LOST Psychology - 9/11S and Otherness

Home , Abandoned (Lost), Ab Aeterno, Across the Sea (Lost), Adrift (Lost), Because You Left, Born to Run (Lost)

Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal

LOST Psychology - 9/11s and Otherness -

Indiana University Fall 2012 Instructor: Adam Fisher, M.A. Counseling & Educational Psychology Email: [email protected]

Introduction

What would really happen to your mind if you were stranded on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific? How would you respond to surviving a plane crash? In LOST Psychology, we will use the groundbreaking television series LOST as a guide to examine human response to trauma and disaster, such as the shipwreck of Alexander Selkirk in 1703 and the more contemporary events of 9/11 and the Norway attacks. Many of these accounts involve real and metaphorical monsters, from terrorists and other “Others” to inept social systems and dan- gerous weather. What happens when we “otherize” those who are different from us? How does trauma exacerbate this process? Additional issues around coping with trauma and exist- ence such as spirituality and the paranormal, free will vs. determinism, and why people per- form acts of heroism will be explored over the course of the semester. Most importantly, we will try to experience these psychological and existential phenomena for ourselves through class activities and discussion, relevant and engaging readings, and personal reflection.

No prior knowledge of or previous viewing of LOST is required. While fans of the show will certainly enjoy the course, the purpose of viewing the series is not to enjoy watching TV per se, but to utilize the series as a lens or scaffolding for exploring the course content. Every week, we will engage in discussion, debate, and activities designed to enhance one’s knowledge of the psychology of LOST: catastrophe, trauma, and otherness. We will also analyze and discuss key episodes from the show, guided by readings from academic journals and pop culture, with an aim to better understand the self, the other, and trauma response.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to… 1. Investigate accounts of disasters and survival with the lens of psychological research and theory, in order to better explain how people cope with trauma and disaster, and more accurately predict how you might respond to similar events. 2. Describe your personal philosophy on key topics in existential psychology and coping, and evaluate how this philosophy influences your psychological health and ability to handle everything from daily challenges and ambiguity, to tragedy and trauma. 3. Engage with the award-winning television series LOST as a heuristic and an academic text to enhance your understanding of self, other, and society. 4. Assess how individuals and groups “otherize” in both useful and destructive ways.

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Required Texts

Books (each book is $10 or less to purchase): • Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. • Ripley, A. (2008). The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why. • Wood, J. (2007). Living Lost: Why We’re All Stuck on the Island.

Episodes (viewing information is discussed in the course schedule, and Appendix A): • Abrams, J.J., Cuse, C., Lieber, J., & Lindelof, D. (Creators). (2010). Lost (television series). Burbank, CA: ABC Studios.

Articles (available on Oncourse): • Baumeister, R.F., Masicampo, E.J., & DeWall, C.N. (2009). Prosocial benefits of feeling free: Disbelief in free will increases aggression and reduces helpfulness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 260-268. • Becker, E. (1973). Human Nature and the Heroic. 8 pages. • Bem, D.J. (2011). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 407-425. • Birmes, P., Arrieu, A., Payen, A., Warner, B.A., & Schmitt, L. (1999). Traumatic stress and depression in a group of plane crash survivors. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis- ease, 187, 754-755. • Bonetto, S. (2007). “No exit… from the island: A Sartrean Analysis of Lost. In S. Kaye (Ed.). Lost and philosophy: The island has its reasons. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. • Boudreau, T. (2003). Intergroup conflict reduction through identity affirmation: Over- coming the image of the ethnic or enemy “other.” Peace and Conflict Studies, 10, 87-107. 2 Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal

• Brody, M. (2007). Holy franchise! Batman and trauma. In L.C. Rubin (Ed.). Using Super- heroes in Counseling and Play Therapy. New York: Spring Publishing Co. • CNN.com: Do loved ones bid farewell from beyond the grave? September 23, 2011. • Fischoff, S., Dimopoulos, A., Nguyen, F. & Gordon, R. (2003). Favorite movie monsters and their psychological appeal. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 22, 401-426. • Fraley, R.C., Fazzari, D.A., Bonanno, G.A., & Dekel, S. (2006). Attachment and psychological adaptation in high exposure survivors of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 538-551. • Freud, S. (1929). Chapter I. Civilization and its discontents. (J. Strachey, Trans.). (pp. 10-21). New York: W.W. Norton & Company. • Gaffney, K. (2007). “The others are coming”: Ideology and otherness in Lost. In S. Kaye (Ed.). Lost and philosophy: The island has its reasons. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publish- ing. • Gandhi, P. (2009). Understanding the nature of spiritual experiences: A qualitative study. Indiana University. • Gersons, B. (1993). Plane crash crisis intervention: A preliminary report from the Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam. Crisis (Toronto), 14, 109-116. • Gleick, J. (2008). The Butterfly Effect. From Chaos: Making a new science. New York: Open Road. • Gottman, J. (2011). The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. • Hill, K. (1998). The psychology of lost. In Lost Person Behavior. Ottawa, Canada: National SAR Secretariat. • Koole, S.L. & Van den Berg, A.E. (2005). Lost in the wilderness: Terror management, action orientation, and nature evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 1014-1028. • Laham, S.M., Tam, T., Lalljee, M., Hewstone, M. & Voci, A. (2009). Respect for persons in the intergroup context: Self-other overlap and intergroup emotions as mediators of the impact of respect on action tendencies. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 13, 302- 317. • Lee, S. (2007). Meaning and freedom on the island. In S. Kaye (Ed.). Lost and philosophy: The island has its reasons. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. • Loxton, H. (2009). Monsters in the dark and other scary things: Preschooler’s self- reports. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 21, 47-60. • Neimark, J. (2004). The power of coincidence. Psychology Today. • Weegman, M. (2008). Monsters: The social-unconscious life of ‘others’ and a note on the origins of group therapy. Group Analysis, 41, 47-60.

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Course Requirements

1. Short Assignments (6) – 20% of Final Grade, due weeks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, & 9 The short assignments are related to assigned readings, course content, and themes that arise in the series. See the course schedule for details on each short homework assignment.

2. Philosopher Paper – 15% - due week 11 You will choose a philosopher or other notable figure that interests you from the following list (or someone else whose name is used in the series up through season three – discuss in advance with the instructor). We will cover these in class, and many of them are discussed in the readings. Here is a list of possible choices with very brief descriptions: • Kate Cooper Austin (died 1902) – American feminist, anarchist, and journalist. • Mikhail Bakunin (1876) – The Russian “Father of Anarchism.” • Joseph Campbell (1987) – American professor of mythology and religion. • Thomas Carlyle (1881) – Scottish philosopher who wrote “Heroes and Hero Worship.” • Anthony Cooper (1683) – English politician and mentor to John Locke. • Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) (living, born 1931) – American spiritual teacher. • David Hume (1776) – Scottish essayist and notable figure of Western philosophy. • John Locke (1704) – English philosopher and the “Father of Liberalism.” • Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1778) – Swiss philosopher. Influenced the French Revolution. • Edward Said (2003) – Palestinian-American professor of English and Comparative Lit. For the paper, you will: a) Write a brief biography of the philosopher’s life. b) Describe the ideas taught by your philosopher, including what he or she contributed to philosophy, psychology, or other notable areas of interest. You are expected to include the philosopher’s original works in writing your paper, but you may draw from secondary sources as appropriate. c) Compare and contrast these ideas and life events with the philosopher’s counterpart on the show (e.g. the philosopher David Hume with the character Desmond David Hume). d) Examine how the philosopher’s and the corresponding character’s ideas and actions are similar to and/or different from your own, and why that is so. No minimum page requirement, maximum 2000 words (approx. 5-6 pages). More detailed grading rubrics of the major assignments, including this paper, will be provided.

3. Content Analyses (5) – 25% - due weeks 3, 6, 10, 12, & 14 Many episodes and stories throughout the series are filled with psychological and philosophical concepts. You will choose 5 episodes, events, or themes (if you need to draw from more than one episode to cover an event or theme) over the course of the semester that resonate with you, and complete a content analysis using course content and/or other related concepts in psychology (you may run your ideas by the instructor if you want to use something form outside of the course). In each analysis, you should: a) Briefly describe the relevant scenes or aspects of the show you will be writing about.

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b) Describe in detail the psychological or philosophical principle you think is relevant to those scenes. c) Elaborate on how the scenes conform (or do not conform) to the principle you iden- tified (for example, you might choose to write briefly about interracial tension and aggression, comparing it with the seemingly race-related conflict early in the series). d) Briefly comment on how this principal applies to your own experience or something from current events related to trauma, disasters, or other aspects of the course. As an example for your first content analysis, you could choose to write about group dynam- ics and psychology of the crash survivors during season 1. You could describe Irvin Yalom’s therapeutic factors of groups (universality, altruism… more info will be provided), and then use them to analyze how the survivors promote or do not promote a psychologically safe and growth-producing environment for each other in the face of trauma and uncertainty. You may use this idea for your first analysis, but you will be expected to come up with your own topics and ideas for the remaining four. Please feel free to discuss your ideas if needed during offices hours if needed. Maximum 1000 words each (approx. 3 pages).

4. Final Project & Paper – 30% – due at then end of the semester For this requirement you will complete a project of your choosing involving some form of psychological research, analysis, and/or content and incorporating the series or themes from the series as the main focus. This project will also include an APA style paper (maximum 5000 words) and a brief (5-10 min.) presentation at the end of the semester. Here are some examples of projects you could do (more will be explained in class): A. Conduct a mini-qualitative study on how members of a local religion make sense of or attribute causes to tragedy and trauma, and how they approach those in the “out- group” or “nonmembers.” You could find a religion or local church that is unfamil- iar to you, attend a service or meeting, and then conduct 20-30 minute interviews with three or four members. You would then conduct an informal qualitative analysis (meet with the instructor for guidance on this, as needed) to look for themes relevant to the course, and compare them to characters in the series. B. Choose a major conflict or struggle in the series, and create journals with entries for someone on each side of the conflict. For the paper aspect of this option, you could choose a current event in real life and research the perspectives of each side. What are their values? Goals? Fears? Dreams? C. Design a self-help/bibliotherapy program to accompany the series as a guide to promote enhanced mental health and wellbeing of viewers. D. Compare and contrast LOST (either the series as a whole or relevant parts) to a lit- erary work from the following list using psychological concepts as a guide (see the instructor if you would like to propose an alternative book, more options TBD in class): Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll), The Brothers Karamazov (Dos- toyevsky), Catch-22 (Heller), Heart of Darkness (Conrad), Island (Huxley), Lord of the Flies (Golding), The Stand (King), or Watership Down, (Adams). It is a good idea to start thinking about your project early in the semester. I will be available to meet with each of you to discuss your ideas, and assist you along the way as needed. There will be two deadlines during the semester for drafts and progress reports of your project, during weeks 9 and 13. If you have another idea in mind for a project, you 5 Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal must discuss it with me early on to make sure it will work. Keep in mind that all projects must be sufficiently rigorous, and will include a paper and a presentation. Presentations will be the last week of the semester. Do not just read from PowerPoint slides. Engage the class!

5. Reflexive Summary of the Course Experience – 10% - due week 15 Near the end of the semester, you will write a short reflexive analysis of your experience with the course topics and the series, examining how your own worldview, biases, interests, and values affect your own tendency to “otherize,” and your ability to overcome challenges big and small. Incorporate events and character arcs in the show as examples in your summary. How can you apply what you’ve experienced in this course to overcome challenges in the rest of your time at IU? No minimum page requirement. You will be evaluated on the quality of your analysis. Maximum 1500 words (approx. 4 pages).

Grading

For questions about your grade, check the Gradebook on Oncourse. I will keep it updated throughout the semester. If you have further questions, please schedule a time to meet with me in person. Here is the grading scale for the course:

Grade Percent Grade Percent Grade Percent A+ 97 B 83 C- 70 A 93 B- 80 D+ 67 A- 90 C+ 77 D 63 B+ 87 C 73 D- 60

Attendance Policy

You are expected to attend and participate in all class sessions. You will be allowed three “freebies” meaning you could miss up to three class periods (regardless of the reason) and not be penalized. Your grade will be deducted 3% for every absence after the first three. It is highly recommended that you save these absences for illness or emergency situations.

Disabilities

Students with visual, hearing, physical, and/or learning disabilities that may require modifica- tion of curriculum, instruction, or assessment, should contact the instructor as soon as possible. Modifications and accommodations will be made provided the student presents the proper documentation indicating qualification for services. Please contact Disability Services for located at 855-7578. You can access information at http://www.indiana.edu/~iubdss/.

Religious Observance

The recognition and celebration of diversity is an important cornerstone for education, and the instructor wishes to accommodate the religious practices of students. Keep in mind you need to arrange this PRIOR to missing class. The following link provides information on

6 Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal accommodations and procedures to allow students to observe various religious holidays: http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/holidays.html.

Academic Misconduct

Cheating, plagiarism, sexual harassment, racial/ethnic discrimination and slurs, or any other student misconduct that adversely affects the learning or safety of other students will not be tolerated. It is essential that students who become aware of, or are victims of any of these activities, contact the instructor immediately. They may also contact Pam Freeman of the Student Ethics Division, IU’s Racial Incidents Team, or the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Anti- Harassment Team. For more information, go to: http://www.dsa.indiana.edu/ethics.html

Plagiarism

All assignments that you turn in for this course must be your original work. Anytime you quote someone or borrow an idea, you need to appropriately cite the resource using MLA or APA style. In needed, you can find information on how to cite sources at http://www.indiana.edu/~libinstr/cite/. http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/practice.html is also a useful site for practice on how to recognize plagiarism. You are expected to abide by the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct. Plagiarism is defined as: “…presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as one’s own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. What is considered “common knowledge” may differ from course to course. a. A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, opinions, theories, formulas, graphics, or pictures of another person without acknowledgment. b. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge a indebt- edness whenever: Directly quoting another person’s actual words, whether oral or written; Using another person’s ideas, opinions, or theories; Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others, whether oral or written; Borrowing facts, sta- tistics, or illustrative material; or Offering materials assembled or collected by others in the form of projects or collections without acknowledgment. (Quoted from Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, Part II, Student Responsibilities, Academic Misconduct, By action of the University Faculty Council (April 12, 2005) and the Trustees of Indiana University)” If there is questionable material in your work, I reserve the right to decrease your points for the assignment, and ask you to change your paper and complete the plagiarism test online.

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- CLASS SCHEDULE - Unit 1: 9/11s and Trauma Response

Week 1 – Disaster Accounts: Oceanic 815 & the El Al 1862 From Buffy Studies in Philosophy to The Wire in Criminal Justice, television has been used in many universities as a medium for exploring all kinds of topics at the university level. After a brief discussion on how LOST fits into this group as a psychology course, we will dive into examining accounts of trauma and disaster. We will use the crash of Oceanic 815 in LOST to look at events including the Bljlmermeer Amsterdam plane crash, the Norway Attacks, as well as 9/11 and United Flight 93.

Watch: • Class*: Pilot: Part 1&2 [S1: E1-2] • Home**: Tabula Rasa, Walkabout, White Rabbit, House of the Rising Sun (O)*** & The Moth (O) [S1: E3-7]

*For the “Class” episodes, we will have evening viewings, separate from class time. Attend- ance is mandatory for viewing nights, as they will also include class discussion.

**There will be a set of the DVDs available in the Collins Library (free) for students to borrow and watch in groups outside of class. Please see appendix A for a description of other viewing options.

***(O) denotes optional episode, although you can still view them if you desire. They were left out of the viewing list due to time concerns, and having less relevance to the content of the course. The episodes that were chosen were deemed to have the most engaging displays of themes and events that could bring the course material to life and engage the class in discussion and debate. See Appendix B for a more detailed rationale for the required episodes. Brief summaries of the skipped episodes will be provided on Oncourse.

Week 2 – Disaster Accounts, part 2: Lost and Disoriented While we continue an examination of accounts of trauma and disaster, we will shift our focus to events that also involve disorientation and being physically lost or displaced, such as shipwrecks and natural disasters. What is it like to have no bearings on your location during disaster? How do we respond to being lost?

Read: • Ripley: The Unthinkable, part 1 (52 pages) • Koole: Lost in the Wilderness (13 pages) • Hill: The Psychology of Lost (15 pages) Turn in: • Short Assignment 1: In no more than 1-2 pages, type up a response to the readings: a. For the Koole article, describe a time when you have been lost (e.g. from child- hood). What did you experience? What did you do?

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b. For part 1 of The Unthinkable, what was surprising to you about the way people respond to disasters? Create one discussion question to propose to the class. Watch: • Class: Confidence Man, Solitary [S1: E8-9] • Home: Raised by Another, All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues, Whatever the Case May Be (O), Hearts and Minds (O), Special [S1: E10-14]

Week 3 – The Body: What Would You Do in a Disaster? How do you think you would respond in a disaster? How is that opinion different from what psychological research and the accounts of survivors suggest would happen? What can we learn from other accounts of historical and contemporary disasters?

Read: • Ripley: The Unthinkable, Part 2 (55 pages) • Herman: Chapter 2: Terror (18 pages) Turn in: • Content Analysis #1 Watch: • Class: Homecoming, Outlaws [S1: E15-16] • Home: …In Translation (O), Numbers, Deus Ex Machina, Do No Harm, The Greater Good, Born to Run (O) [S1: E17-22]

Week 4 – The Body, part 2: Heroism “If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely.” ~Henri Ducard

Why do some people seem to act in heroic ways? Why do people sacrifice themselves for others? What purpose do heroes serve? How does heroism help the hero to deal with trauma and anxiety, even in death?

Read: • Becker: Human Nature and the Heroic (8 pages) • Brody: Batman and Trauma (15 pages) • Ripley: The Unthinkable: Chapter 8 (23 pages) Turn in: • Short Assignment 2: Brief 1-page reflection on heroism in your life – Who do you see as a hero? Speculate on their motivation – why do they act the way they do? Watch: • Class: Exodus: Part 1&2 [S1: E23-24] • Home: Man of Science/Man of Faith, Adrift (O), Orientation, Everybody Hates Hugo, …And Found [S2: E1-5]

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Week 5 – The Mind: Trauma Theory & the Zeigarnik Effect “The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.” ~Judith Herman

What happens to the mental health of those who survive trauma and disaster? Why do some people seem to recover, while others suffer from PTSD with symptoms such as flashbacks, anxiety, hallucinations, and other psychological challenges? What is the Zeigarnik effect and how is it related to your psychological wellbeing?

Read: • Fraley: Attachment and psychological adaptation (12 pages) • Herman, Chapter 3: Disconnection (23 pages) • Gottman: The Science of Trust (selected passages, 10-15 pages) Turn in: • Short Assignment 3: Online assessments on your own attachment style. This measure will assess the amount of attachment and anxiety in your close relationships. You will use the results to write up a 1-page reflection on how your attachment style might influence how you would respond to and cope with trauma, using the Fraley reading as a guide. The first assessment is here: http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi- bin/crq/crq.pl The second: http://www.yourpersonality.net/relstructures/ Watch: • Class: Abandoned, The Other 48 Days [S2: E6-7] • Home: Collision, What Kate Did (O), The 23rd Psalm, The Hunting Party, Fire + Water (O) [S2: E8-12]

Week 6 – The Mind, part 2: Meaning in Chaos How do you interpret significant coincidences in your life? How do we derive meaning from coincidences? What are the pros and cons of doing so? How are chaos, meaning, and control related to the butterfly effect?

Read: • Neimark: The Power of Coincidence (7 pages) • Gleick: The Butterfly Effect (18 pages) Turn in: • Content Analysis #2 Watch: • Class: The Long Con, One of Them [S2: E13-14] • Home: Maternity Leave, The Whole Truth, Lockdown, Dave (O) [S2: E15-18]

Week 7 – The Mind, part 3: Attribution & Control Free Will vs. Determinism vs. Fatalism vs. Divine Providence & Predestination. With factors such as the environment, genetics, and social systems having such a powerful influence on behavior, is free will an illusion? Does the ability of a psychologist to predict your behavior

10 Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal with a high degree of accuracy mean your life is somewhat or even completely determined? How might these ideas affect your coping with trauma and with everyday living?

Read: • Lee: Meaning and Freedom on the Island (12 pages) • Baumeister: Prosocial Benefits of Feeling Free (9 pages) Turn in: • Short Assignment 4: 1-page essay on your beliefs about free will. Is it real? Is it an illusion? Support your claims, and then conclude with how your belief influences your life and how you respond to challenges. Watch: • Class: S.O.S., Two for the Road [S2: E19-20] • Home: ?, Three Minutes, Live Together/Die Alone [S2: E21-24]

Week 8 – That Oceanic Feeling: Existentially Lost What does your faith (or lack of faith) have to do with what Freud called “that Oceanic feeling?” How do we rely on things like faith, logic, or the scientific method to cope with the unknowns in life? How does attachment relate to how you approach questions about the ultimate nature of reality and the universe?

Read: • Freud: Civilization and its discontents (11 pages) • Punita Gandhi: Understanding the Nature of Spiritual Experiences (selected passages TBD, less than 50 pages). Turn in: • Short Assignment 5 – Write a brief (1-2 pages max) paper on your reaction to the readings, including your views on spiritual experiences, the role that faith plays or does not play in your life, and what might have caused your views. Finally, address how these views influences your values, and how they influence how you cope with the unknown, with challenges, or with traumatic events in your own life or in the lives of others. Watch: • Class: A Tale of Two Cities, The Glass Ballerina [S3: E1-2] • Home: Further Instructions (O), Every Man for Himself (O), The Cost of Living, I Do (O), Not in Portland, Flashes Before Your Eyes, Stranger in a Strange Land (O), Tricia Tanaka is Dead (O), Enter 77, Par Avion (O) [S3: E3-12] Saturday Field Trip (optional): • Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center

Week 9 – That Oceanic Feeling, part 2: The Paranormal Psychics, magnet therapy, parapsychology, ESP, telekinesis, astral projection, premonitions, faith healing. How do these phenomena provide meaning? How do they help people cope? Is there any scientific support?

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Read: • Bem: Feeling the Future (17 pages) • CNN.com: Do loved ones bid farewell from beyond the grave? (4 pages) Turn in: • Short Assignment 6: Your assignment is to wear the magnet therapy bracelet (provided) for the week leading up to today. In order to experience and test some of the electro- magnetic properties of the island on the show, we conduct an informal study of the ef- fects of magnetism on your health and energy. • Outline of final project: A summary paragraph or introduction to your project and paper, and a basic outline for each. Watch: • Class: The Man from Tallahassee, Left Behind [S3: E13 & 15] • Home: Exposé (O - comes before Left Behind), One of Us, Catch-22, D.O.C. [S3: E14 & 16-18] Field Trip (optional): • Visiting paranormal sites in Southern Indiana (Locations TBD as a class. Potential sites include the Mountain Grove Cemetery and Dan’s Run in Henryville and the Witch’s Castle in Utica (pending permission from property owners or local government as nec- essary).

Unit 2: Otherizing in Trauma

Week 10 – “Otherness” and Defining the Self The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and “otherness” and how we define ourselves based on the other. We will also view and discuss psychological experiments related to otherness, such as “A Class Divided.”

Read: • Bonetto: No exit… from the island: A Sartrean Analysis of Lost (11 pages) • Gaffney: “The others are coming”: Ideology and otherness in Lost (12 pages) Turn in: • Content Analysis #3 Watch: • Class: The Brig, The Man Behind the Curtain [S3: E19-20 • Home: Greatest Hits, Through the Looking Glass, The Beginning of the End, Con- firmed Dead [S3: E21-23 & S4: E1-2]

Week 11 – The “Other” is Living Next Door What are some contemporary others, both next door, down the street, and in another coun- try? How do things like race, religion, and nationality divide us? What are the pros and cons of using labels to categorize groups?

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Read: • Wood: Living Lost… (288 pages – these are very short pages) Turn in: • Philosopher Paper Watch: • Class: The Economist, The Constant [S4: E3&5] • Home: Eggtown (O – comes before The Constant), The Other Woman (O), Ji Yeon (O), Meet Kevin Johnson, The Shape of Things to Come, Something Nice Back Home (O), Cabin Fever [S4: E4 & 6-11]

Week 12 – Conflict & Imprisonment by the Others Why is there so much conflict between groups? What “groups” do you belong to? How does this affect your views of “others” in society? What are the experiences of people who are held captive? In what ways are we all imprisoned? We will also look at the Stanford Prison Experiment and how it relates to Lost, as well as more current events such as the disappear- ance of Lauren Spierer, and the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart in 2002.

Read: • Laham: Respect for persons in the intergroup context (14 pages) • Bourdreau: Intergroup conflict reduction (17 pages) • Herman: Trauma and Recovery, Chapter 4: Captivity (22 pages) Turn in: • Content Analysis #4 Watch: • Class: There’s No Place Like Home Part 1&2 [S4: E12-14] • Home: Because You Left, The Lie, Jughead, The Little Prince (O), This Place is Death [S5: E1-5]

Week 13 – Demonizing the Other Why do we have monsters in society? What purpose do they serve? Why are monsters memorable? How do they define us? How do we demonize—turn into monsters—those with different values or goals? A guest speaker who is an expert in folklore will guide a discussion with the class on these and other related topics.

Read: • Weegman: Monsters: The Social-Unconscious Life of ‘Others’ (9 p.) Turn in: • Meet with the instructor by today to discuss the progress of your final project. Watch: • Class: 316, The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham [S5: E6-7] • Home: LaFleur, Namaste, He’s Our You (O), Whatever Happened, Happened (O), Dead is Dead, Some Like it Hoth (O), The Variable, Follow the Leader (O) [S5: E8-15]

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Week 14 – What if the “Other” Really is a Monster? What are some different types of monsters, both real and imagined? How does fear work in our lives? When and how is it useful? When is it a problem? How does it relate to trauma and otherness? How might we better manage and utilize fear?

Read: • Fischoff: Favorite Movie Monsters and their Psychological Appeal (25 pages) • Loxton: Monsters in the dark and other scary things (12 pages) Turn in: • Content Analysis #5 Watch: • Class: The Incident [S5: 16-17] • Home: LA X, What Kate Does (O), The Substitute (O), Lighthouse (O), Sundown, Dr. Linus, Recon [S6: 1-8]

Conclusion Week 15 – Putting Humpty Together Again Now that we have examined disaster, trauma response, and otherizing, how do we recover from or overcome these problems? How can we heal intergroup relationships and manage our bias? We will also explore how sacred practices (rather than beliefs) from the religions of LOST (e.g. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam) can enhance trust in oneself and promote recovery from trauma and heal relationships. A guest speaker who has worked with plane crash survivors will also talk briefly on interventions for the survivors and their families.

Turn in: • No homework or reading today, due to the extra at-home episodes. Watch: • Class: Ab Aeterno, The Package [S6: 9-10] • Home: Happily Ever After, Everybody Loves Hugo, The Last Recruit, The Candidate, Across the Sea (O), What They Died For [S6: 11-16]

Week 16 – Presentations You may choose to present either your final paper OR your creative project – whichever you feel is more suited to sharing with the class.

Turn in: • Final Projects • Reflexive Summary on the Course (due via email or Oncourse at the end of finals week) Watch: • Class: The End [S6: 17-18]

14 Adam Fisher – Collins Proposal

Appendix A: Episode Viewing Options

In addition to the set of DVDs that will be available at the Collins library for students to check out and watch in groups, here are some options: • Netflix – The best Netflix plan for the course would be unlimited streaming, which is $7.99 per month (the first month is free), with no long-term contract required. You may also pool your money and share Netflix accounts or watch the “at home” episodes together, but Netflix is limited to streaming one video at a time.

• Monroe County Public Library – There are a few DVD copies of each season of the series available for free to check out.

• Hulu Plus – One week free followed by $7.99/month.

• Amazon – An Amazon Prime account video upgrade is $39.99/year for college students. After that you have one year of streaming of their videos. This is not the best option if the only purpose is for this course, but if you need it for other reasons it could be a good choice. You can also often find the DVDs to buy used, from $2 to $20 per season.

• iTunes - $1.99/episode to buy the downloads, or about $30 per season. Probably not the best option due to the higher cost.

• Other Sites – LOST episodes are occasionally available for free streaming on other sites online. Please ensure that the site you would be using for this option is safe and legal.