Understanding dreams (and consciousness) is really tied to understanding the human brain. I would consider that, in general, to be one of the questions of science, not dreaming specifically.

After all, is the phenomenon of dreams that much more interesting than, say, the phenomenon of memories and recollection, or emotional experience, or learning, or anything else brain-related?

You can stimulate memories and recollection, induce emotional experience, and can initiate learning with known ways that work, even if the understanding of how they work isn't fully developed.

Are there known ways to stimulate a dream?