Models of Transformation: Enlightenment and Individuation
10 consecutive Mondays, 6:30 – 8:10 p.m. (excluding October 3, 2005) Beginning September 26, 2005
Instructor: Morgan Stebbins, M.Div., C.S.W.
This course will look at some of the models of transformation set out in Jung’s work and compare them to representations of other transformational processes, both historical and present-day. Jung’s most famous model is known as the way of the hero, but this is by no means the only one. Gnostic ascendance, Buddhist concepts of enlightenment, and different kinds of religious conversion will all be considered. Mythic narrative can be seen as the collective representation of personal psychic processes, so we will explore a number of heroic and non-so-heroic images of transformation from East and West, but focusing on the Jung’s vocabulary of individuation and the various Buddhist descriptions of enlightenment. We are in a period of psychic and political expansion and upheaval, and understanding the confluence of unconscious influences can help orient us and give more options for personal understanding.
Psyche and Globalization
5 consecutive Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:40 p.m. (excluding October 12, 2005)
Beginning September 28, 2005
Instructor: Sylvester Wojtkowski, Ph.D.
Jung viewed culture as the externalization of the psyche. Since Jung’s day, the social-cultural landscape has changed dramatically. Globalization, information technologies and digital environments have generated rapid, ongoing shifts in our experience of everyday phenomena. The global Zeitgeist dis-orients not only individuals, institutions and entire societies, but has altered the very notion of “reality” itself, which now needs an adjective: “actual,” to distinguish it from “virtual” reality. We will explore the significance of these phenomena for Jung’s notion of “culture” as the manifestation of the psyche. We will draw on ideas of C.G. Jung, James Hillman, Raphael Lopez-Pedraza, Wolfgang Giegerich, Jean Baudrillard, Martin Heidegger, among others.
Basic Concepts of Analytical Psychology, Part 1
5 consecutive Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. (excluding October 12, 2005)
Beginning September 28, 2005
Instructor: Armin Wanner, S.T.L.
This course will introduce the basic principles of the psychology of C.G. Jung: consciousness, the personal unconscious, symbols, dreams, archetype, ego, persona, shadow, anima/animus, the Self, and individuation. Readings, lectures, and group discussion will lead participants toward an understanding of these concepts.
Dream Analysis: Both a Science and an Art
5 consecutive Thursdays, 6:00 – 7:40 p.m. (excluding October 13, 2005)
Beginning September 29, 2005
Instructor: Maxon J. McDowell, Ph.D., C.S.W.
Jung observed that “in each of us there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves.” The source of our dreams seems to look at us objectively. It offers corrections when we are off-center. It suggests action we might take and its likely outcome. Dream analysis requires not only a structure of logic but also symbolic thought. We will explore both aspects in this class. Dream analysis is a complicated skill that can only be learned slowly: this class will be appropriate for all, whether or not you have taken other classes on the subject. We will not analyze participants’ own dreams: participants will be asked to bring dreams (with permission) from friends or family.
Astrology: A Study in Archetypal Symbolism
5 consecutive Thursdays, 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. (excluding October 13, 2005)
Beginning September 29, 2005
Instructor: Ami Ronnberg, M.A.
In this seminar we will look at astrology as a symbolic system by using the wealth of images in ARAS. We will focus on the twelve signs of the zodiac — and the gods that rule them — as expressions of archetypal forces, indicating how we process experience. Astrology has been called the earliest form of psychology and presents a unique map of the individuation process. No previous knowledge about astrology is necessary.
Fall II: Classes begin week of November 7, 2005
Monsters, Inc. — Deconstructing the Monsterous
5 consecutive Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:40 p.m. (excluding November 23, 2005)
Beginning November 9, 2005
Instructor: Sylvester Wojtkowski, Ph.D.
We are estranged from what is the most familiar — Heraclitus
Throughout history, monsters have had a terrible press in human culture. They have served as imaginal [and now increasingly virtual] training grounds for the killing practice of heroes-to-be — although to be fair, the monsters made the heroes and their dismembered bodies made the world. Not bad for such universally [Chinese dragons notwithstanding] feared and despised creatures. Down with the heroes! We need a monster liberation movement! These days they have become endangered species: hiding under kids’ beds and threatened by Disney-ification. It is high time that the monsters’ contribution to imagination and psyche be thoroughly re-evaluated. In this course, we will give the credit where the credit is due. We will look at the familiar heroic narratives and examine them with an eye on the monster. In our efforts we will be assisted by writings of Michael Vannoy Adams, James Hillman, C.G. Jung, Donald Kaltched, Alfred Ribi, and others.
Basic Concepts of Analtical Psychology, Part 2
5 consecutive Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. (excluding November 23, 2005)
Beginning November 9, 2005
Instructor: Armin Wanner, S.T.L.
This course is a continuation of Basic Concepts of Analytical Psychology. Through lecture and discussion, participants will gain a deeper understanding of selected principles first introduced in the basic course, as well as explore concepts not yet covered, such as synchronicity, alchemy, and active imagination.
The Secret of the Golden Flower: C. G. Jung and Taoism
5 consecutive Thursdays, 6:00 – 7:40 p.m. (excluding November 24, 2005)
Beginning November 10, 2005
Instructor: John M. Lundquist, M.L.S., Ph.D.
One could argue that it is Taoism, of all the Asian religions that Jung studied, that had the greatest impact on him and on his thinking. His collaboration with the Sinologist Richard Wilhelm, with their first joint publications appearing in 1928, was one of the most fruitful of his life. The primary publication that demonstrates the depth of this influence is Jung’s “Commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower,” the translation of a Taoist text by Wilhelm. Jung’s Commentary is one of the richest sources of information and knowledge on his views of the Mandala and of Alchemy. In fact, within the structure of the The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, this Commentary is reprinted in the volume on Alchemical Studies. In this course, we will study the Commentary in depth, relating it to a broader understanding of Taoism, and letting the text guide us into a deeper understanding of some of the central issues in Jung’s work, such as the mandala, alchemy, consciousness, the unconscious, the anima and the animus.
The Analytical Psychology of Art
5 consecutive Thursdays, 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. (excluding November 24, 2005)
Beginning November 10, 2005
Instructor: Tobi Zausner, Ph.D.
Through lecture and slide presentation, this course will explore concepts such as the archetypal symbolism in art of the collective unconscious, archetypes of transformation (the underworld, chaos, and creativity), inspiration (the anima, the animus, and the self), and the power of archetypal images (religious, mythological, and political art).