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PHILADELPHIA – April 19, 2013 On the 70th anniversary of the first intentional LSD trip, a compelling new documentary film about the academic study of psychedelic drugs is released. “Psychedemia” was the first academic conference funded by an American university to explicitly focus on the risks and benefits of psychedelic experience. Ph.D’s, M.D.’s, M.A’s, graduate students and lay folk from all walks of life convened at the University of Pennsylvania over the 27th-30th of September 2012 to present new research addressing the historical and potential influences of psychedelics on knowledge production, health, and creativity. The four day event brought together scientists, artists, journalists, historians and philosophers from more than 10 countries for an Ivy League convocation unprecedented not only in view of its controversial subject matter, but in its unparalleled inter-disciplinary scope.
SECOND INTERNATIONAL PSYCHEDELIC SCIENCE CONFERENCE SHARES LEADING RESEARCH RESULTS WITH BROAD AUDIENCES Registration Is Now Open for Psychedelic Science 2013 in Oakland, Calif., April 18-23, 2013 Psychedelic Science 2013 presents the worldʼs leading psychedelic research in a three-track conference and multiple workshops over five days. More than 65 speakers from at least 11 countries will share their latest research. The conference will explore results and findings in three concurrent tracks: (1) Clinical/Scientific, (2) Interdisciplinary, and (3) Ayahuasca. Over the past decade, psychedelic research has been experiencing an international renaissance. Substances such as LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, and ibogaine are being explored for their potential to calm end-of life anxiety, reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and help end addictions to alcohol and opiates. Psychedelic Science 2013 will present the latest research on the potential benefits as well as the risks of these fascinating compounds. Psychedelic Science 2013 is the second such conference held in the United States. The first conference in San Jose, Calif. in April 2010 sold out, drawing over 1,000 attendees and receiving international media attention. Conference presenters come from the worldʼs leading universities—including Johns Hopkins, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Francisco, Purdue University, University of São Paulo (Brazil), Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona), Heidelberg University (Germany) Hannover Medical School (Germany), University of Zürich (Switzerland), University of British Colombia (Canada), University of Toronto (Canada), and many others—as well as from leading independent research institutes. Many researchers are accomplished authors, publishers, and speakers. In addition to the conference and workshops, Psychedelic Science 2013 will provide ample opportunities to connect with others interested in this promising medical and scientific field. Friday night attendees can enjoy a 3-hour Sunset Cruise and informal dinner on the San Francisco Bay, with an option to disembark in San Francisco to attend Alex and Allyson Greyʼs “Bicycle Day” event. Saturday night attendees may attend a formal evening dinner. The Marketplace of Goods and Ideas will be free and open to the public exhibit hall for shopping, scientific poster presentations, book signings, and impromptu gatherings. Continuing Education credits are available for medical doctors, therapists, and other medical professionals. Psychedelic Science 2013 is presented by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Heffter Research Institute, Beckley Foundation, and the Council on Spiritual Practices. For more information and to register, visit psychedelicscience.org.
Episode Four of PsyPod: The Psychedemia Podcast. Sitaram Das interviews Jonathan Talat Phillips, Author of “The Electric Jesus”. They discuss the book, Jonathan’s journey of healing, and his experiences with the Santo Daime. They talk about psychedelic social activism, the power of forgiveness, and how healing is possible for all of us.
Psychedemia is using indiegogo to help fund the conference. (view our indiegogo site here). Thanks to generous support from the medical school and Penn’s graduate student association, we have been able to assemble a stellar line-up of academics in the sciences and beyond. But with less than 2 months until Psychedemia begins, we need help to finance the transportation of artists along with representative samples of their work to Philadelphia. Since it’s a lot harder to find grants for artists than for scientists, we’re turning to you–our extended community–for help. Visionary art explores a dimension of the psychedelic experience that is inaccessible by other means, and our goal of a radically interdisciplinary conference requires that we make an effort to include all constituencies. As a sign of appreciation for your support, we’re pleased to offer the following perks:
Episode Three of PsyPod: The Psychedemia Podcast. Sitaram Das interviews UC Santa Cruz Grateful Dead Archivist Nicholas Meriwether. They discuss the new collection, and take a few intimate peeks into the band’s life by looking at the records they left behind. They talk about the days of the electric kool aid acid tests, and how that time shaped that band and guided them into their future. They talk about what made the Philadelphia Spectrum so special, and how the band was a vehicle for personal transformation and social change.
Episode Two of PsyPod: The Psychedemia Podcast. Sitaram Das interviews Author, Anthropologist, and Healer Steve Beyer. They talk about the difference between shamans and sorcerers, magical pathogens, the ubiquitious nature of spirits, petulance and humility, talking sticks, and restorative justice. Listen to learn why the spirits like songs and tobacco.
Conference Blotter Presale Our limited edition conference blotter was created by the visionary Steve Marcus. Steve has been creating hand drawn works or art in the shadows of popular culture for over 20 years in his manhattan studio. He has created works for MTV, Cartoon Network, Rolling Stone Magazine, High Time’s Cannabis Cup, and The Tibetan Freedom Concert. We are honored that Steve has offered his talents to Psychedemia.
We are pleased to present “PsyPod: The Psychedemia Podcast” with our host, Sitaram Das. Sitaram Das interviews Author and Journalist Don Lattin about the early history of LSD experimentation, Gerald Heard, Bill Wilson, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert.
Volume 1 of the Journal of Interdimensional Poetry will be released at the Psychedemia Conference for Psychedelic Culture at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2012. The editors welcome submissions from interested writers. What is interdimensional poetry? It is many things, multidimensionally speaking, perhaps including: + a sense of humor. + attention to the power of ritual and performance. + a laboratory for new symbolic frames wherein personal and collective identities are consciously shaped and refashioned. + the way words mean many things at once and elsewise, forming constellations. + an alternative to postmodern irony. + investigations into consciousness and worlds beyond the measurable. + interest in a sustainable, aesthetically-inspired worldview. + creative exploration of potential–possible worlds, ways of knowing, states of being, forms of communication and communion–without a final resting point. + creative decisions as probes for further possibilities. What does interdimensional poetry mean to you?
Psychedemia was featured in an article about psychedelics in the Philadelphia Daily News. Read and Enjoy, Here!
