Grading
You will be evaluated in this class based on tests and projects with 60% from tests and 40% from projects.
Tests (60%): There are four tests and a comprehensive final examination. Each test is worth 10% for a total of 30% therefore you are to take only three of the four tests. If you take all four your lowest grade will be dropped. This is to minimize the need for rewrites. The comprehensive final examination is worth 30% of your grade. Each test covers the material since the last test. Each test will cover readings as well as lecture. Tests will be a mixture of open and closed ended items.
1. Bulletin Board Postings (10%): You are to post at least 10 times throughout the semester regarding the readings relavant to that part of the course on the course bulletin board which is located on the Unlocking the Secret of Your Dreams site. Therefore it is important that you register with GMCC immediately so that you can get access to this aspect of the course. Posting for all three components of the class will be done on this bulletin board. The posts are expected to be courteous and reflect your reaction to the readings, lectures, activities, or others comments.
You must print out your post and hand in the printout in order to get credit for the post. The posts are to be identified with your full name so that you receive this credit. You will get 1% for each posting no matter what you say so long as it is on topic for that week. If it refers to an older topic that is fine but simply random or silly posts will not be given credit. There are 14 weeks in the semester, deleting the first week that gives 13 weeks to post 10 times. You can only get credit for one post a week up to 10 posts over 10 weeks. In this way you will stay involved in the dialogue on the Bulletin Board. If you post 10 times in one week that is great but you would still only receive one credit (1%) for that week.
2. Minipapers (30% total) - There are four possible mini papers (one sleep, two dream, and one transpersonal). You are to do any three of the four at 10% each for a total of 30% of your grade. Two of the papers are purely academic while two are a mixture of experiential and academic. Each paper is to be 5 to 7 pages long, typed, in APA style, and fully referenced. Think of them as a mini-term papers. The best papers will be posted on my Spiritwatch web site (http://www.sawka.com/spiritwatch). Several papers from the last time I taught Sleep and Dreams at AUC are currently online at Spiritwatch. Please hand in a disk (IBM or Mac format) with the electronic version of your paper when you hand in the paper version. If you do NOT want your paper published on Spiritwatch then simply do not give me a disk. Handing in a disk with the paper constitutes agreement to allow me to post the paper online. Where relevant I encourage you to include illustrations, graphs, etc. But if you agree to posting of the paper at Spiritwatch I will need an electronic version of the graphic. There are many such illustrations on the Internet which can be used but if you do so please include the URL so that I can reference the image as well as the writing.
a. Dream Papers - There are five readings for the "Unlocking the Secrets of Your Dreams". Accompaning each reading is an assignment. You are do one or two of the assignments for 10% each excepting the fifth assignment as it is simply a course evaluation. In some lessons you have a choice of one or the other assignment while in other lessons there are different stages to the assignment. Directions on this course outline superceed those given in the online course.
The first dream assignment and its writeup is due on Oct 27th while the second one is due on Nov 17. When you submit an assignment it automatically is put in a data file with the time and date of submission. Thus grading will be based on my information from the data file that you did the assignment and on the content of your mini-paper. There will be a 5% late penalty for late assignments/writeups.
When you have completed an assignment you are to write up your experience with the assignment and contextualize the assignment into the academic literature on dreams. So, for instance, if you do the assignment asking you to content analyze your dreams through closed ended questions based on the Hall and VandeCastle scale you would not only talk about how this scale may have or may not have captured what you think your dreams contain but also the entire issue of content analysis of dreams as an area of academic inquiry. I'd especially like to see in this case your evaluation, based on scholarly citations, of the value of content analysis in the understanding and interpretation of dreams.
Here are summaries of the lessons and assignments and their due dates:
Lesson #1 - Introduction to Dreaming
Summary: The latest psychological, clinical and cross cultural scholarly work into these remarkable experiences of the night are offered so that the student can develop a working understanding of the process of dreaming. How to recall dreams and techniques for dream diarying are covered. Assignment: Students are asked to fill out a basic demographic questionnaire including questions concerning their sleeping and dreaming habits and preferences. The writeup of this assignment should discuss the literature on things like dream recall, relationship of various self-awareness techniques to dreaming, etc. One might examine gender differences in dreaming as a focus of the academic part of this writeup.
Lesson #2 - What Do Most People Dream About?
Summary: The typical content of peoples dreams is presented followed by techniques for ascertaining the content of ones own dreams relative to norms. The cultural or other group relativity of these norms is pointed out. It is stressed that the dreamer and not the course instructor, friends, psychotherapists, scientists or anyone else is the owner of their dream and thus the final authority on his/her dream. Assignment: The dreamer is asked to answer various questions about their dream experiences. Writeup is as discussed above.
Lesson #3 - Dreamwork Tools & Techniques
Summary: In this assignment the role of metaphor in interpreting dreams is stressed. Basic dreamwork tools are covered which do not rely on an expert. Then both individual and group techniques using various modes of communication to elaborate on and interpret the students own dreams are presented.
Assignment: This assignment focuses on metaphor and its role in interpretation. The student is asked to work one of their own dreams in the privacy of their home first in a dream metaphor exercise. Then they are asked to use an individual dreamwork technique to further interpret their dream. There is more opportunity than in the previous assignments for open ended responses. The writeup of this assignment should discuss what is a metaphor and why has the work on metaphor been applied to dream interpretation?
Lesson #4 - Dream Connectedness
Summary: Our culture often thinks of the the dream as a highly personal experience. Although it is this, there are universal themes which resonate for peoples from around the world. These themes have been discussed by various dream theorists and are discussed in this lesson. For instance, Jung's concept of the archetypal dream as being of a universal quality is covered in this section. Other concepts pointing to the dream as an expression of the community as well as of the individual is the perspective of Indigenous peoples. They see dreams as guidance from other realms. Not only do we dream in uniquely individual ways about themes which are the substance of the human condition but there are also dreamwork techniques that use the group as the vehicle for the interpretation of the dream. One widely known and respected technique will be covered in more detail than what was touched upon in the previous lesson.
Assignment: Students will be given the option to join dream groups in bulletin board format. A step by step procedure is outlined based on the lesson material encouraging these small groups to engage in group dream interpretation. Again this is a technique that is leaderless after certain rules of conduct are agreed upon. After the group process has been completed participants are asked to fill in a questionnaire about their reaction to the group process. The writeup on this should examine the idea of authority in dream interpretation. Also some consideration to dreams as emotional regulators would be appropriate.
An alternative individual dream exercise on dream problem solving is available for those who would prefer to not participate in an on-line dream group. The writeup should address dreams as problem solvers and information processing mechanisms.
Summary: This last section of the course covers selected topics of interest to the general public on dreams. These include some discussion of intensified forms of dreaming such as nightmares; characteristics of dreams in specific populations such as those addicted to a substance or in children; and potential spiritual and religious aspects of dreaming such as higher states of consciousness and transcendent experiences in sleep and their meaning.
Assignment: The final assignment is an evaluation of the online dream course. This assignment is NOT required nor should it be done for this course. If, however, you would like to fill this out that would be appreciated.
b. Sleep/Transpersonal Academic Paper (10%) - The other two possible papers are from the parts of the course on sleep and transpersonal psychology. You can do one or both at 10% each. Those who choose a sleep paper must hand it in on Oct 1 while the transpersonal context paper is due on Dec 3.
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