http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1997/Apr-15-Tue-1997/news/5204630.

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Mind Frontiers
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UNLV students can soon study human recognition, thanks to a $3.7
million academic gift.
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."