For 38 years, psychiatry and behavioral sciences Prof. William Dement\u2019s class, Psychiatry 135: Sleep and Dreams, has been a fixture of the campus curriculum. This year, the course has proceeded\u2014but with some changes that could possibly impact course enrollment.<\/p>\n
Winter quarter marks the first time Sleep and Dreams will be offered without its once standard natural sciences General Education Requirement (GER). Last year, the elimination of the course\u2019s GER caused a great deal of confusion and led to Dement accusing the Senate Subcommittee on General Education Requirements of failing to inform him why his course had been stripped of its GER.<\/p>\n
Despite all the commotion, Dement was not worried by the change and believes that the course remains true to its main principles.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural science isn\u2019t the purpose of the course,\u201d Dement said. \u201cThe course is to teach students how to manage their sleep and not to fall asleep at the wheel, which is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on class enrollment since the 2000-01 academic year, Sleep and Dreams has remained one of the most popular classes on campus. According to the Office of the Registrar, the class size in winter quarter of 2001-02 reached 281 students while the next year, numbers rose slightly to 288.<\/p>\n
However, in 2002-03, when Dement announced his retirement, class numbers spiked to 826 as students scrambled to take Sleep and Dreams before it was too late. The professor returned for the 2005-06 academic year, with 670 students enrolling after the class\u2019 two-year hiatus.<\/p>\n
Since then, class enrollment has been steadily decreasing\u2014472 students enrolled last winter. This year, the drop-off for winter quarter enrollment has been considerable with 194 students; however, it is unclear whether the numbers were influenced by the absence of the GER or because the course will also be offered in the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell to be perfectly honest, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Dement said. \u201cThis is the first year I\u2019ve offered the course two quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Dement has not given up the fight to regain the natural science GER.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things we\u2019re thinking of doing is asking the committee what actually qualifies,\u201d Dement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to go a certain distance and add something on for people who\u2019d like to fulfill their natural science requirement,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Dement says he\u2019s assigned the task to one of his TAs to find out what they would need to add.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be too much, but since it qualified for several years, it would be weird if it was in fact totally zero,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, science is more than molecules by a long shot. There is a science of sleep research. We look at neurons and sleep in other animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dement maintains that he has not changed anything about the core curriculum.<\/p>\n
Will Perl \u201912 took the class last year. Although he says he would not have taken the class without the GER, he still enjoyed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stuff you learn is just interesting and applicable,\u201d he said. \u201cIt should definitely fill the GER because it\u2019s important content that everyone should know and [the GER] motivates people to take the class. I mean it\u2019s not biology or chemistry, but it\u2019s all based on science.\u201d<\/p>\n
For others, the natural science GER removal hasn\u2019t affected their enrollment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, had it had a GER I would have taken it without a hesitation, but the fact that it doesn\u2019t meet the GER requirement anymore made me hesitate before deciding to take it,\u201d said Danny Organ \u201913, who is currently enrolled in the class. \u201cI ultimately decided to take it and I\u2019m really glad I did because Dement is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise Thygesen \u201913 agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll probably take it next year as long as Dement is teaching it, even if it doesn\u2019t satisfy the GER, because Dement is one of the most famous professors at Stanford,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone says you should take his class.\u201d<\/p>\n
While rumors of Dement\u2019s retirement circulate every year, the professor believes that he\u2019ll be teaching for as long as his health permits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d he said. \u201cI enjoy giving talks in the dormitories so no\u2014only if health forces me and I\u2019m not a young chicken anymore that\u2019s for sure but as far as I know, I\u2019m healthy and all that. I have all my mental faculties.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For 38 years, psychiatry and behavioral sciences Prof. William Dement\u2019s class, Psychiatry 135: Sleep and Dreams, has been a fixture of the campus curriculum. This year, the course has proceeded\u2014but with some changes that could possibly impact course enrollment. Winter quarter marks the first time Sleep and Dreams will be offered without its once standard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3872,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}