Psychology 3120G: Altered States: Selected Topics

Announcements

July 21, 2010: Please note that this course will not be taught at all during the 2010-11 academic year.

June 17, 2010: Please note that I will not be teaching this course during the 2010-11 academic year.

April 26, 2010: The exams have been graded and grades submitted to the Department Chair. You did really well on the final exam. The class average for Part I was 86% and two students got 10/10. You did well on Part II as well where the averages ranged from 75% for Questions 14 and 15 to 79% for Questions 16 and 17. The average for the exam was 79% and average for the course was 74%. If anyone would like to see her exam she is welcome to see it. Just let me know. And if you want, you can e-mail me and I will give you your grade for the final exam. Have a good summer!

March 31, 2010: I have posted a practice exam. See the link in the box on the left. Also, don't forget that there is a summary of everything we have covered in this course, also accessible through the link on the box on the left.

March 23, 2010: There will be an optional review session on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. in Room SA060. I am not going to prepare anything for that session, but just be available to answer any questions.

March 16, 2010: The final exam has been set for Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in Room SA060.

February 2, 2010: Don't forget the test tomorrow. Also, I've updated the Homework Assignments page so that it includes all of the homework to the end of the course.

January 19, 2010: I have posted the practice term test. It's under "Practice Exam" in the Resources box on the left.

January 7, 2010: The people have spoken. Barrett's "Dreams in Multiple Personality Disorder", McKenna's "True Hallucinations", and Stevenson's "Case of Suleyman Capar" won with 10 votes each. Seventeen readings had at least 7 votes, so I took those. That means that at least 7 people will be happy during each class. I've marked them with an asterisk in the master list. As you can see, almost nothing about dreams or aliens, but lots about life after death! I'm looking forward to the classes!

January 6, 2010: Ok. On the first day of class I will ask students which topics in altered states of consciousness they would like to look at. Well, I will choose the first one. We'll consider transcendent states of consciousness and, in particular, the experiences and philosophy of Franklin Merrell-Wolff. That material is covered in my most recent book Science as a Spiritual Practice which we will use as a textbook for the first few weeks. You can buy a copy at the Western bookstore or online from ChaptersIndigo.ca or Amazon.ca or other book distributors. I have posted the master list from which we will make our selections. So, if you have a chance, think about which ones you would like to read. I will take the ones with the most votes. Under "Resources" on the left, I have also posted the course outline, first few homework assignments, and grading criteria for essay questions. See you in class!

May 1, 2009: I have finished marking the final exam. Some students clearly studied hard for the exam and we were impressed with some of the answers that we read. I would like to name names, but that wouldn't be appropriate in a public forum such as this. But you know who you are. Other students . . . well . . . other students were pretty much clueless. And the rest of you continued on the pace that you had set during the semester. The net result was a class average of 68% for the final examination with marks ranging from 21% to 89% and an average of 67% for the course ranging from . . . . ummmh . . . not very good . . . to 85%.

April 14, 2009: Just a reminder that the optional review session is on Friday, April 24, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. in Room DL130 and the final exam is on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. also in Room DL130. Please note that I am not preparing anything for the optional review session. I will answer questions only.

March 24, 2009: I have made up a practice exam which you can find in the box to the left.

March 10, 2009: Please note that office hours for Thursday, March 12, 2009 have been moved to Friday, March 13, 2009 from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.

February 26, 2009: Please see the blog on my home page for some information about Matrix Energetics.

January 9, 2009: I have made up a course outline and homework assignments. You can access those in the Resources box on the left. I've also included "Grading Criteria" so that you know what I am looking for when I read your essay answers. The UWO Custom Course Book is in the process of production. I will let you know when it is available for purchase in the university bookstore.

January 7, 2009: The class has spoken. Option 1 was chosen as the method for grading in the course.

I counted up the votes for the readings and the winner is Pearsall, (Gary) Schwartz and Russek with 14 votes, followed by Barrett (dreams in MPD), Nadel & Jacobs, Smith, Grossinger,  and (Jeffrey) Schwartz each with 9 votes. Overall I am excited by your selections. I think it will be a great tour of some interesting alterations of consciousness. I should have the complete reading list along with homework assignments up on this web site within a couple of days.

Please note that students in the course need to read Part I of my book Science as a Spiritual Practice for class next Wednesday and submit an answer to the homework question "What is wrong with materialism?" Just a reminder that you don't need to accept the bias implicit in a question. You can argue against it by showing what is wrong with the arguments that there is something wrong with materialism. What I am looking for is your understanding of the issues and the quality of your critical thinking, not acquiescence with dogma.

December 22, 2008: I want to give students some options about course content and grading. With regard to grading, here are the options:

1. Weekly essays (50%) plus final exam (50%). 2. Weekly essays (40%) plus midterm (20%) plus final exam (40%). 3. Two midterms (20% & 30%) and a final exam (50%).

In addition to my book, we will read 12 to 16 papers or chapters from books during the semester. Which papers would you like to read? Click here for the list.

July 8, 2008: Please note that this course is now full and that I will not exceed the class limit.

On the first day of class I will ask students which topics in altered states of consciousness they would like to look at. Well, I will choose the first one. We'll consider transcendent states of consciousness and, in particular, the experiences and philosophy of Franklin Merrell-Wolff. That material is covered in my most recent book Science as a Spiritual Practice which we will use as a textbook for the first few weeks. You can buy a copy at the Western bookstore or online from ChaptersIndigo.ca or Amazon.ca or other book distributors.