Foundations of Mythology
HM 520........ 2 Units
Mythology reveals the complex metaphoric and symbolic nature of the human psyche in its embodied search for meaning. This course surveys theoretical foundations of mythology, providing students with a depth of understanding to apply various mythic traditions to individual life experiences, career goals, and spiritual applications.
Mythology and Contemporary Inflections
HM 525........ 2 Units
Expanding upon students' knowledge of mythology, this course examines interpretive approaches to the study of sacred narratives as they are expressed in text, oral traditions, and symbolic representation. Attention is given to our personal and collective mythological understandings as they bring form and meaning to personal, career, and spiritual enterprises.
Symbolism and the Visual Arts
HM 522........ 2 Units
Visual art emerges from the creative imagination of the world in subjective and cultural experiences, as well as through the natural order. Art is often replete with psychologically and spiritually significant metaphors and symbols that connect soul to the deep mysteries of life. This course unfolds the depth of feeling and connection through images, the capacity of symbols to bridge the conscious and unconscious, the impact of culturally embedded symbols, and the voice of the world soul speaking through the prisms of psyche's images.
Engaging Myth Psychologically
HM 523........ 2 Units
Myths contain universal images and elementary ideas imbedded in human experience. The collective psyche expressed through world mythologies meets and converses with the individual psyche, serving as guide, mentor, and companion. Steeping in the ancient Sumerian myths of Inanna and Gilgamesh, as well as in scholarly commentaries, students deepen into the stories. Using a progression of depth psychological methods, students access personal connections to these collective narratives, and discover how these myths may inform our lives.
Archetypal Patterns in Cinema
HM 622........ 2 Units
Overarching mythic patterns found in contemporary films are analyzed by means of depth psychological concepts. Film can inspire archetypal connections and reveal transformational themes. This subject includes explorations of shadow, the cinematic framing of reality, the inherent tendency toward wholeness, and the complex process of creating a story on film.
Joseph Campbell, Myth and Archetype
HM 652........ 2 Units
Students explore Joseph Campbell’s works which weave mythology, folklore, history, and theology across time and cultures to discern patterns and expressions of the archetypal imagination. Campbell’s paradigm of the hero’s journey, as an archetype of individuation, is portrayed in world myths and fairy tales. Students are asked to discern how this paradigm lives in our cultural and personal experiences.
Specter and Phantasm
HM 534, 2 units
This seminar will track the spectral foot of the phantasm through the critical theory and popular culture in the modern era. On the one hand, we will investigate the imbrication of the phantasm with developments in media, from Spiritualist photography to the uncanny status of the image in some contemporary cinema and media art. At the same time, we will explore archetypal theories of the phantasm and creative imagination that draws from psychoanalysis, Greek science, and Renaissance concepts of the imagination.
Mythodrama
HM 623........ 2 Units
Character development, cultural foundations, and personal experience merge in dialogical encounters with mythic characters. Mythodrama is a facilitated group process, which expands our relationship with cross cultural myths and their archetypal figures. This process allows one to be better equipped to explore the reality of personal and collective myths.
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