DREAM WORKSHOP - HST373-TH Fall 2012

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1 Melissa Daum, M.A. Mondays 7-9:45pm Bunting room: B470 Office Hours: By Appointment Only DREAM WORKSHOP - HST373-TH Fall 2012 Henry Fuseli s The Nightmare, (1781) All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams Elias Canetti There is another world, but it is inside this one Paul Éluard COURSE OVERVIEW Have you spent the day haunted by the residue of your dream from the night before? Do you have that dream you remember from childhood that still seems to mean something, you re just not sure what? Have you woken up in the night in a terrible panic, followed by relief that it was all just a dream? Was it? These and other experiences of the dream will be approached in this course. As we gain fluency in theories that have grappled with these questions, we will simultaneously be building bridges to our own unconscious selves. This course will be part introspective, part theoretical, part experiential. In the introspective aspect of the course, we will

2 practice looking inside ourselves as a means to personally and directly relate to the course material. Though this class is not therapy, it may feel therapeutic at times. In the theoretical portion, we will saturate ourselves with readings from different perspectives on the nature of dreaming. How our relationship to dreams corresponds to our relationship to art will always be in question. Finally the class is experiential in that we will be applying the theories to our own dreams and to those of our peers, taking a stab at the craft of dream analysis. You are required to keep a dream journal for the duration of this class. This can be on the computer, in a lined notebook, or a sketchbook. Some people like to include illustrations along with the written down dream. Take some time to consider what kind of dream journal will work best for you. CREATING A SAFE SPACE Dream analysis is an inherently provocative subject -- even more so in this particular class, as we will take the unconscious into very serious consideration. You may find yourself activated by the material. Self-care, boundaries, and confidentiality are key here. Though you are encouraged to share, be mindful to not over-share, as we do not have the capacity to give highly charged material its due respect. Some people may feel like thereis so much to share, and others may feel like there is very little. We will revisit this balance regularly. The assignments are meant for you to explore and play with the proper degree of expression. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of the Dream Workshop theory course at MICA students can expect to: 1. Be conversant with core principles, concepts, and arguments of theoretical discourse in the field of dream analysis. 2. Be able to interpret and analyze select theories of dream interpretation and to discover new ways to apply the theories, especially with regard to art. 3. Be able to critically evaluate theories in the specific domain of dream interpretation and critically assess competing theoretical explanations. 4. Write effective essays in which the above capacities are demonstrated. 5. Increase tolerance toward the ambiguity of dream analysis without reaching for answers prematurely, and translate this skill to art making. 6. Become skilled at using multiple faculties to gather information to include ideas, intellect, and rational thought, as well as emotional, somatic, sensory, imagistic, and instinctual responses.

3 REQUIRED BOOKS Robert Bosnak, A Little Course on Dreams, Shambhala, 1998 Robert Van De Castle, Ph.D., Our Dreaming Mind, Ballantine Books, 1995 SUGGESTED BOOKS Carl Jung, Dreams, Princeton University Press, 2010 James Hillman, A Blue Fire, HarperPerennial, 1991 Murry Stein, Jungian Psychoanalysis: Working in the Spirit of C.G. Jung, Open Court, 2010 Sigmund Freud, Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners, Mondial, 2005 Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon, 1980 Stanley Krippner, Dreamtime and Dreamwork: Decoding the Language of the Night, J.P. Tarcher, 1990 WEEKLY SCHEDULE AUGUST 27 TOPIC: Introduction to the course ASSIGNMENT: Read Robert Bosnack s A Little Course on Dreams. Begin Moodle posts. SEPTEMBER 3 LABOR DAY SEPTEMBER 10 TOPIC: The Jungian approach to dreams VIDEO CLIP: Excerpt from A Matter of Heart ASSIGNMENT: Read June Singer s Understanding Our Dreams in Boundaries of the Soul. SEPTEMBER 17 TOPIC: Non-interpretive, experiential, somatic approaches to dream work VIDEO CLIP: Jungian Analyst Marion Woodman on her approach to therapy ASSIGNMENT: Read Ch. 2 of A Blue Fire Many Gods, Many Persons Two-page response paper due 9/24: Who lives inside you? (see explanation below)

4 SEPTEMBER 24 TOPIC: A Polytheistic Psyche The ideas of James Hillman ACTIVITY: In-class writing assignment ASSIGNMENT: In Our Dreaming Mind read Ch. 6: Sigmund Freud OCTOBER 1 TOPIC: The Freudian approach to dreams Guest lecturer Mikita Brottman ASSIGNMENT: Read Warren Coleman s Dream Interpretation and the Creation of Symbolic Meaning in Jungian Psychoanalysis. Read Mary Dougherty s On Making and Making Use of Images in Analysis in Jungian Psychoanalysis. OCTOBER 8 TOPIC: Implications for Analysis, For Ourselves. ASSIGNMENT: Complete Midterm Paper due 10/22 (see explanation below). Read Polly Young Eisendrath s Gender and Contrasexuality in Cambridge Companion to Jung. Read Jung s Psychology of the Transference, Intro and foreward OCTOBER 15: NO CLASS, FALL BREAK OCTOBER 22 TOPIC: The Erotic Dream and Alchemy VIDEO CLIP: Excerpts from American Beauty ASSIGNMENT: Read Galvin & Hartmann s Nightmares: Terrors of the Night in Dreamtime and Dreamwork: Decoding the Language of the Night OCTOBER 29 TOPIC: Nightmares ASSIGNMENT: Read A. Zadra s Recurrent Dreams: Their Relation to Life Events in Trauma in Dreams EXTRA CREDIT: Halloween is near, come to class dressed as your alter ego. NOVEMBER 5: TOPIC: Recurring Dreams ASSIGNMENT: Read Ch. 3 in Our Dreaming Mind: Dreams from the Dawn of History through Artemidoris NOVEMBER 12: TOPIC: Watch Film: TBA. Perhaps A Dangerous Method. ASSIGNMENT: Bring in an image of dream-related art that you respond to and two-page response paper (explanation below).

5 Read: Dreams, Literature, and the Arts and Painting Dream Images from Dreamtime and Dreamwork NOVEMBER 19: TOPIC: Dream Images in Art and the Symbolic Imagination ASSIGNMENT: Read Reason and Romance in S. Packer s Dreams in Myth, Medicine, and Movies. Selected Romantic poems - TBA NOVEMBER 26: TOPIC: The Untouchable World Dreaming, Loss, and the Pursuit of Wholeness ASSIGNMENT: Read The Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming in J. Allen Hobson s The Dreaming Brain. Read Dialoge with a Skeptic in K. Bulkeley s Dreams. DECEMBER 3: TOPIC: Now What? How will we hold this all together? ASSIGNMENT: No Moodle this week. Complete final project (explanation below). DECEMBER 10: TOPIC: Share final projects EXPLANATION OF PAPERS AND PROJECTS: 2-PAGE RESPONSE PAPER DUE 9/24: Who Lives Inside You? is the prompt for this paper. Drawing from Hillman s theory of the polytheistic psyche, name and describe the main characters that you grapple with internally. You could also choose to write about a character in a film that is familiar to you. Give the character a name like, The Observer or The Judge and describe its function. This will be preparation for our final project and for deepening active imagination exercises. MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT DUE 10/22: Write a 5-7 page paper describing how the material presented in this class relates to your own process of inner exploration and dreaming. You can choose to explore a dream, your artwork, some of your active imagination experiences, or synchronicities occurring in your life. If you prefer not to write about yourself, you can write about an artist you admire or a film character. Course readings should appear throughout. 2-PAGE RESPONSE PAPER DUE 11/19: Find an image of a work of art that says something to you about dreams and explain why (if it s an installation or a film, find an image of it that encapsulates the moment you resonate with it). Use course readings to deepen your explanation. FINAL PROJECT DUE 12/10: CREATE YOUR OWN RED BOOK Use an artistic medium of your choice to illustrate any of your dreams or series of dreams. Include your active imagination dialogue, either as part of the overall

6 finished piece or typed separately. There is no page minimum or maximum for the dialogue. It should be as long as you need to get to that place where it feels complete. Include a 4-6 page paper accompanying your project to describe your experience. Course readings should appear throughout. MOODLE GUIDELINES Each week you are responsible for posting on Moodle. This is an opportunity to keep the material alive in the space between our classes. Posts are always due no later than Sundays at noon. Do not post a dream on a Sunday as it will most likely not get read and seems like an easy out. We will discuss the posts in the following class. You can select one of these options: 1. Post a dream you are willing to have classmates analyze. Include your associations to the content and events that happened the previous day that may provide some context. Do not select dreams that are extremely intricate and epic, as we will not have the space to tend to it properly here. 2. Analyze a classmate s dream. Draw upon course lectures and readings. Be tactful and conservative in how you analyze this material. Remember that you may have a genius intuition into the dream s meaning, but that may be your own good idea and not actually tethered to the internal world of your peer. It can feel like a trespass on sacred ground to have a dream interpreted too quickly. Stay curious. 3. Respond to the assigned reading. What puzzled you? What intrigued you? What do you want to know more about? What do you agree or disagree with? Cite the reading. 4. Respond to a peer s response about the assigned reading. Take a stab at answering your peer s questions about the reading. Describe if you had a similar response or not, and why. Grading 30 points - Moodle (3 each) 10 points - Response Paper 1 10 points - Response Paper 2 10 points - Class Participation and Attendance 15 points - Midterm 20 points - Final 5 points - Dream Journal Total = 100 points = A = B = C = D = A = B = C = D = A = B = C = D-

7 Writing Tutorials: You are strongly encouraged to visit the writing center throughout the semester to discuss your work in progress. Please make an appointment to visit in order to discuss any aspect of your writing. Tutorial appointments can be arranged to work on developing paper ideas, improving writing style, or discussing other ideas. OTHER POLICIES: General Course Considerations: No make-ups can be given for assignments, except under conditions of serious medical illness verified with a doctor's note. Three unexcused absences and you will be dropped from the class. This class is an opportunity for introspection and creative exploration. You are held accountable for the richness of your own experience.plagiarism Policy Students should be aware that MICA is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of MICA in this respect. Students are particularly urged to avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the Institute. No student shall represent another s substantial editorial or compositional assistance on an assignment as their own. No student shall submit in any course or program of study, without the written approval of the course instructor, all or a substantial portion of any academic writing, essay, thesis, research report, project assignment, presentation or poster for which credit has been obtained by the student or which has been or is being submitted by the student in another course or program of student at MICA or elsewhere. ADA Compliance In order to provide the highest quality educational experience for every student, MICA is committed to compliance with the ADA and Section 504. Any student who has (or suspects he or she may have) a physical, cognitive, or psychological disability and who wants to request accommodations must immediately schedule an appointment to meet with the Director of the Learning Resource Center, Dr. Kathryn Smith, by calling the LRC Administrative Assistant, Mary Walsh, at (410) The LRC is MICA s designated department for determining reasonable accommodations based on legal requirements and will provide the eligible student with an official Accommodation Verification letter to the instructor. Each semester the student must formally request accommodations from the LRC each semester, and format of the Verification letters change each semester to ensure currency. NOTE: Students with disabilities who want assistance during emergency evacuations must register with the LRC within the first week of each semester. Health and Safety Compliance MICA has developed policies and practices to ensure a healthful environment and safe approaches to the use of equipment, materials, and processes. It is the mutual responsibility of faculty and students to review health and safety standards relevant to

8 each class at the beginning of each semester. Students should be aware of general fire, health, and safety regulations posted in each area and course specific polices, practices, and cautions. Students who have concerns related to health and safety should contact the Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator. The Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator, Quentin Moseley, may be reached at or by at