Course Description
Transpersonal psychologists study experiences which are often called "spirtual". This lecture series will survey the research and clinical work of psychology's understanding of altered and "higher" states of consciousness. This will include a discussion of mystical states, meditation, dreams, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and shamanism. The focus will be understanding these experiences from a naturalistic perspective without reducing their importance or impact to the experient.
Each lesson will be accompanied by an experiential assignment designed to allow the student to get in contact with the spiritual side of themselves. The course will be available on-line at this site in the fall of 1997.
Jayne Gackenbach, Ph.D.