2004 FPG Summer Project #00191

Last Modified: Mar 25, 2004

Name	College	Department or Division
William Farrar	Estrella Mountain Community College	Psychology
Employee ID	E-mail Address	Work Phone
xxxxxxxx	william.farrar@emcmail.maricopa.edu	(623) 935-8478
Project
Title		Location
Archetypes and Cultural Diversity in the Literature of Southwest Borderlands		EMCC
Group Application
This is not a group project

Project Dates and Amounts
	Summer I view timeline details	Summer II view timeline details
Timeline Dates	May 12 - Jun 23, 2004	Jul 1 - Jul 29, 2004
Hours	0	98.5
Wages	$0.00	$2,189.66
Registration Fees	0.00	0.00
Subtotals	$0.00	$2,189.66
Total Proposal Amount		$2,189.66

Details
Abstract Write a concise overview with descriptive information about your project (location, time span, etc.) not to exceed 120 words. To take advantage of spelling and word count tools, you can compose this in a blank Word document, copy the text, and paste it in below (all formatting will be reset to normal text).
The concept of archetypes, which was first elaborated by the psychologist Carl Jung, has been influential in creating cross-disciplinary connections between such diverse fields as psychology, mythology, literary criticism, cultural anthropology, and religious studies. However, the relationship of his work to the motifs found in Southwestern literature, primarily literature of people living between cultures in the Southwest borderlands has not been well studied. The goal of my summer project is to deepen this research by gaining first-hand knowledge of Jung’s theory of archetypes and examining its relationship to the motifs found in Southwestern literature. This project, which will be completed in the Phoenix area from July 1 to July 29, will be documented using active journaling to create a reference document.
Purpose Explain your purpose in depth and include relevancy and components of the project. Include a statement of goals and objectives. This is what you want to do and why.
The goal of my summer project is to address this problem by investigating how Jung’s theory of archetypes can be applied to the literature of the Southwest, particularly that literature that addresses the problems of people between two “mainstream” cultures (e.g., Mexican Culture, Culture of the United States, and Native American cultures). The purpose and value of this project. Next to Freud, C. G. Jung is arguably the world’s most influential psychologist. His work, particularly his work on personality and archetypes, spans a wide variety of disciplines and has even influenced contemporary media. Whenever I teach psychology and its relationship to other fields such as anthropology, religious studies, mythological studies, or literary criticism, I inevitably come across Jung’s work and his idea of archetypes. According to Jung, archetypes are fundamental, culturally-shared symbols that we used in almost all narratives- fairy tales, movies, novels, myths- to express aspects of our own psyche in a way that others can understand. Though Jung’s work has been incredibly influential, the relevance of the theory of archetypes to people who live between two cultures has not been well studied. Thus, the end product will allow students to see how the theory of archetypes can be used to relate symbol systems from diverse cultures to one another. Such an accomplishment would be a powerful tool for discussing issues of cultural diversity. Timeline. My project will be accomplished in three phases. In the first phase, I intend to become more directly acquainted with Jung’s primary writings on his theory of archetypes. During this time, I will read and respond via active journaling to the four volumes of Jung’s collected works (The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Aion, and Psychology and Religion: East and West) that directly address evolution of his idea of archetypes. This phase, which will occur mainly at my office at home, will give me a much stronger grounding in the theory of archetypes than I currently have. It is important to have this grounding because I am a psychology In the second phase, I then intend to research the secondary resources on archetype theory that are applicable to literary criticism. This phase of my research project will be accomplished primarily at the ASU library. The goal of this phase is to give me a more comprehensive grounding in how Jung’s theory has been applied by other theorist. In the third phase, my goal is to apply the theory of archetypes to a number of novels that have addressed Southwest issues. The specific novels I am going to apply the theory of archetypes to are: Bless Me Ultima, The Rain God, The Milagro Beanfield War, Ceremony, and Like Water for Chocolate. I chose these particular novels because I have used or encountered them previously in a number of the classes I have taught. This phase will be accomplished primarily at my home office, but I will be using the ASU library resources to investigate secondary sources that can help me gain insight into these works. The relevance of the project. The relevance of this project has three levels, a personal level, a collegial level, and a student level. This project is relevant to me on a personal level because I am a psychologist and Carl Jung is one of the major figures on the psychological landscape. Jung’s contributions to psychology will be encountered in any introduction to psychology text. Because my knowledge of him will be enhanced, I will have a deeper appreciate for his contributions and how they influence other psychologists. This project is relevant on a peer level because I am involved in a number of learning communities where issues of cultural diversity, psychology, English, and English humanities are blended together. But investigating the relationship between psychology and literature, I will become a better colleague to my peers because I will have a deeper understanding of how their interests relate to mine in psychology. Finally, the project is relevant to students because it will make me be a better teacher. I have used many of the Southwest novels that I will be investigating in this project in a variety of my classes, since I am focused on using literature across the curriculum. Understanding how these novels use archetypes will allow me to show students how integrated the study of psychology can be with the study of humanities art. In addition, my deeper knowledge of Jung’s work will allow me to make his contributions more vivid and alive for students. The outcome of the project. The outcome of this project will be the active journal I create. My goal is to create a linear product that is potentially publishable on the web. The journal will have three components: An outline of Jung’s theory of archetypes, the application of the theory of archetypes to literature, and a section in which each novel is analysed in terms of its archetypical themes.
Professional Growth Your own professional growth is a large part of your project. Your professional growth is important to you, your students, and possibly other colleagues. How will this project affect you professionally? What skills will you learn? What environment will you be working in, and how will it influence your teaching or other responsibilities?
Growth to be obtained. Personally, this project will allow me to become more proficient in my knowledge of Jung’s theory of archetypes, more knowledgeable in the symbolism underlying Southwestern literature, and more knowledgeable in how the language of archetypes can be used to discuss material from diverse cultures. My growth will be important to peers, particularly those in English and English humanities who I work with regularly, because it will allow me to be more fluent in a topic of archetypes in literature, that many of them have already shared with me. Because I work with these peers in learning communities, this increased knowledge will be incredibly valuable in helping us to work together and integrate ideas. And, of course, my personal growth will be important to the students because they will be exposed to a new, rich set of tools for discussing issues of cultural diversity. Skills, techniques, knowledge to be gained. The knowledge I hope to gain is about the theory of archetypes. I will hope that I understand how this theory relates to a theory of human personality on a level that I did not have before. The skill that I hope to acquire is in learning to apply the theory of archetypes to literary forms. I am hoping that the practice of my new knowledge on these novels will enhance my ability to apply these archetypes to new material I may encounter. Finally, the technique I am hoping to master is the ability to use the archetypes to discuss, compare and contrast the psychological and social issues that emerge from different cultures. The importance of this growth to me. If I am to continue to think about and investigate how literature and psychology talk to one another, there is no doubt that I will have to become familiar with the work Carl Jung accomplished on the theory of archetypes. As I previously mentioned, Jung’s work epitomizes interdisciplinary thinking, and his theory of archetypes has influenced psychology anthropology, religious studies, mythological studies, or literary criticism, as well as modern art and popular culture. In addition, his work will allow me to continue the work I have started with other colleagues in trying to show how many of the multicultural issues students encounter in different classes are shared in common by the different disciplines. Importance of this growth to my discipline. First and foremost, the project will make my more proficient in my knowledge of one of psychology’s most important theorists, thus making me a more well-rounded psychologist. In addition, the importance to my discipline is closely tied to my personal growth: studying archetypes will make me more aware of their role in the interpretation of modern culture. I can share this knowledge with my students in the classroom.
Benefits
Select the primary area of benefit:	Benefits to your colleagues or department
What benefit is this project to the group checked above? What new information, ideas, attitudes, skills, appreciation, etc. will you bring back?
Plans to Share. I work in one of the smaller colleges of MCCCD. In fact, there is only one other full-time psychology faculty in my department. Because our interaction with peers requires that we frequently meet with people from different disciplines, it is important that I constantly learn about new topics that extend beyond my discipline. Specifically, I have spent over two years participating in a learning community every semester. It is in these learning communities that I primarily intend to share what I am learning in this project. My ideal is take what I learn from this project and use it to demonstrate and model how the theory of archetypes can be used to thematically unify material from different disciplines. Impact on present and future interactions . As mentioned in the previous paragraph I am one of the college advocates for learning communities. Thus, my present interactions with peers is focused on trying to find tools and techniques for helping unifying different disciplines that my peers and I try to combine. The goal of taking on this summer project would to obtain that tool so that in future interactions with peers we can use the theory of archetypes as an active unify principle in learning communities. Skills, techniques, knowledge to be gained. The knowledge I hope to gain is about the theory of archetypes, which will help make me able to treat personality theory more in depth in the introduction to psychology classes I teach. The skill that I hope to acquire is in learning to apply the theory of archetypes to literary forms, which will make me more effective at integrating literature in psychology. Finally, the technique I am hoping to master is the ability to use the archetypes as a tool to bridge discourses that arise from different cultures and different disciplines.