ENR1305 - Learning and Human Memory: The Art and Science of Remembering

Course Description

Before the invention of writing, the primary way to record and transmit knowledge was through the faculty of human memory. Writing changed everything- including the biological mechanisms that support the individual and social evolution of human knowledge. While our debt to the invention of writing is incalculably large, not all of the consequences of this technological advancement were positive. Among the worrisome consequences is our dependence upon external storage devices like books. Today, our memories rely even more heavily on the phones in our pockets. Informed with contemporary research, this course revisits the strategies to remember what held oral traditions together. It revives visual and oral learning for the modern world. The course presents the argument that mnemonics ought to be as fundamental to education as basic literacy or numeracy. Because few (if any) of us have been exposed to such a course, it is appropriate for most anyone. It is appropriate for adults who want to improve their memories, parents who want to help their children achieve in school (or homeschool), and anyone else who has had difficulty learning and is interested in a completely new way to engage knowledge.