I still haven't mentioned the school I'm applying to, and I won't just yet, but a few folks here do wonder--rightly--what I'm going to be doing for my dissertation. The field in question will be "religion and consciousness studies," done under the heading of a broader major. Basically, I'm going to study religious perspectives on consciousness, from Nagarjuna to Meister Eckhart to B. Alan Wallace; the religious implications of secular models of consciousness, from Plato to David Chalmers; other relevant topics in philosophy (I've recently discovered the Kyoto School of philosophy, and Keiji Nishitani's Religion and Nothingness will probably play a crucial role in my dissertation); and other topics that constitute a dyad between the two fields, such as d'Aquili and Newberg's research on mysticism and its effects on the brain (though this research will probably be peripheral to the dissertation). I still haven't nailed down my precise topic, but the beautiful thing is that the school in question allows me to write my thesis proposal after I've been accepted. All I have to do preliminarily is broadly define my primary area of research and help find a suitable supervisor. I'll keep you folks posted. I intend to have some fun here... Cheers, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press) co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)
What a coincidence. That is exactly what I'm doing! I'll be done in a week, because I found a single source that completely explains consciousness. It is called "Consciousness Explained," by Daniel C. Dennett. Seriously, though, I read that book about nine years ago and it formed my interest in consciousness and why I don't have any. I don't know if his theories of consciousness carry any weight now, but computer science folks would find it interesting. Congratulations on narrowing down your expansive interests and selecting a university in which to exercise it. It's accredited, isn't it?
What I'm really studying is "Femininst Taliban Theology through the Lens of Inuit Post-Existentialism." I haven't found a supervisor either.
Actually, I have already completed a dissertaion on the same topic... it will soon be published as "Consiousness for Dummies".
Bill, I think I read somewhere that Osama bin Laden is working on his DL Ph.D. in Evasive Groupthink Strategy via the University of San Moritz. He may be able to facilitate your search for a supervisor--the only clincher is that you will have to find him. Russell
Are you getting "CONSCIOUS" and "CONSCIENCE" mixed up here? I always thought that overly religious people looked more UNconscious ) ... and I though that arose from the UNsecural way that they approached life ... Well, I can always learn I suppose.... Peter
