Special Topic: Sleep and Dream

Why do we sleep and why do we dream? Do dreams have a meaning? What is the relationship of sleep and dream to waking life? Who are we during this third of our lives? Despite the twentieth-century discoveries of REM sleep and circadian rhythms, sleep still mystifies and intrigues, as it has for centuries, providing fertile subject material for writers and artists across cultures. In this interdisciplinary course we will explore the roles that sleep and dream play in story, art, religion, and culture. In addition to select readings on theories of sleep and dream, we will examine short stories, plays, essays, and films which raise questions about reality, identity, time, and space. Throughout, we will consider the relationship between sleep and the creative imagination.

Required Materials: (available at the student bookstore)

Calderon, Pedro. Life is a Dream

Dement, William. The Promise of Sleep

Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams

Jung, Carl. The Undiscovered Self

Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth

Additional Required Readings: (available on reserve at Eiche library)

Bulkeley, Kelly. An Introduction to the Psychology of Dreaming. Ch. 1, 4, 5.

Epel, Naomi, ed. Writers Dreaming (Selections)

Gautier, Theophile. "The Coffee Pot" The Oxford Book of French Short Stories. Ed. Elizabeth Fallaize.

--. "The Dead in Love." Demons of the Night: Tales of the Fantastic, Madness and the Supernatural from Nineteenth-Century France. Ed. Joan Kessler.

Lambert, Johanna, ed. Wise Women of the Dreamtime: Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers. "Introduction" and select tales.

Lawlor, Robert. Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Ch. 2

Maupassant, Guy. "The Horla." Demons of the Night: Tales of the Fantastic, Madness and the Supernatural from Nineteenth-Century France. Ed. Joan Kessler.

Wangyal, Tenzin. The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep. (Selections).

Films on Reserve: (at Eiche library)

"Abre los ojos" (Alejandro Amen‡bar, 1997)

"Brazil" (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

"The Matrix" (Wachowski Brothers, 1999)

"Spellbound" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1945)

Schedule:

January

9: Introduction

SLEEP & DREAM THEORY

11: History of Sleep Science: Dement, Ch. 1, 2; [QUESTIONS]

13: Physiology of Sleep: Dement, Ch. 3, 4; [QUESTIONS]

16: Holiday (MLK Jr.)

18: Purpose of Sleep: Dement, Ch. 5, 10; [QUESTIONS]

20: Dreams & REM: Dement, Ch. 13; [QUESTIONS] Quiz 1

23: Freudian Dream Theory: Freud, Ch. 1 (A-D); [QUESTIONS]

25: Freudian Dream Theory: Freud, Ch. 2; [QUESTIONS]

27 Freudian Dream Theory: Freud, Ch. 3, 4; [QUESTIONS] Quiz 2

30: Jungian Dream Theory: Jung, p. 65-82

February

1: Jungian Dream Theory: Jung, p. 83-106

3: Jungian Dream Theory: Jung, p. 107-132; [QUESTIONS] Quiz 3

6: Psychoanalysis & its Successors: Bulkeley, Ch. 4, "Alternative Clinical Theories." [QUESTIONS]

8: Contemporary Dream Theories: Bulkeley, Ch. 5, "Sleep Laboratories;" Dream Journal due

10: Literary Dream Analysis: Gautier, "The Coffee Pot." [QUESTIONS] Paper Summary or Outline due (1 page)

CULTURES OF DREAM

13: Dreams of Antiquity: Bulkeley, Ch. 1, "Three Basic Questions." [QUESTIONS]

15: Aboriginal Dreamtime: Lawlor. [QUESTIONS]

17: Aboriginal Dreamtime: Lambert: Intro & Select Stories. First Draft of Paper due

20: Buddhist Dream Yoga: Wangyal, p. 11-19; [QUESTIONS]

22: Buddhist Dream Yoga: Wangyal, p. 65-71; [QUESTIONS]

24: Reality & Illusion: Life is a Dream, Act I; [QUESTIONS] Quiz 4

27: Reality & Illusion: Life is a Dream, Act II; [QUESTIONS]

March

1: Reality & Illusion: Life is a Dream, Act III; [QUESTIONS]

3: Reality & Illusion: "The Matrix;" [QUESTIONS] Paper due (Final draft)

6-10: Spring Break

SLEEP, DREAM, & THE IMAGINATION **Note revised schedule 3/13-4/7

13: Madness & Somnambulism: Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I-II; [QUESTIONS]

15: Madness & Somnambulism: Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act III-IV; [QUESTIONS]

17: Madness & Somnambulism: Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V; Dement, Ch. 8; [QUESTIONS] Quiz 5

20: Double Life: Gautier, "The Dead in Love." [QUESTIONS]

22: Class Canceled

24: Class Canceled; in lieu of Quiz 6, write 1-page reaction paper to "The Dead in Love" OR "Brazil"

27: Dream & Hallucination: "Brazil," [QUESTIONS]1-page reaction paper due

29: Nightmare & the Midnight Strangler: Maupassant, "The Horla." [QUESTIONS]

31: Nightmare & the Midnight Strangler: Dement, Ch. 7. [QUESTIONS]; Quiz 7; Project Proposal due (1 page)

April

3: Insomnia: Palahniuk, Fight Club, p. 11-78; [QUESTIONS]

5: Insomnia: Palahniuk, Fight Club, p. 79-147; [QUESTIONS]

7: Insomnia: Palahniuk, Fight Club, p. 148-208 (end); [QUESTIONS] Quiz 8; Project Progress Report due

10: Lucid Dreaming: "Abre los ojos." [QUESTIONS]

12: Dream & Creativity: Dement, Ch. 14

14: Dream & Creativity: Epel, Selections; Dream Journal Reflective Statement due

17: Final Project Presentations

19: Final Project Presentations

21: Final Project Presentations

24: Final Project Presentations

26: Final Project Presentations

28: Final Project Presentations; Final Written Project due

Please Note:

Final day to add a course or withdrawal without record: Jan. 18

Late drop deadline: April 7

Final day to withdrawal from a course with record: April 28

Grade Breakdown:

Analytical Paper: 25%

Final Project (presentation + product): 35%

Participation & Preparation (including dream journal, informal writing assignments): 15%

Quizzes (7 of 8): 25%

Requirements and Guidelines

1. Readings: All readings must be completed for the date assigned on the syllabus. Page numbers are indicated on the syllabus. Readings will vary in length, but will generally not exceed 40 pages per class meeting. Articles and short texts are on reserve at the library. Some days the "reading" will be a film. All films are on reserve at the library. You are responsible for viewing each film in advance of the class discussion.

2. Participation: Regular contributions to class discussion are vital to your learning experience. Please do not hesitate to speak up in class, ask questions, try out an idea, agree or disagree with the class discussion. We are all here to learn and all ideas are worthy of attention. CMLIT 153 is not a lecture class and everyone will be expected to contribute to discussion as best as he or she can. You are permitted three (3) no-questions-asked unexcused absences during the semester. After the third unexcused absence, your grade will be lowered accordingly. Any student with excessive absences may earn an F for the course. If you must miss class due to illness, family emergency, participation in a varsity sport (letter from your coach required), or religious holiday, please notify me as soon as possible. Please watch the PSU Altoona web site for class cancellations due to weather. I will notify the class via email if class is canceled for other reasons.

3. Weekly Quiz: Nearly every week there will be a short quiz on the reading material. Usually these will be administered on Fridays and they will always be announced in class the Wednesday before. The purpose of the quiz is to ensure that everyone keeps up with the reading and to verify basic comprehension of the material. You are allowed to drop the lowest quiz score, allowing you to miss one. No makeups of quizzes will be given.

4. Dream Journal:

This is your opportunity to engage with the ideas and questions of this course in a personal way. I ask each student to keep a semi-regular dream journal throughout the semester: write down any dreams you can remember, as often as you can. It is usually a good idea to keep a notebook by your bed so that you can jot them down as soon as you wake while they are still vivid in your memory. Questions I will ask you periodically throughout the semester: what does it feel like to write down your dreams? What do you notice about them? Is it easy or difficult to remember the dream? to put it into words? How does your own experience of dreaming correlate to the theories and stories of dreams we read in this course?

**N.B.: I will not read or grade the dream journals. I will not collect them. I will simply ask you to bring your journal in from time to time to show me that you are doing it. There is no required number of entries. Some people remember their dreams readily; for others it is rare that they remember any at all. If you dream-journal regularly, you may find that you remember more and more of your dreams. This is an assignment where you get to decide how much you put into it and how much you get out of it. Think of it as an experiment. You never know what you may discover.

5. Analytical Paper:

Each student will write one analytical paper of 5-6 pages. I will provide you with a list of possible topics for the paper as well as guidelines for the paper's format. All drafts should be typed and double-spaced. The paper grades will reflect your work throughout each stage of the writing process, as well as the attention and care you give to your colleagues' work. Please note the due dates on the syllabus for all drafts. Grades will be lowered for papers submitted after the deadlines.

6. Final Project:

The creative project will be much more open than the paper. All semester we will encounter stories, plays, films, art, and music that seek to tell us something about the elusive states of sleep and dream. For the final project, it will be your turn. You may write a short story, make a short film, direct a scene of a play, compose a piece of music or a song, paint a picture, write a collection of poems, design a Web Site, write a computer program—create anything that makes the viewer, audience, etc. engage with the questions of sleep and dream.

During the final two weeks of the semester, each student will make a brief presentation of his or her project to the class and hand in to me a short written "preface" which will explain the goal of the piece, how it relates to the themes and questions we have discussed, etc.

We will brainstorm ideas for the projects during the semester and after spring break I will provide you with more specific guidelines. But you can start to think about this now and I encourage you to talk to me about your ideas. Sleep and dream have long been associated with creativity and imagination. This project should allow you to put theory to practice.

7. Academic Integrity: You are responsible for reviewing and observing University policies governing academic honesty, as in explained in The Student Guide to University Policies and Rules. Any case of academic dishonesty (plagiarism, cheating, etc.) may result in a failing grade on an exam, essay, presentation, or in the course. More serious cases may result in permanent expulsion from the University.