Summer 2010 Vol. 20, No. 2 MAPS Research Update
Science and Nonduality Conference
San Rafael, CA
October 20-24, 2010
MAPS is collaborating with Neti Neti Media and over a dozen co-sponsors on the Science and Nonduality conference. The event, billed as part seminar, part festival, and part conference, will explore knowledge at the intersection of science and spirituality in a five-day series of talks, workshops, panels, and musical performances. The conference will address questions such as: How can science, art, psychedelics, and spiritual practices shed light on the deepest aspects of human experience? How can these and other fields help human beings rethink their most fundamental assumptions about time, selfhood, and reality? How can scientific and spiritual knowledge be reconciled, or is there a conflict at all?
Rick will be participating in a panel discussion on how advances in psychedelic science and struggles to bring psychedelic medicine back into the mainstream may help provide some fundamental answers to these questions. Matt Baggott, Ph.D., who has conducted research at UC San Francisco with MDMA, MDA, and LSD, and other speakers yet to be determined, will join Rick. www.scienceandnonduality.com
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Mountain Plains Conference
Boulder, CO
November 6-7, 2010
Students for Sensible Drug Policy will hold its first annual Mountain Plains Regional Conference at the University of Colorado Boulder. Rick will give the keynote address for this event on the morning of November 6th, and MAPS staff members will be in attendance for the day’s proceedings. The conference will include informational discussion forums on a wide range of drug policy issues. Attendees will be able to sign up for hands-on activism and campaign management workshops and trainings. For more information on Students for Sensible Drug Policy, visit: www.SchoolsnotPrisons.com
Entheogenesis Australis
Psychedelic Symposium
Melbourne, Australia
December 4-5, 2010
The second indoor Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) Symposium will be held at the University of Melbourne. EGA will bring Rick to Australia to headline this year’s Symposium. As a not-for-profit association, EGA creates a supportive environment fostering mature, open discussion about psychoactive plants and chemicals. EGA seeks to explore ways to assess societal impacts and examine the positive applications of plant-based psychoactives and empathogens. The conference aims to provide an unprecedented professional and engaging program in the field of psychedelic studies. EGA expects the 350 tickets to sell out quickly this year – if you will be in Australia, make your plans well in advance.
Mind Altering Science, an OPEN Foundation Conference
Amsterdam
October 23-23, 2010
The OPEN Foundation (translated from the Dutch Stichting OPEN), a Dutch institute working to encourage and legitimize research on psychedelics, will be hosting a conference on psychedelic science. “Mind Altering Science” will host two full days of talks. The list of speakers includes several researchers at the forefront of the current resurgence of psychedelic science. Representing MAPS will be Peter Oehen, M.D. who is currently completing a MAPS-sponsored study of the effects of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD. MAPS is pleased to support the OPEN Foundation conference and Dr. Oehen’s work by sponsoring his travel to and from the conference. (Rick Doblin will not be attending this event.) www.mindalteringscience.com
