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An Interdisciplinary Conference Exploring the Intersections of Aesthetics, Ethics, Religion, and Altered States
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Documentary Screenings: April 12-13, 2023
Conference: April 14-15, 2023
UC Berkeley | Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
FREE and open to the public
CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
In a recent article, the anthropologist Eduardo Kohn argues for an attunement to psychedelic – or “mind-manifesting” – shapes and forms as technologies for orienting ethical life and envisioning planetary repair. Kohn proposes an expansive definition of “psychedelic science” as a method that encompasses a variety of technologies with the capacity to attend to processes and patterns of “mind-manifesting” in the world.
In dialogue with Kohn’s article, this conference seeks to foster an interdisciplinary conversation on the significance of psychedelics – and altered states more generally – for ways of knowing and engaging with the world. Across different historical periods and societies, altered states – drug-induced and otherwise – have inspired and shaped a multiplicity of epistemological, ethical, religious and aesthetic traditions. Medical and healing practices comprise only a part of these, and so in contrast to the typical focus in recent psychedelic conferences on clinical and scientific research, this conference instead invites a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on the contemporary psychedelic revival that centers the arts, humanities, and social sciences alongside biomedical framings of psychedelics.
We will ask: How are different psychedelic and altered state practices shaping contemporary religious, political, and aesthetic/artistic practices, as well as the epistemological and ethical frameworks through which we apprehend the world? How do these contemporary practices disrupt, extend, or reconfigure historical traditions of psychedelic use? What are the possibilities and limitations of turning to psychedelics and plant medicines as allies in the struggle to redress historical inequities, grapple with climate crises, and build a more just world?
This conference will foster a timely conversation on these themes across the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley campuses as well as the broader Bay Area community. The goal of the conference is to enrich contemporary discussions regarding the significance of psychedelics and altered states not only for scientific research and mental/physical health, but also for religious, ethical, and aesthetic forms of life across different political and historical communities.
In dialogue with Kohn’s article, this conference seeks to foster an interdisciplinary conversation on the significance of psychedelics – and altered states more generally – for ways of knowing and engaging with the world. Across different historical periods and societies, altered states – drug-induced and otherwise – have inspired and shaped a multiplicity of epistemological, ethical, religious and aesthetic traditions. Medical and healing practices comprise only a part of these, and so in contrast to the typical focus in recent psychedelic conferences on clinical and scientific research, this conference instead invites a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on the contemporary psychedelic revival that centers the arts, humanities, and social sciences alongside biomedical framings of psychedelics.
We will ask: How are different psychedelic and altered state practices shaping contemporary religious, political, and aesthetic/artistic practices, as well as the epistemological and ethical frameworks through which we apprehend the world? How do these contemporary practices disrupt, extend, or reconfigure historical traditions of psychedelic use? What are the possibilities and limitations of turning to psychedelics and plant medicines as allies in the struggle to redress historical inequities, grapple with climate crises, and build a more just world?
This conference will foster a timely conversation on these themes across the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley campuses as well as the broader Bay Area community. The goal of the conference is to enrich contemporary discussions regarding the significance of psychedelics and altered states not only for scientific research and mental/physical health, but also for religious, ethical, and aesthetic forms of life across different political and historical communities.
Co-Sponsored by:
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Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion
Berkeley Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry Department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley Townsend Center for the Humanities |
Center for Swedenborgian Studies Graduate Theological Union Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary |
