Friday, November 08, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

UNLV unplugs program on human consciousness

Donor behind its '97 birth decides to fund scholarships instead

The UNLV Consciousness Studies program has faded to black.

The program, which offered such courses as Near-Death Experiences and Theories of the Paranormal through the College of Sciences, lasted five years and attracted hundreds of Southern Nevadans to classes and lectures.

Its death was handled without publicity by the university, which was criticized quietly by some faculty members shortly after the program's creation.

"The Consciousness Studies program is no longer in existence, and that's been since July 1 of this year," Tom Flagg, a UNLV spokesman, said this week. "The donor, who is Mr. (Robert) Bigelow, decided, and the university agreed, that he would just as soon direct the funds that he was using to support that program to scholarships instead."

The decision coincided with the end of the contract of near-death and afterlife expert Ray Moody as director of the program. Moody is a best-selling author who has medical and doctoral degrees. His books include "Life After Life."

In early 1997, Bigelow, a Las Vegas real estate developer. pledged $3.7 million to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for the creation and continuation of a program that would attract to the university renowned experts on aspects of human consciousness.

In addition to Moody, Charles Tart was a Bigelow Chair of Consciousness Studies. Tart, a parapsychologist, is famous for extended research on altered states of consciousness, near-death experiences and extrasensory perception.

The Consciousness Studies program offered a limited number of classes each semester that could be taken on a credit or noncredit basis.

Flagg said Thursday he did not know exactly why the program came to a halt, but he said the decision was reached without drama.

Bigelow was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. The developer, whose properties include the Budget Suites of America short-term rentals, is fascinated by UFOs and the possibility of life after death. He has in the past expressed a desire to open the first hotels in space.

The university's vice president for development, John Gallagher, and College of Sciences Dean Fred Bachhuber were unavailable Thursday for comment.

In 1997, former UNLV sciences Dean Warren Burggren called consciousness studies one of the last remaining scientific frontiers.

"This area of study is really commanding a lot of interest and excitement," Burggren said. "We're starting to see more interest in the scientific and philosophical sides of understanding human consciousness.

"Some very serious universities are engaged in the scientific study of consciousness, but not many, so the Bigelows have presented our students with a unique opportunity. It is definitely a prize for UNLV."

Web pages describing the Consciousness Studies program were still on the UNLV Web site Thursday. In part, the pages read: "The UNLV Bigelow Chair of Consciousness Studies is dedicated to the rational investigation of the mysteries of human awareness, including the possibility of the persistence of consciousness after death. We offer integrated programs, courses, extracurricular workshops and public lectures by authorities in the fields of survival of bodily death and paranormal phenomena."

A description of the Near-Death Experiences class is as follows: "A thorough overview of a wide range of extraordinary states of consciousness associated with the process of dying. We will discuss the historical, psychological and clinical implications of near-death experiences; we also will consider what bearing they have on enduring philosophical and spiritual questions of life after death."