Psychedelic Intersections 2026 Call for Papers Now Open
Upcoming Events
The Psychedelic Jesus of the American Counterculture with Erik Davis
October 20, 2025, 11:30 am
Hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions
This research talk features Erik Davis’ work on the figure of Jesus Christ as imagined within psychedelic counterculture. Davis will explore the image of Jesus Christ as a symbol of countercultural spirituality in the Jesus Movement’s psychedelic origins, among other settings.
Featured News
“Communal Work, Ceremonial Becomings, and Rights to Knowledge,” An Interview Essay with Elías García Méndez
Elías García Méndez & Andrea Sánchez Castañeda, CSWR
Elías García Méndez was the morning keynote for the 2025 conference, “Psychedelic Intersections: Betwixt & Between Plant Medicine, Chaplaincy, & Aesthetics.” García Méndez is a Mazatec educator and founder of the Casa Adobe Galería, an art gallery and cultural space in Huautla de Jiménez, Mexico. García Méndez sat down with Andrea Sánchez-Castañeda, CSWR Postdoctoral Fellow of Indigenous Plant Medicine Traditions of the Americas, to reflect on xábasen and the work of Casa Adobe.
Recent Research
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“Ketamine Integration Chaplaincy: A Novel Spiritual Care Approach to Psychedelic Integration”
Jeffrey Breau, Paul Gillis-Smith, & Tara Deonauth; Anthropology of Consciousness Ketamine and esketamine are regularly prescribed in the United States as pharmaceutical interventions for treatment-resistant depression. Although ketamine’s mode of action is distinct from classic psychedelics, patients frequently report similar alterations in consciousness, including experiences described as spiritual or religious. This article provides an overview…
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Psychedelic Intersections: 2024 Conference Anthology
Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith, CSWR, Psychedelic Intersections: 2024 Conference Anthology The Psychedelic Intersections: 2024 Conference Anthology presents interdisciplinary research from scholars and practitioners working at the crossroads of psychedelics, religion, medicine, race, Indigeneity, law, and the underground, history, anthropology, and beyond. Edited by Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith, the Anthology expands on research presented…
Latest News
What Western medicine can learn from the ancient history of psychedelics
David Cox explores what the long history of psychedelics, drawing from traditions in the Americas and Europe, could teach contemporary medical interest in these substances. Featuring CSWR Postdoctoral Fellow Osiris González Romero on Mesoamerican histories of psilocybin mushrooms.
Introducing Petrie-Flom’s POPLAR and PULSE Affiliated Researchers on Psychedelics
The Petrie-Flom Center is excited to announce our affiliated researchers for the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) and our new project, Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience (PULSE). Through research, writing, workshops, and other projects, POPLAR and PULSE affiliated researchers will provide expertise and a range of perspectives on psychedelics law and policy. We look forward to learning from them and sharing their insights with our audiences.
Front of mind for Michael Pollan: psychedelics
What is unique to the new Harvard project, Pollan stressed, is its integration of expertise from the Divinity School and Law School as well as disciplines from across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, will also contribute. This diversity of thought will enable researchers to pursue nonclinical applications including those in the religious realm.
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