class material will look at the effect these practices have on neurological function by studying neuroanatomy, brain plasticity, and the connections between sensory input and our emotions, thoughts, and actions. Students will learn to analyze constructive emotions and thoughts and their influence on mental stability. Students will also learn methodologies for influencing and improving mental development and function. Hands-on workshops, readings, and discussions will emphasize class concepts and help students learn to integrate Western science and Eastern philosophy. | Cindy Beck Jamyang Tsultrim | Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Ab Van Etten
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | S 12Spring | What types of problems can be solved by computers? How do humans and computers differ in the types of problems they can solve? What is the future of computing, and will computers evolve an intelligence that includes what we would define as human thought? Can computers learn or create on their own? This program will explore the basics of computer science, how computers work, and their possibilities and limits. The program will include basic programming in Javascript, Web development, introductory computer electronics, and other computer science topics. We will contrast this with human cognition. We will then look at how computers will likely affect the way we live, work, and relate in the future. In seminar we will explore the issues surrounding machine vs human consciousness and strong artificial intelligence. | Ab Van Etten | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Donald Middendorf and Terry Setter
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | What is the relationship between our understanding of consciousness and our self understanding? This year-long, interdisciplinary program will provide an opportunity for students who are interested in doing intensive work in the nature of consciousness to cultivate self awareness through challenging readings, creative work in expressive arts, and self-reflection. We will examine our beliefs about the nature of reality as manifest in the expressive arts and physical reality from a variety of disciplinary viewpoints, including physics, music, psychology and philosophy. Prospective students should have a strong interest in the experiential study of the relationships between reality and consciousness as well as college-level skills in reading, writing and pursuing research topics. Effort and self-motivation will be essential for succeeding in this program.We will take an approach that welcomes the complexity of the many different views of consciousness that have been proposed by researchers, philosophers and spiritual leaders. We will use texts that cover many contemporary scientific models of consciousness and examine alternative areas of research, such as lucid dreaming and paranormal phenomena. Students will keep a structured journal of activities and practices that explores their developing understandings of the nature of consciousness. During winter and spring quarters, academic work and contemplative discipline will be integrated into our study as tools to help us understand our selves and the nature of consciousness through an in-depth study of dreams - including keeping a dream journal and a journal of experiences during contemplative practices. In spring, students will have the opportunity to pursue their interests in more individualized activities for a portion of their credits.This is an experiential and rigorous full-time program in which students will be expected to participate in all program activities, and to document 48 hours of work per week that are invested in program related activities. Students are strongly encouraged to commit to the year-long community learning process, to not work more than 15 hours per week outside of the program, and to take no more than 16 credits per quarter. Students are expected to take exams and to buy and bring the appropriate seminar books to each class. | consciousness studies, philosophy of modern physics, and psychology. | Donald Middendorf Terry Setter | Tue Wed Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
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Walter Grodzik and Cynthia Kennedy
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | This program will explore the interior spaces where performances begin and the exterior spaces where performances are realized. Students will begin with movement and theatre exercises that center and focus the mind and body in order to open oneself to creative possibilities and performance. Students will also study movement/dance and theatre as a means of physical and psychological focus and flexibility that enables them to more fully utilize their bodies and emotional selves in creating theatrical performance.Through the understanding and embodiment of somatic concepts such as awareness, intention, centering, authenticity, and the interplay of mind and body, students will have the opportunity to explore creative imagination as it expresses itself from their own life processes, rather than from externally imposed images, standards and expectations. How does imagination respond to the emotional self, the physiology of the body, and the psychology of the mind? How can we become more expressive and responsive to our inner selves? Students will be invited to explore and enjoy the dance already going on inside their bodies, to learn to perceive, interpret and trust the natural intelligence of intrinsic bodily sensations. The class will use experiential techniques derived from several traditions of somatic philosophy.In seminar, students will read a broad variety of texts about creativity, movement and dance history, and performance, performance history, and Western theatre history and dramatic literature. In particular, students will read Greek tragedy and comedy, the playwrights of the Elizabethan theater, such as Marlowe and Shakespeare, and the feminist comedies of the Restoration. The realism of the Nineteenth century will be seen through the plays of Ibsen and Chekhov and other realists, and students will study, discuss and perform the multicultural theatre of the Twentieth and Twenty-First century, including theatre, drama and performance art as found in the work of Thornton Wilder, David Mamet, Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, Henry David Hwang and Anna Devere Smith. The discussion of dramatic literature will be framed from many viewpoints, including structuralist, feminist, Marxist, post colonial and queer.The program will include weekly seminars, workshops in movement/dance and theatre, and film screenings of various dance and theatre productions. This is an all-level program that welcomes students of all abilities that bring their excitement, commitment, discipline and creativity to the performing arts. Regular on-time attendance is fundamental to students' development and continuance in the program. | teaching, theatre, expressive arts, dance and movement theory. | Walter Grodzik Cynthia Kennedy | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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Ariel Goldberger
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Weekend | W 12Winter | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unique 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, consciousness studies, 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. | humanities, arts, social sciences, interdisciplinary fields, and consciousness studies. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
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Walter Grodzik
Signature Required:
Winter
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Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 12Winter | Individual study offers individual and groups of students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unique combinations of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Individual and groups of students interested in a self-directed project, research or internships in Queer Studies or the Performing and Visual Arts should contact the faculty by email at | Walter Grodzik | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
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Ariel Goldberger
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Contract | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, to focus on unique 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, consciousness studies, 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 | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
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Kevin Francis, David Paulsen and Rachel Hastings
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | What does our ability to speak and understand language reveal about the human mind? How much of our knowledge of language can be attributed to an innate language capacity and how much is dependent on individual experience? How are children able to develop a detailed and abstract understanding of their native language at a very young age? And how did human language evolve in the first place? In this program we will study theories of cognition, brain structure, and consciousness as they relate to the complex phenomena of language evolution, acquisition and use.We will explore diverse kinds of evidence that shed light on the evolution of language, including recent work in evolutionary biology, animal behavior, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, and the evolutionary genetics of language. To understand the nature of linguistic processing we will look at the structure of language and ask what capacities must be present within human cognition in order for us to produce and understand human languages. We will study the ideas of Noam Chomsky and others who argue for a "universal grammar" as an explanation of rapid language acquisition and similarity among languages. We will also examine the parallels between human language and communication in other animals. Finally, we will reflect on the strategies adopted by scientists to reconstruct events in the deep past.Program activities will include seminar, lectures and workshops. We will devote significant time to providing background material in linguistics, evolutionary biology, and cognitive neuroscience that pertains to the evolution of language. We will read scientific and philosophical material that addresses fundamental questions about consciousness, the relationship between mind and brain, and the relation between cognition and the human capacity for language. As part of this program, students should expect to participate actively in seminar, write several essays, and complete a final research project. | biology, cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy and psychology. | Kevin Francis David Paulsen Rachel Hastings | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Karen Gaul and Anthony Tindill
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | The lessons we need for sustainable and just living already exist among many indigenous, rural and urban peoples around the world. How people construct the structure and feeling of home, or shape and contain that which is significant in their lives varies from culture to culture. In this program we will explore practices of current and past cultures in terms of construction, energy use, technological development, subsistence practices, and equity to understand how people have lived relatively sustainably in various environments. We will consider the impact of increased technological complexity, resource extraction, production and waste streams of the industrial revolution. We will also investigate ways contemporary cultures around the world are responding by resuming, reclaiming or reinventing low-tech lifeways of the past, and/or embracing high-tech solutions of the future.The program will offer hands-on projects and theoretical perspectives in sustainable design in order to apply sustainable solutions in real-world situations. Students will have an opportunity to work with local communities to help meet design needs. Project possibilities may involve sustainable solutions on campus or in the greater South Sound community. Design projects will be developed within a context of community-defined needs. Through intensive studio time, students will learn drawing and design techniques, fundamentals of building, and skills in using a variety of tools.We will read ethnographic accounts of various cultures to understand the sustainability and justice implications of their practices. Students will have the opportunity to conduct their own ethnographic studies. An introduction to ethnographic research methods and an inquiry into critical questions in the field will help equip students to shape their own field research (in local or distant communities).Fall quarter will include the beginning of an anthropological journey to study various cultural expressions of sustainable and just living. We will learn ethnographic methods and begin to set up ethnographic projects exploring examples of sustainable solutions locally and in more distant settings. Basic approaches to sustainable design will be introduced, and projects will be formulated. Winter quarter will include implementation of design projects and community projects, and launching of ethnographic research. Spring quarter will be a period of data analysis in ethnographic projects, and completion of design projects. The program will also include experiments in sustainable living on a variety of levels. | sustainable design, anthropology and community development. | Karen Gaul Anthony Tindill | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
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Bret Weinstein
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | Complex systems can fail catastrophically. Resent catastrophic failures (such as the global financial collapse of 2008, the Gulf oil spill of 2010 and the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011) hint at the overall fragility of the systems on which civilization presently depends. Many have wondered if the larger system might be equally vulnerable to a major disruption.This program proceeds from a thought experiment: What if the lights went out and didn’t come back on? What if the gas stations ran dry and no one came to refill them? What if the store shelves went bare and stayed that way?The immediate effect would be unavoidably chaotic, disastrous and tragic. But from the chaos would likely emerge groups of people who had figured out how to provide for themselves.How would those groups be organized? What would they understand? What technologies of the past would they have resurrected, and in what form? What newer technologies would they work to retain? How would they use the rubble of modernity to enhance their lives. What would they eat and drink? How would they stay warm and fed in the winter? Would large-scale social organization arise organically, from the bottom up? How would the answers to these question differ by region?This program will not happen at the front of the room. The faculty will not present answers to these questions. The learning community will confront them together, with analytical rigor proportional to the scenario under consideration. As much as possible, we will attempt to prototype answers in the physical world, and let our successes and failures guide us toward a toolkit for survival.This program is not for passive students, or for those that prefer to stay in the abstract or metaphorical layers. It will require students to be both hard workers and careful thinkers. Students must be bold, collaborative and willing to rise to a serious challenge. | Bret Weinstein | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
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Lara Evans and Sarah Williams
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | Do museums transform living, changing cultural objects into fixed, preserved, inviolate collections? What stories do museums tell? What stories do objects embody? And what stories do we, visitors, tell ourselves? How do objects housed in museums affect our sense of self-identity? What does it take to become aware of how stories we tell both frame and are framed by objects? Is it possible to heal culture and the self through the interactions of narratives and objects? What happens to historical ideas about human consciousness when we explore the mausoleum-like exhibitions of what this consciousness has exhibited as other? What happens to consciousness when it is framed by neuroscience or to the self when it encounters thinking as an evolutionary internalization of movement?We'll explore the power of narrative objects in a variety of exhibition spaces: museums, galleries, shopping malls, book/web pages. We'll identify curiosities about the relationship between art objects and self-representation, particularly shifts in cultural influences and identities as they relate to shifts between the museological and mausoleum-like aspects of exhibition spaces. A triptych is a narrative object that uses three pictorial panels to convey movement in time, space, and states of being. A triptych, of sorts, is the focus of our fall quarter work and the model for our winter field studies. Consider our left panel: in the lives and other virtual realities of William Gibson's , the effects of narrative objects range from creative to preservative to destructive. Equally significant is how these effects are framed in movements between exhibition spaces experienced as "bird-cages of the muses" and those encountered in computer generated Joseph Cornell-like bird boxes. In the center panel is the narrative power of an artwork in Sheri Tepper's science fiction novel, . Here, alien races experience the consequences when a fresco at the heart of their cultural identity has been violently misinterpreted for a millennium. Now, the right panel. Here, in Catherine Malabou's texts the shifting movement or adaptability of self is called neuroplasticity. Her analysis of Claude Levi-Strauss' fascination with two sides--graphic and plastic--of masks illustrates her definition of neuroplasticity. We'll read this post-Derridean theory of self and do fieldwork with masks available for viewing in collections in this region. During winter quarter faculty and students will explore narrative objects and self-representation through six weeks of fieldwork in museums of their choice. Museums can be exhibitions of art, history or science; even zoos and botanical gardens can be considered museums. Students will document their research on their museum and will return to compile a multi-media presentation of their research project. In studios and workshops during fall and winter quarters students can expect to learn audio recording, digital photography, drawing with color pastels, ethnographic fieldwork, mindfulness practices (yoga, meditation), creative non-fiction writing, blogging and public speaking. During spring quarter students will have the opportunity to integrate individual and peer-group projects into a core all-program curriculum. That is, in addition to the 8-credit all-program activities of seminar, lecture, visiting artists' lecture and film series, a retreat week, and related assignments (e.g., weekly seminar response essays, a theory as evocative object chapter, a mindmap and 3D triptych, and mid-term and final reflective and evaluative writing), each student will design an in-program individual or peer group project for 8 credits. These projects may include (but are not limited to) the curation and/or installation of an exhibition or collection, an internship, a studio-based artistic or technical practice, community-based learning in support of Paddle to Squaxin 2012 ( ; ), or a field-based museum-related study. Partially funded by TESC's Noosphere Award, week 7 retreat week activities will include a range of contemplative practices: 5 rhythm dance; yoga nidra; lectures with Seattle University philosopher and Zen priest, Dr. Jason Wirth; and a retreat day at SU's St. Ignatius Chapel. Students will document their individual or peer-based learning and create a multi-media presentation for week 10. | art history, art, cultural studies, writing, anthropology, feminist theory and contemplative education. | Lara Evans Sarah Williams | Mon Tue Tue Tue Wed Wed Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
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Sarah Williams
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | Su 12Summer Session I | Global environmental and social challenges call for radical adjustments to our industrialized way of life. This program is about having local outdoor adventures and then writing their interior geographies within cosmic context. As Gary Snyder put it, "I want to talk about place as an experience." Using program guest Kurt Hoelting's book as a core text, , students will create their own quests (and essays), with The Evergreen State College as a center, exploring widening bioregional circles on foot, by bicycle and sea kayak. Students wishing to extend their quests, their writing, or their community-based service learning into second session for additional credit may do so by developing individual learning contracts. | Sarah Williams | Tue | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
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Ariel Goldberger
Signature Required:
Fall
|
SOS | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Weekend | F 11 Fall | This is a program 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 of 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 with 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, since 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 preparation is 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 a Study Abroad academic offering. Those students who have demonstrated academic progress and who have projects that take more than a quarter are advised to negotiate an ILC with Ariel Goldberger to accommodate their learning needs. | the humanities, consciousness studies, cultural studies, arts, social sciences, and the leisure and tourism industry. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
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Ryo Imamura
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | 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 Asia, particularly Buddhism, which does not divorce the study of psychology from the concern with wisdom and human liberation. In contrast to Western psychology, 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, in fall quarter 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. In winter quarter, 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. | psychology, counseling, social work, education, Asian-American studies, Asian studies and religious studies. | Ryo Imamura | Tue Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
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Cynthia Kennedy
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | The body, a vital component in teaching and learning, has often been neglected in higher education. A possible reason for this neglect lies in the enduring influence of the writings of Rene Descartes who, in the 17th century, wrote "I think therefore I am." He stated that each of us has a mental realm within us that is separate from the sensual nature of the body. This separate realm of the mind was seen as "higher" than the faculties of the body. This way of thinking influences much of education today, as the intellect is seen as the location of rational thought, and therefore, more reliable than the body and its emotions. There is much evidence, however, that Descartes was wrong. This program is devoted to exploring the marriage between the mind and body with an emphasis on the body. We will investigate the central role of the body in many aspects of our lives including decision-making and leadership, creativity, emotional intelligence, health and self-image. Our guiding question will be, "What is the role the body plays in our development as whole human beings?" The approach to answering this question is enjoyable! Students will have an opportunity to learn in many ways using many modalities and multiple intelligences. We will integrate somatic (body-based) learning practices into our study including weekly yoga and dance workshops (no prior experience necessary). Our inquiry will ask us all to attune ourselves to the wisdom that is available and present in our own body awareness. We will participate in community readings, rigorous writing assignments, and critical study of important texts. In addition to the core work for everyone in the program, students will also design their own learning experiences. These can include field studies, research papers, or exploration of body-based practices. | leadership positions, education, movement and expressive arts. | Cynthia Kennedy | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring |
