Mind Frontiers

     Out-of-body excursions. Near-death experiences. The neurobiology of consciousness and unconsciousness. Paranormal events. Metaphysical phenomena.
      UNLV students soon will have an opportunity to earn science credits for studying such aspects of human consciousness, thanks to a $3.7 million gift from Las Vegas real estate developer Robert Bigelow.
      A dozen professors from across the country already have submitted applications for the newly created Bigelow Chair of Consciousness Studies. And a dozen more who are teaching about human consciousness have expressed an interest in coming to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as visiting professors in the College of Sciences.
      Although not formally linked, the new undergraduate-level classes will complement the work done during the past four years in UNLV's Consciousness Research Laboratory. The lab's director, Dean Radin, lauds Bigelow for his donation and commitment to educating people about an area of study that's often marginalized or dismissed entirely.
      "Right now, there's a big, big hole between physics and psychology," Radin said Monday. "With consciousness studies, we're attempting to understand what links the two."
      In addition to the classes to be offered by a visiting professor, Radin, a parapsychologist whose work has been funded by Bigelow and other private interests, will teach his first UNLV class, "Frontiers of Human Consciousness," this fall in the Honors College.
      Radin's projects have included researching the effects of the human mind on its surroundings, ghost detection and questioning whether casino payouts are higher when the moon is full (one study covering 50 lunar cycles suggested gamblers at one casino had slightly better odds).
      Radin applies scientific standards to the parapsychological, and he's fascinated with finding ways for the human mind to control machines.
      Seventy-one people so far have participated in Radin's on-going attempt to measure the reaction men and women have prior to viewing photographs of violence and sex compared with their reactions prior to seeing tranquil images of meadows and bunnies.
      Radin and Warren Burggren, UNLV's interim dean in the College of Sciences, call consciousness studies one of the last remaining scientific frontiers.
      "This area of study is really commanding a lot of interest and excitement," said Burggren, emphasizing the UNLV class will focus on the science of human consciousness. "We're starting to see more interest in the scientific and philosophical sides of understanding human consciousness."
      Burggren said a small number of colleges and universities offer similar programs. Included on that list are Duke University, the University of Kentucky, Northeastern, Virginia Tech, Carlton College, and Seton Hall, he said.
      "Some very serious universities are engaged in the scientific study of consciousness, but not many," Burggren said. "So the Bigelows have presented our students with a unique opportunity. It is definitely a prize for UNLV."
      Burggren said he expects the classes, which could be offered at soon as this fall, will be wildly popular, as they are elsewhere.
      In a written statement, Bigelow said, "We are very interested in seeing the disciplines of physics, biology, and chemistry -- empirical scientific investigations into the natural laws of the universe -- applied to the study of consciousness."