Science and Pseudoscience

Instructor: David Clevette
Doane College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Syllabus
• Required Reading Material

---

SYLLABUS

Schedule:

• Unit One
1. Introduction / Questionnaire
2. Guest Speaker: John Mark - Psychic from Chicago
3. ESP - Extrasensory Perception


• Unit Two
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 1: The Most Precious Thing (1-22pp.)
   Chapter 2: Science and Hope (23-40pp.)
   Chapter 22: Significance Junkies (367-378pp.)
2. Tape: Math Vantage - Data Collection & Interpretation
3. Cognitive Illusions


• Unit Three
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 13: Obsessed with Reality (219-244pp.)
2. PK - Psychokinesis, Psychic Healings
3. Film: "Powder" (1996)


• Unit Four
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 4: Aliens (61-78pp.)
   Chapter 7: The Demon-Haunted World (113-134pp.)
   "UFOs I: Close Encounters of the First Kind" by Terrance Hines (165-183pp.)
2. UFOs / Crop Circles
3. Tape: "The Lazar Tape"


• Unit Five
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 6: Hallucinations (97-112pp.)
   Chapter 9: Therapy (151-168pp.)
   Chapter 10: The Dragon in My Garage (169-188pp.)
2. Guest Speaker: Prof. Don Jensen - UNL Psychology Dept.
3. Methodological Issues in Paranormal Studies
4. Constructive Memories - UFO Abductions


• Unit Six
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 14: Antiscience (245-264pp.)
   Chapter 18: The Wind Makes Dust (307-318pp.)
   "Too Insensitive to Confirm" by Richard Milton (177-190pp.)
2. Astrology & other Character Readings
3. Science Truths and Mistakes
4. The Shroud of Turin, Cryptozoology, Firewalking, Spontaneous Combustion


• Unit Seven
1. Reading Assignments:
   "The Sun in a Test Tube: The Story of Cold Fusion" by Henry Collins & Trevor Pinch (57-78pp.)
   "Sunbeams from Cucumbers" by Richard Milton (24-36pp.)
   "Health and Nutrition Quackery" by Terrance Hines (252-276pp.)
   "A Case of Ill Treatment" by Richard Milton (74-82pp.)
2. Cold Fusion
3. Nova Documentary: Cold Fusion
4. Health and Nutrition Quackery


• Unit Eight
1. Reading Assignments:
   "Ancient Astronauts" by Terrance Hines (211-216pp.)
2. Tape: "Life on Mars"
3. Ancient Astronauts
4. Tape: "Geosophy"
5. Tape: "Pyramids"


• Unit Nine
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 8: On The Distinction Between True and False Visions (135-150pp.)
2. Guest Speaker: Dale Bacon - NB State Historical Society
   Ghosts: Investigating the Uninvestigatible
3. Dowsing


• Unit Ten
1. Guest Speaker: E.A. Kral - A Skeptic's View of Ghosts


• PAPER DUE



• Unit Eleven
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 3: The Man in the Moon and The Face on Mars (41-60pp.)
2. The Face on Mars
3. Tape: "Richard Hoagland UN Briefing"


• Unit Twelve
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 5: Spoofing and Secrecy (79-96pp.)
2. Guest Speaker: Scott Colborn - Owner of The Way Home Bookstore
   UFOs, Crop Circles, Exploring Unexplained Phenomena


• Unit Thirteen
1. Film: Independence Day (1996)


• Unit Fourteen
1. Reading Assignments:
   Chapter 12: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection (201-218pp.)
   Chapter 17: The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder (293-306pp.)
2. Conclusions
3. Baloney Detection
4. Assessment of Biorhythm Charts
5. Review


• FINAL EXAM

---

REQUIRED READING MATERIAL

• Primary Text:
  The Demon-Haunted World. Carl Sagan. Random House. 1995.
• Course Reading Package:
  "Pseudoscience and the Paranormal." Terrance Hines. Prometheus Books. 1988.
  "Alternative Science." Richard Milton. Park Street Press. 1994.
  "The Golem." Harry Collins & Trevor Pinch. Cambridge University Press. 1993.
• Reference Text:
  The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. Gordon Stein. Prometheus Books. 1996.

 

---

If you have material to contribute, please contact us via e-mail

---