From the dawn of civilization, we have always come into life as bundles of want and weakness to lead and leave it as something else. Hunters, gatherers, mothers, fathers, revolutionaries, investment bankers, murderers, mechanics. When -and how- did we start leading and leaving it as human beings with "souls?" Through a wide-ranging look at science, social science, our own lives and our experimental interactions with each other in this class, we will tackle the extraordinary evolution of human interiority over the course of man's history and in the shorter but no less valuable trajectory of a single human life. What has it ever meant to be human, and what does it mean to us, and you, today? Get ready to get your human-soul-mush pulpy.

Japan: a repressed society, right? Did you know that male-male sexuality was conspicuously visible in Japanese society, starting way back in the 800s all the way up till it mysteriously 'vanished' in the 1800s? In this class, we will examine the historical phenomenon of Japanese homoeroticism through the critical evidence of a number of fascinating personal journals and historical accounts, as well as (PG-13) art and fiction from the times. This study will ultimately take us to a better understanding of the powerful and far-reaching undercurrents of Japanese society as a whole, and give us a perspective on how Japan's historical societal character affects its many social phenomena ("deviant" and not) today. Let's take a look under the hood at what all they've been repressing for a thousand years, shall we?

Inception: It was pretty cool, right? Well, even in our reality, you can, in fact, become the conscious architect of your dreams. In this class, though we won't be able to go into the minds of *other* people, we'll take a look at the fascinating phenomenon of lucid dreaming and go over some of the important techniques you need to practice in order to learn to control your own subconscious. We'll also do a test run for one of these techniques right in class (so don't be scared by the class length-you'll be unconscious for a fair chunk of it). Note: Taking this class will not automatically let you begin having lucid dreams. It takes a good deal of disciplined practice to get to the point where your sleeping mind is like putty in your god-like dreaming hands; the purpose of this class is to introduce to you those techniques you need to practice, in addition to planting in your mind the seed of the idea that you want to be conscious when you dream.