After a brief nap, Sleep and Dreams is back.
The popular psychiatry course, introduced in 1970 by Professor William Dement, focused on basic knowledge of sleep and the dangers of sleep deprivation and consistently drew hundreds of students. When Dement retired from teaching in 2003, he put the course to bed as well.
Since then, he has continued to present informal seminars in dorms and to student groups. But after several undergraduates bemoaned the absence of a full-length course, Dement, the Lowell W. and Josephine Q. Berry Professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, decided to revive the curriculum.
This January, Dement walked into a packed Dinkelspiel Auditorium, ready to introduce his catchphrase—“Drowsiness is red alert”—to 716 students. And there wasn’t a yawn in sight.
