fandomhigh | Carl Jung - Archetypes, Etc. (Thursday, 01/12/2006, 7th Period)

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psychology

Carl Jung - Archetypes, Etc. (Thursday, 01/12/2006, 7th Period)

{{Class is closed for grading.}}

Jenny stood at the front of the classroom. After the students signed in and took their seats, Jenny started today's lecture. She had coffee available at the front for anyone who wasn't quite awake yet.

"Okay, first off, one thing I forgot to mention on Monday, guys. That's my detention policy. Cause a disturbance in class? Possible detention, depending on the disturbance. Miss two classes? Detention. Unless you have a good reason. Come and talk to me if you do."

{{OOC: In other words, I get that RL can come up in a heartbeat Let me know if it does.}}

"Jung. He was an introverted child who wanted to be an archaeologist. Unfortunately, his family could only afford to send him to a university that didn't offer courses in it, so he studied medicine instead, and became interested in psych during his residency. Jung was also influenced by reading the work of the philosopher Immanuel Kant ~~whom the mun knows nothing about, darn it~~ and Jung in turn influenced Joseph Cambell's writings on mythology. He started out as one of Sigmund Freud's friends, but broke with the guy over a number of issues, one of which being that Freud wanted to make sure that his theories of the mind and personality? Were the only ones. ~~Throughout this course and Psych 101, you might get the idea that the mun is less than fond of Freud. You'd be right.~~ Mind you, Jung and Freud could both be pretty stubborn about admitting who was wrong and who was right. Given that a lot of Jung's theories deviated from Freud's--though, gotta say, the influence is clearly visible--Jung didn't so much go for this.

Jung was a multidisciplinary kind of guy, so this makes sense. He thought that understanding the psyche needed to be explored not just through psychology, but also through anthropology, astrology, alchemy, dreams, art, mythology, religion and philosophy. See what I mean? He wasn't the first psychiatrist to analyze dreams, but his contributions to the field? Pretty impressive, especially given that his approach to unconscious conflicts weren't all about eros and thanatos--life and death--like Freud's approach was. Jung was concerned more with duality--the anima versus the animus--the feminine versus the masculine--introversion versus extroversion, the shadow--your dark side--versus your persona. The shadow's not necessarily your evil side. It's the unexpressed side of your personality.

One of the big things that Jung pioneered was the concept of archetypes. Symbolism? Really big here. You can have cultural archetypes--like the dark, scary forest, the black knight, or the wise, old mentor--which come from the stories and fairy tales of your culture. Or you can have personal archetypes, for example, if you're a mountain climber, and you start dreaming about rock climbing? A writer dreaming about being in a library? Your personal archetypes have come into play. All archetypes are symbols of the unconscious.

The unconscious? Is what runs below the thoughts you're aware of. It's your suppressed desires, unacceptable social impulses, and conflicts which would be too painful for the conscious mind to acknowledge. Psychological disorders are, in this theory, the result of disharmony between the unconscious and the conscious which are played out in the archetypal stories of our dreams and the symbols we read into our everyday lives.

Possibly the most misunderstood theory of Jung's? The collective unconscious. Please, guys, never say to me that the collective unconscious is a psychic level of thought which all humans can tap into. And there are no Akashic Records or reincarnation and memories of past lives stored away anywhere for all of us to tap into--not in this class, anyway. The collective unconscious is, quite simply, the unconscious psychological drives and urges that all humans share in common. In his studies, Jung discovered that there are symbolic themes that recur throughout all cultures, all time periods, and in all people. Best example I've heard of? It's like psychological DNA.

Yes, we will be covering all these topics in more depth throughout the course. This is to give you an overview of some of what we're going to be covering. So, questions? Comments? Total looks of absolute incomprehension?

{{OOC: OCD comment threads ~~going up shortly~~ are up. Comment now!}}

Useful Links:
Ms. Calendar's Voice Mail
Ms. Calendar's E-Mail

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...

Lee signs in.

"Ms. Calendar, could you explain a bit more on how 'the shadow' isn't necessarily evil?" Lee asks.

Angel signed in.

"How much do you think it influences things when the archetypes are real?" Angel asked. "Like does the archetype of a vampire mean different things in dimensions where vampires don't exist?"

Angel didn't sound at all wistful about possibly living in one of those dimensions.

Edward is here.

*total look of incomprehension*

~~Mun joins in in the Freud-dislike~~

"Ms. Calendar? This 'psychological DNA', can you give us an example of the symbolic themes that occur in different time-periods?"

Rory signed in

"Are archetypes an innate thing, or are they cultural?" Rory wondered. "What I mean is like, do we associate water with rebirth, for instance, because we subconsciously remember the womb, or because culturally we use it as a symbol, even without intending to?"

"Sure, Lee," said Jenny. "The shadow is the suppressed side of a personality. So for someone who's always good-natured, his or her shadow might be bad-tempered. But the shadow of a person with a big ol' rage issues? Probably going to be a little bit more on the sweetness and light side. Theory is that you want to bring your shadow into balance with your persona."

Anakin signed in.

Anakin nodded, taking notes. "That sounds a bit like Jedi meditation, Professor. You're supposed to embrace all aspects of your personality in order to bring yourself into balance."

Susan signs in.

Susan listens carefully and takes notes. "What about fears?" she asks. "Are there images or concepts which are feared universally, through all or most cultures?"

Kant can't decide between two schools of thought so he combines both. *nod* Is it sad that I'm using theses classes as review for psych final next Friday?

Broots signed in.

"Then, how would Jung explain contradictory symbology? Like, to us, white is purity, innocence, whatever, but in China it means death and bad luck. Kind of not the same?"

Clark signs in.

Aww, but I like Freud! He's just so *batshit crazy!*

"Mrs Calendar, you say Jung pioneered archetypes, but you can find them in literature pre-dating Jung by like, centuries. Had nobody thought to analyze these things before Jung, or was he just the first to write them down and take credit ~~cuz that happens a lot~~?"

((OOC: I would totally take a class on this in RL. I am just saying.)

You have a FINAL next Friday? Where are you, may I ask?

:is just starting the new semester next week:

In a retarded high school in California. It's our first final. We were supposed to be done with the semester this Friday, but they extended it two weeks. And then they extended the school year. And are planning to eat up our summer. I will not loose my summer after high school damn it! We will revolt!

*cough* It's been a sore subject.

OH!

They're doing that here, too -- a few of my coworkers (food service bitch here *waves*) are on the same schedule. They got back from winter break and then had finals *after* that...some idiot plan to 'extend summer' later in the year by ending the semester later or something. It's the most ridiculous thing I can possibly imagine; it seems like the districts asking for students to do badly on their mid-terms.

*is greatful for college where I could use winter break to *forget* everything I learned during the semester*

*counts the days to graduation*

*Hamlet signs in.*

"That's pretty neat, Anakin," said Jenny. "Sounds like these archetypes may be a little more universal than Jung thought."

"That's a good question, Angel," said Jenny. "Let's get into it a bit more a little later on, okay?" ~~Like the next class after I answer this comment. Because, wow, fun.~~

Jenny nods. "Well, Edward, that's pretty in-depth. We're going to actually be spending an entire class covering symbolic themes, but some examples? The fairy godmother, the wise mentor, the young untried hero. You know what I mean?"

"It's a little bit of both, actually," said Jenny. "Keep in mind that culture's informed by all the preceding cultures that influence it, and even the cultures of developing humans that we don't have written records on. So our culture is initially begun--way the heck back in prehistory--by common experiences innate in being human."

"Ah, i get it. Thanks" Ed smiles.

"Absolutely," said Jenny. "Archetypes aren't always pretty and happy."

"Good question, Broots," said Jenny. "Not all symbologies are archetypal. And while there are common themes in archetypes, Jung did allow for cultural variances. The Virgin Mary is the same archetype as Aphrodite is the same archetype as Inanna, but there are significant differences between each of the three characers as well."

~~Yeah, but Oedipal complex! Not necessarily universal!~~

"Jung pioneered the concept of archetypes and codified them, and he began their study. Clearer?" Jenny grinned at Clark.

"No problem," Angel said.

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Carl Jung - Archetypes, Etc. (Thursday, 01/12/2006, 7th Period)

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