Anthropology of Dreaming and Myth

(ANTH 3022W) Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota Instructor: Lor Phillips Email: phil0483@umn.edu Office Hours: M 1:30-2:30, W/F 3:30-4:30 Teaching Assistants: Nate Meyer (A-I) Office Hours: 11-2 Friday Tom Walton (J-Z) Office Hours: 4-7 Thursday Class Location: Anderson 330 Class Times: MWF 2:30-3:20 Office Location: 365 HHH Email: meye1401@umn.edu Location: 320 Blegen Email: walt0412@umn.edu Location: Wilson Library Dunn Bro

Course Description: Dreaming and folklore are two similar and related expressions of human creativity, imagination and fantasy. In this course we will look at these two phenomena separately through holistic, anthropological lenses, which includes cultural, biological, historical and psychological approaches to these two themes. Additionally, will we examine how folk narrative and dreams overlap and how they have influenced each other culturally and historically in both individual and collective imaginations. In this course, we will be reading original historical materials as well as theoretical responses to them. The purpose of this reading is to understand and experience original texts for yourself and to learn to respond to them critically. Course Requirements: Because this is a writing intensive course, the work consists primarily of writing assignments. There will be no in class tests instead you will be responsible for a number of reading responses, in class activities, a mid-term essay and a final research paper. Please note: the due dates of the assignments are in the syllabus schedule below. All written assignments must be double spaced, 12 font/New Times Roman with one-inch margins. Grade breakdown: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ten, 1-2 page reading response papers (30%) In-class activities (5%) 5-6 page Mid-term Paper (20%) 1-2 page paper proposal and annotated bibliography for the final project (15%) 9-11 page final research project, first and final draft (30%)

Explanation of Requirements: 1. Reading Response Papers: These short writing assignments require engaging

2.

3.

4.

5.

with the material from the current week's reading and lecture. You will have fourteen opportunities to turn in a reading response, but you are only required to turn in ten. If you turn in more than ten assignments, I will take the highest of your assignments to count towards your grade. These assignments will be due on the Friday of each week (unless otherwise noted), starting in week 2 and ending on week 15. Each assignment is worth 3 pts. In-class Activities: You will receive credit for participation in in-class active learning exercises. You cannot make these activities up after they occur but can be excused from them with proper documentation. You can miss up to three class activities without penalty. Mid-Term Paper: This will be a traditional 5-6 page essay. This paper will be due Monday, October 24th. The question(s) for this paper will be handed out at a closer date. Late papers, without proper documentation, will be reduced a third of a grade level day they are late. Proposal and Annotated Bibliography: No final papers will be accepted without a proposal and annotated bibliography. The proposal will be 1-2 pages and the Annotated Bibliography will be as many pages as necessary. I will provide detailed instructions in class. Final Project: You will pick a research question appropriate to our class subject to explore in the final project. You will be required to submit a first draft and a final draft for the research paper. The first draft is due December 5th, and the final draft will be due on December 19th. This paper will be graded on A-F basis.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade and will be reported to the Student Conduct Committee. Assigned Texts: The following books are required for the course: Freud, Sigmund. On Dreams. James Strachey, ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
1952. Tedlock, Barbara, ed. Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, 1992. Thury, Eva and Devinney, Margeret. Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

All additional reading materials will be available for you on our class Moodle site: https://moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=22249 Course Website: https://moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=22249 In order to share information, links and presentations with you, I have created a moodle website for our course. This site will be updated often and will have any links mentioned in class, my own power point presentations, and any other necessary information such as class assignments, this syllabus, etc.

Course Outline
Week 1: September 7/9 Introduction to Dreaming & Myth
Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology: What is Myth? pp. 3-14 Myths and Dreams pp. 465-467 Freud, On Dreams: Introduction by Peter Gay pp.ix-xxiii Tedlock, Dreaming: Tedlock, Dreaming and Dream Research pp. 1-30

Week 2: September 12/14/16 Approaches to Dream Interpretation

Freud, On Dreams: Chapters I VI, pp 5-47 Tedlock, Dreaming: Kilborne, Benjamin On Classifying Dreams pp. 171-193

In-class film: Young Dr. Freud Week 3: September 19/21/23 Freud & Jung
Freud, On Dreams: Chapters VII-XIII, pp 48-76 Jung, Carl. On the Nature of Dreams (moodle) Wilkinson, Margaret. The dreaming mind-brain: a Jungian perspective (moodle)

Week 4 : September 26/28/30 The Neurobiology of Dreaming. Domhoff, G. William Refocusing the Neurocognitive Approach to Dreams: A critique of
the Hobson Versus Solms Debate (moodle) Hobson, J. Allan REM sleep and dreaming: towards a theory of protoconsciousness (moodle) Solms, Mark Dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by different brain mechanisms (moodle)

Week 5: October 3/5/7 Bad Dreams, Nightmares; Spirits and Spooks

Adler, Shelley Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome among Hmong Immigrants: Examining the Role of the 'Nightmare' (moodle) Kirmayer, Laurence Nightmares, Neurophenomenology and the Cultural Logic of Trauma (moodle) Tedlock, Dreaming: Merrill, William. The Rarmuri Stereotype of Dreams pp.194-219

Week 6: October 10/12/14 Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Dreams

Reiser, Morton The Dream in Contemporary Psychiatry (moodle) Slavik, Steven A Practical Use of Dreams (moodle) Zandra, Antonio, Sophie Desjardins, ric Marcottee Evolutionary Function of Dreams: A Test of the Threat Simulation Theory in Recurrent Dreams (moodle)

In-class film: Inception Week 7: October 17/19/21 Dreams and Folklore

Tedlock, Dreaming: Kracke, Waud Myths in Dreams, Thought in Images: An Amazonian Contribution to the Psychoanalytic Theory of Primary Process pp 31-54 Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology: Ways of Understanding Myth pp 15-20 Carroll, Michael Folklore and Psychoanalysis: The Swallowing Monster and OpenBrains Allomotifs in Plains Indian Mythology (moodle)

Week 8: October 24/26/28 Sharing Dreams, Making Narratives Tedlock, Dreaming:

Herdt, Gilbert Selfhood and Discorse in Sambia Dream Sharing pp 55-85 Tedlock, Barbara Zuni and Quich Dream Sharing and Interpreting pp 105-131 Homiak, John The Mystic Revelation of Rasta Far-Eye: Visionary Communication in a Prophetic Movement pp 220-245

**Due October 24th: Mid-Term Paper** Week 9: October 31/November 2/4 Origins and Cosmos
Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology: Myths of Creation pp 23-88 Myths of Destruction pp 125-138, 147-154 Hoppl, Mihly The Birth of Myth (moodle)

Week 10: November 7/9/11 The Hero Myth Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology:
Heroes and Tricksters pp 155-157 Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces (discussed by Dave Whomsley)159165 The Epic of Gilgamesh pp 166-192 A Levi-Straussian Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh pp 193-202

**Due on November 7th: Research Paper Prospectus** Week 11: November 14/16/18 Greek Tragedy Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology:

Sophocles, Oedipus the King pp 231-279 Levi-Strauss, Claude The Structural Study of Myth pp 280-294 Strittmatter, Roger Oedipus, Akhnation, and the Greek State: An Archeology of the Oedipus Complex (moodle)

Week 12: November 21/23 Trickster Tales

Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology: Raven: A Native American Trickster pp 295-304 African and African-American Trickster Stories pp 339-352 den Uijl, Sebastiaan The Trickster 'Archetype' in the Shabnama (moodle)

**Due on November 21st: Research Paper Annotated Bibliography** **Reading Response due on Wed 23rd, instead of Friday, due to short week** Week 13: November 28/30/ December 2 Folklore and Ritual Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology:
Ritual and Myth pp 368-371 Turner, Victor, Ritual pp 373-384 Demeter and Persephone: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter pp 385-402 Isis and Osiris pp 403-416 Davidson, H.R. Ellis,Rituals in Northern Europe pp 429-445

Week 14: December 5/7/9 Folktales and Fairy Tales Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology:
How to Perform a Jungian Analysis of Myth or Fairy Talepp 485-493 Propp, Vladimir, The Morphology of the Folktale 499-513 Proppian Analysis of The Wizard of Oz pp 514-523 Grimm, Household Tales pp 524-540

**Due December 5th: First Draft of Research Paper** Week 15: December 12/14 Myth in Modern Life Thury & Devinney, Introduction to Mythology:
Using Multiple Analysis to Highlight Different Aspects of the Same Tale pp 560567 Stagecoach and Firefly: Science Fiction and the Journey into the Unknown pp 589602 Harry Potter: A Rankian Take on the Hero of Hogwarts. pp 603-615

**Reading Response due on Wed 14th, instead of Friday, due to short week** Final Paper Due by 4pm on December 19th in the Anthropology Main Office - 395 HHH Center