LASS360 Memory and Dreams 3 cr.

This course explores the intersecting realms of memory and dream. Dreaming is an entirely subjective experience, but how objective is remembering? How do we understand phenomena like post-traumatic or implanted or false memories? How can culture construct our memories–and our forgettings–for us? How can we separate identity from memory and either from forms of fiction? The world of dream: meaningful, nonsense, prophetic, usable? As in our work on memory, we’ll call on current neuroscience and neuropsychology, see film clips, read case histories, fiction, analytic theory. In preparation for the final project people will keep a nightly dream journal. In all this we’ll be asking questions about the nature of consciousness and subjectivity, about the existence of a coherent self over time, and about the creative uses to which memory and dream may be put.

Prerequisites: LALW200

Lecture/Seminar
Culturally Diverse Content
All College Elective

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