Sleep, Dreams, and the End of Capitalism [Durham, NC]
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $320 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Thursdays April 4 - May 2 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET | IN PERSON, 719 N Mangum St., Durham, NC
“Our century is excellent at the production of nightmares and terrible at the interpretation of dreams,” writes Anne Boyer in The Undying. In fact, neoliberal capitalism is invested in maximum 24/7 productivity, making it difficult to find the time to sleep at all, and often making daily life a waking nightmare. So, from modafinil and melatonin to light therapy and sleep trackers, the 21st century has developed an entire industry around medicalizing sleep. In a world where capitalism requires us to buy back our own capacity to rest, can sleeping be a force of resistance? And could your own private, most vivid dreams be important sites of revolution for our collective world?
In this class, we’ll study wide-ranging texts in psychology, history, theory, sociology, philosophy, literature and the arts to understand how sleep and dreams have been captured by economic forces and what role they can play in resisting the neoliberal demand for flexible, precarious, and endless work. Over the course of five weeks, we’ll examine how capitalism mobilizes race and gender categories, coding rest as laziness and dreams as irrational. We’ll explore how Freud’s idea of the unconscious as manufacturing dreams like a little factory emerged at the height of industrialization and how his influence shapes ideas about dreams today. We’ll ask: Can we return to dreams the status of prophecy and collective communion? We’ll follow along with Jonathan Crary’s 24/7 and Tricia Hersey’s “The Nap Ministry” as they imagine the resistant force of sleep and rest. Along the way we’ll investigate, too, what art and artists have to say about the matter, from surrealism to science fiction. And we’ll ask if dreams can help us do what many think is impossible: imagine the end of capitalism.
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This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $320 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Thursdays April 4 - May 2 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET | IN PERSON, 719 N Mangum St., Durham, NC
“Our century is excellent at the production of nightmares and terrible at the interpretation of dreams,” writes Anne Boyer in The Undying. In fact, neoliberal capitalism is invested in maximum 24/7 productivity, making it difficult to find the time to sleep at all, and often making daily life a waking nightmare. So, from modafinil and melatonin to light therapy and sleep trackers, the 21st century has developed an entire industry around medicalizing sleep. In a world where capitalism requires us to buy back our own capacity to rest, can sleeping be a force of resistance? And could your own private, most vivid dreams be important sites of revolution for our collective world?
In this class, we’ll study wide-ranging texts in psychology, history, theory, sociology, philosophy, literature and the arts to understand how sleep and dreams have been captured by economic forces and what role they can play in resisting the neoliberal demand for flexible, precarious, and endless work. Over the course of five weeks, we’ll examine how capitalism mobilizes race and gender categories, coding rest as laziness and dreams as irrational. We’ll explore how Freud’s idea of the unconscious as manufacturing dreams like a little factory emerged at the height of industrialization and how his influence shapes ideas about dreams today. We’ll ask: Can we return to dreams the status of prophecy and collective communion? We’ll follow along with Jonathan Crary’s 24/7 and Tricia Hersey’s “The Nap Ministry” as they imagine the resistant force of sleep and rest. Along the way we’ll investigate, too, what art and artists have to say about the matter, from surrealism to science fiction. And we’ll ask if dreams can help us do what many think is impossible: imagine the end of capitalism.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $320 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Lindsey Andrews | Thursdays April 4 - May 2 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET | IN PERSON, 719 N Mangum St., Durham, NC
“Our century is excellent at the production of nightmares and terrible at the interpretation of dreams,” writes Anne Boyer in The Undying. In fact, neoliberal capitalism is invested in maximum 24/7 productivity, making it difficult to find the time to sleep at all, and often making daily life a waking nightmare. So, from modafinil and melatonin to light therapy and sleep trackers, the 21st century has developed an entire industry around medicalizing sleep. In a world where capitalism requires us to buy back our own capacity to rest, can sleeping be a force of resistance? And could your own private, most vivid dreams be important sites of revolution for our collective world?
In this class, we’ll study wide-ranging texts in psychology, history, theory, sociology, philosophy, literature and the arts to understand how sleep and dreams have been captured by economic forces and what role they can play in resisting the neoliberal demand for flexible, precarious, and endless work. Over the course of five weeks, we’ll examine how capitalism mobilizes race and gender categories, coding rest as laziness and dreams as irrational. We’ll explore how Freud’s idea of the unconscious as manufacturing dreams like a little factory emerged at the height of industrialization and how his influence shapes ideas about dreams today. We’ll ask: Can we return to dreams the status of prophecy and collective communion? We’ll follow along with Jonathan Crary’s 24/7 and Tricia Hersey’s “The Nap Ministry” as they imagine the resistant force of sleep and rest. Along the way we’ll investigate, too, what art and artists have to say about the matter, from surrealism to science fiction. And we’ll ask if dreams can help us do what many think is impossible: imagine the end of capitalism.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.