The Gnostic Mind: Jung and the Study of Religion

HDS 1611 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Carl Jung (1875 -- 1961), once the most influential psychologist in the History of Religions, is today almost wholly rejected by the discipline. This course will examine the impact of Jung on the study of religion, the reasons behind this disciplinary amnesia, and imagine what a post-Jungian approach to the psychology of religion could look like in the 21st century.

The course will center primary readings from Jung (in English translation). These readings will encompass his academic writings as well as The Red Book, Jung's own stylized diary of his visionary journeys in "the land of the dead" from 1913-1916. We will explore topics in the history of religions germane to Jung's work: madness and mystical experience, the paranormal and UFOs, symbols, the imagination, and the relationship between a scholar and their historical subject. Critical assessments of Jung from feminist philosophy, anthropology, neuroscience, and comparative religions will be featured.

Altogether, we will interrogate what counts as knowledge within the history of religions and what might have been lost in the forgetting of Carl Jung.

Course Notes

Interested students should contact Matthew Dillon (mdillon@hds.harvard.edu) for a petition.