EPS 426 Honors Program Special Foundations of Psychedelic Studies Fall 2011 Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations Northern Illinois University ============================================ There is a central human experience, which alters all other experiences ... not just an experience among others, but rather the very heart of the human experience. It is the center that gives understanding to the whole. Once found, life is altered because the very root of human identity is deepened. LSD and the Enlightenment of Zen Wilson Van Dusen =========================================== Instructor: Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. Office hours: before and after class in the Honors Program classroom email: troberts@niu.edu and by appointment. homepage: http://www.cedu.niu.edu/lepf/directory/faculty/roberts.shtml Specific Objectives: Psychedelic research may be the field with the greatest gap between the information scholars and scientists have discovered and what the general public knows. This course helps bridge that gap by surveying psychedelics' history from archaeological times to the present and by examining their implications for psychotherapy and mental health, religion, and various academic disciplines and professional interests. Students may select a topic for individual study such as archeology, anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, botany, chemistry, religion, philosophy, one of the arts, literature and language, or implications for professional practices such as health, law, education, and similar fields. Liberal Education Objectives: In addition to these specific objectives, this course will help teach you to think critically (that is, to analyze information, evaluate opinions, and use higher level cognitive processes), broaden your intellectual horizons (by exposing you to new ideas from across disciplines, through time, and from different cultures and perspectives), and promote self-awareness, (especially awareness of how your own mind functions). NOTICES, WARNINGS, AND CAUTIONS Because this course considers some illegal substances it’s prudent to consider the following: “Psychedelic Warning Label” (A former student labeled this this way.) Required books: Grof, Stanislav LSD: Doorway to the Numinous (previous title Realms of the Human Unconscious) Huxley, Aldous The Doors of Perception Stevens, Jay Storming Heaven Walsh & Grob Higher Wisdom Recommended books: Grob, Charles Hallucinogens: A Reader Hayes, Charles Tripping Roberts, Thomas Psychedelic Horizons Smith, Huston Cleansing the Doors of Perception Stolaroff, M. The Secret Chief Revealed And hundreds more, maybe thousands of others. Required Internet Email List Subscription: See August 24. Grading: During Finals Week, you will submit a portfolio whose contents are listed in the Finals Week’s section of this syllabus. Academic integrity: Academic integrity is expected of all students. The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have plagiarized if they copy the work of another during an examination of turn in a paper or assignment written, in whole of part, by someone else. Students are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy from books, magazines, the Internet, or other sources without identifying and acknowledging them. Academic misconduct includes reusing work by oneself for another course. If academic misconduct is suspected, the faculty member will follow the “Faculty Guide to Academic Misconduct” issued by the University Judicial office. The standard grade for academic misconduct is an F in the course. For details about academic misconduct, go to: http://www.stuaff.niu.edu/judicial/faculty.htm . Current research in-class presentation: Aug. 29th – Sept. 28th. Is any psychedelic research going on today? People always ask this question while we are studying Grof. To keep our class up to date on current research, you will briefly summarize (5-7 minutes) a report on current psychedelic research to the class. Self-selected book in-class presentation: Oct. 3rd--Oct. 26th. Writings on psychedelics are so many, new, and varied that it is impossible to cover them all. To give our class a taste of this diversity, you’ll select (with my OK) a book on your own to read for class. In about 12 minutes, you’ll summarize and evaluate the book. It can be fiction or nonfiction, popular or scholarly, scientific or humanistic, pro-psychedelics or anti-psychedelics, secular or sacred so long as it has psychedelics as an important theme. Or you might compare two books. You’ll reserve a date to tell the class about it. If you want and if the book is long, you may work with one partner and both discuss the same book. Your class handout will become part of your portfolio. A list of the topics your book review should include is on the last page in this syllabus. Term Project in-class presentation: Nov. 1nd – Nov. 29th. Work together in a group, with a partner, or individually if you wish. Have fun and make them interesting and informative. This might be a class activity, creative project, play, TV interview, a comparison of several books, paper on a topic that interests you, term paper about psychedelics for another class (with your other professor’s approval), your own research project (no credit for illegal activities), report on a conference you attended. What can you come up with? (Remember: no credit for illegal activities). Check with me to be sure your topic is OK. You’ll present your project to the class in a presentation of about 10 to 25 minutes per person — handouts are handy. A handout or summary of your project will become part of your portfolio. Weekly Internet Field Trips (assignments) will transport you to some of the many websites which specialize in psychedelics and related topics. From their home pages, explore around the sites and their links for about 10 minutes to see what you can find. Recreational Internet Field Trips. Not assigned. Fun places to poke around. In-class videos: These are not recreational time-fillers, but should be considered as guest lectures to learn from. One of the nice things about this topic is that there are many excellent videos to learn from and enjoy. You should learn their contents as you would from readings and lectures. =============================================================== Introduction— Themes we will follow through this semester Mind, Religion, Social-Historical Context Aug. 29 – Sept. 28th Short, 5-7-minute, in-class presentation on current research. Sign-up to reserve a date and/or topic. Make a 1-page handout, which will become part of your portfolio. The most up-to-date places to look are: www.maps.org/research, www.clinicaltrials.gov, and www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query (probably the world’s best source for medical news). Aug. 22 Introduction to the class Psychedelic vs. psychoactive Why not to put LSD in your friend’s coffee Aug. 24 Assignments Read this syllabus. Any questions? Morris: Research on Psychedelics Moves Into the Mainstream (handout) Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.maps.org Click on Free Monthly Email News Signup and signup. Huxley: The Doors of Perception, all (Does not include Heaven and Hell.) The full text is also available at https://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/writings/huxley_doors.shtml however, there is no pagination. If you print this copy and to facilitate in-class discussion, I recommend you insert page numbers. . The Human Mind and Psychology Aug. 29 Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip. http://www.maps.org/media/videos/ video collection from an April 2010 conference “Psychedelic Science for the Twenty-first Century.” Fadiman: A Questionnaire Study of Psychedelic Experiences (handout) Grof: Preface to LSD: Numinous In-class video: begin Psychedelic Science Aug. 31 Assignments Grof: LSD: Numinous Chapter 1 Recreational Internet Field Trip: Fascinating! 19 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKm_mnbN9JY In-class video: finish Psychedelic Science Sept. 5 Labor Day, no class. Sept. 7 ================================================== It is assumed that if, as is often said, one traumatic event can shape a life, one therapeutic event can reshape it. Psychedelic therapy has an analogue in Abraham Maslow’s idea of the peak experience. The drug taker feels somehow allied with a higher power; he becomes convinced that he is part of a much larger pattern, and the sense of cleaning, release, and joy makes old woes seem trivial. Grinspoon and Bakalar Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered ==================================================== Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.heffter.org Grof: LSD… Chapter 2 In-class video: begin LSD: Spring Grove Experiment Sept. 12 ============================================== [T]his substance is an unspecific amplifier of mental processes that brings to the surface various elements from the depth of the unconscious. What we see in the LSD experiences and in various situations surrounding them appears to be basically an exteriorization and magnification of the conflicts intrinsic to human nature and civilization. If approached from this point of view, LSD phenomena are extremely interesting material for a deeper understanding of the mind, the nature of man, and human society. Stanislav Grof Realms of the Human Unconscious ============================================== Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.erowid.org A very rich site. Grof: LSD… Chapter 3 In-class video: finish LSD: Spring Grove Experiment Sept. 14 ============================================== In contradistinction to writings on the psychedelics that are occupied with experiences the mind can have, the concern here is with evidence they afford as to what the mind is … judged both by the quantity of data encompassed and by the explanatory power of the hypotheses that make sense of this data, it is the most formidable evidence psychedelics have thus far produced. The evidence to which we refer is that which has emerged through the work of Stanislav Grof. … The novelty of Grof’s work lies in the precision with which the levels of the mind it brings to view correspond with the levels of selfhood the primordial tradition describes. Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition Huston Smith ================================================ Assignments Grof: LSD … Chapter 4, pp. 97-126 Question: Where do we see BPMs I and II in our lives, arts, and history? Recreational Internet Field Trip: Nichols, Dave. www.maps.org/news-letters/v09n4/ Click on “From Eleusis to PET Scans” This is also a portal to back issues of the MAPS Bulletin. Sept. 19 ================================================== Deep reverence for life and ecological awareness are among the most frequent consequences of the psychospiritual transformation that accompanies responsible work with non-ordinary states of consciousness. The same has been true for spiritual emergence of a mystical nature that is based on personal experience. It is my belief that a movement in the direction of a fuller awareness of our unconscious minds will vastly increase our chances of planetary survival. Stanislav Grof The Holotropic Mind (page 221) ================================================== Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: http://birthpsychology.com/ Grof: LSD… Chapter 4, pp. 126-156 Roberts: handout: Sometimes It’s Lucky … and Snow White Grof’s … Question: Where do we see BPMs III and IV in our lives, arts, and history? In-class lecture: A Grofian interpretation of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Recommended video: Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Sept. 21 and 26 =================================== The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: … The kingdom of God is within you. Luke XVII, 20-21 ================================= Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.ibogaine.org Recreation Internet Field Trip: Bioethics Conference videos. To be added. Student BPM papers. Show your ability to use Grof’s BPMs to analyze something, - - an event in your life, a movie or TV show, historical event, news stories, your dreams, literature, music, etc. Make a 7-10 minute in-class presentation and hand in a paper, which will become part of your portfolio. Sept. 28 ========================================= Ah, yes. I see what you have done. You have stripped away ME! This is a touch of death—a preparation for the big one when No Me will be permanent. Unnamed patient to Dr. Sidney Cohen ============================================ Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: http://www.atpweb.org/ Grof: LSD…, Chapter 5, pp. 157-181 ----- Oct. 2, 3, or 4 – Prohibition, PBS TV. ---- Oct. 3 – Oct. 26. Self-selected book review in-class presentation. See the last 2 pages of this syllabus for instructions. Provide a 1 or 2 page handout for the class. This review will become part of your portfolio. Oct. 3 ================================================ The greatest impact this acid trip had on me was to entirely alter my view of death. This has affected the way I live. ... If I had been asked to draw a picture of death I would have drawn a black box; that is all. Now I have tried drawing pictures of death in which I am fusing into the horizon, feeling ecstasy. My sense was, and is, that the strong beam of light from the setting sun on the ocean horizon will pull me into its orange warmth, and I will sink into a "beyond." Emerging Woman, Natalie Rogers Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip. Pam Sakuda’s session http://blip.tv/heffter-research-institute#516292 Grof: LSD … Chapter 5, pages 181-217 Oct. 5 ========================================= The most important obligation of any science is that its descriptive and theoretical language embrace all the phenomena of its subject matter; the data from [altered states of consciousness] cannot be ignored if we are to have a comprehensive psychology Charles T. Tart =========================================== Assignments Readings: Grof: LSD…, Chapter 6 and Epilogue Recreational Internet Field Trip: http://teleomorph.com/category/psilocybin/ In-class video: begin Interview with Stan Grof on Transpersonal Psychology Oct. 10 Assignments; To be announced. Guest Speaker ? : Stephen Beyer, author of Singing to the Plants. Weekly Internet Field Trip. http://www.ayahuasca.com/ . Thoughtful Perspectives Oct. 12 ==================================================== In recent years the West has begun to appreciate the fact that tribal societies can teach us much about the natural world from which we are so often alienated. It seems we may also have much to learn about the supernatural world, from which we are likewise alienated. Bearing in mind that humans have an innate need to experience altered states of consciousness, to ignore or repress our own natures in this way is to neglect our own capacities. What anthropology can do, by describing other cultures in which scientific and poetic approaches to truth are part of a holistic vision, is to remind us of the lack of harmony in the elements of our own second nature. It can indicate ways in which we may reach a better understanding of the importance of altered states of consciousness in both our collective and our personal lives. Richard Rudgley Essential Substances in Society Assignments Walsh & Grob: Higher Wisdom, pp. xi-23, 241-255 Recreational Internet Field Trip: http://www.csp.org/communities/docs/vaughan-balance.html “A Question of Balance: Health and Pathology in New Religious Movements.” Oct. 17 =========================================== It should not be necessary to supply any more proof that psychedelic drugs produce experiences that those who undergo them regard as religious in the fullest sense. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered Lester Grinspoon & James Bakalar ====================================== Assignments Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.csp.org/chrestomathy Walsh & Grob: Higher Wisdom, pp. 25-67 Oct. 19 Assignments Walsh & Grob: Higher Wisdom, pp. 69-144 Question: Who has the knowledge, right, power, or expertise to decide religious issues having to do with the entheogenic uses of psychedelics? World Series Internet Field Trip. http://www.dockshort.com/dockshort/ Oct. 24 =================================================== At the point in his evolutionary progress where we first call him "Man" beyond a doubt—Homo sapiens sapiens—and when he came to know, also beyond a doubt, what awe and reverence were, he clearly felt that Soma was conferring on him mysterious sensations and powers, which seemed to him more than normal: at that point Religion was born, Religion pure and simple, free of Theology, free of Dogmatics, expressing itself in awe and reverence and in lowered voices, mostly at night, when people would gather together to consume the Sacred Element. The first entheogenic experience could have been the first, and an authentic, perhaps the only authentic miracle. This was the beginning of the Age of Entheogens, long, long ago. Wasson et al, Persephone’s Quest ==================================================== Assignment Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/ (a rich source) Walsh & Grob: Higher Wisdom, pp. 147-188 In-class video: R. Gordon Wasson, Mushroom Man Oct. 26 ================================================= The experiment was powerful for me, and it left a permanent mark on my experienced worldview. (I say “experienced worldview” to distinguish it from what I think and believe the world is like.) For as long as I can remember I have believed in God, and I have experienced his presence both within the world and when the world was transcendentally eclipsed. But until the Good Friday Experiment, I had had no direct personal encounter with God of the sort bhaki yogis, Pentecostals, and born-again Christians describe. The Good Friday Experiment changed that, presumably because the service focused on God as incarnate in Christ. Cleansing the Doors of Perception Huston Smith ============================================== Assignments Walsh & Grob: Higher Wisdom, pp. 191-239 In-class video: Jeffrey Mishlove Interviews Huston Smith Recreational Internet Field Trip: http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/ Oct. 31 =================================== That’s the essence of science: Ask the impertinent question, and you are on your way to pertinent science. The Ascent of Man Jacob Bronowski ================================== Hand-in, take-home essay test: Select a topic, discipline, or area of interest and consider psychedelics’ implications for it. Can you invent some “impertinent questions” for the topic you select? Present your paper to the class and lead a brief discussion of it. This will become part of your portfolio. In-class video: Halloween Special: The Witch’s Curse. Nov. 2nd – 28th: In-class partners or individual project presentations. Sign up to reserve a date and/or topic. The 60s— Social, Political, Historical, Scientific and Intellectual Context Nov. 2 ============================================= Time, events, or the unaided individual action of the mind will sometimes undermine or destroy an opinion without any outward sign of change. … No conspiracy has been formed to make war on it, but its followers one by one noiselessly secede. As its opponents remain mute or only interchange their thoughts by stealth, they are themselves unaware for a long time that a great revolution has actually been effected. Alexis de Tocqueville ============================================== Assignments Storming Heaven, pages vii-12, 23-43. Optional: 13-22 Recreational Internet Field Trip: http://www.normal-design.com/bicycle-ride.html (highly enjoyable 3 ½ mins) Nov. 7 ================================== If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake Guest speaker: Bruce Sewick Assignment Take an hour or so to explore this site and its links. Weekly Internet Field Trip: Drug Policy Alliance. http://www.drugpolicy.org/about-us Nov. 9 Assignment Storming Heaven, pages 44-87 In-class video: Mind Control Murder, Frank Larson Recreational Internet Field Trip: Huxley: Drugs that Shape Men’s Minds http://www.csp.org/practices/entheogens/docs/huxley-drugs.html Nov. 14 ========================================== Turn on. Tune in. Drop out. Timothy Leary ========================================== Assignment Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.usdoj.gov/dea Search for a topic related to this class. Storming Heaven, pages 91-135 In-class video: 1/3 Berkeley in the 60s Nov. 16 ========================================== Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away. LSD - My Problem Child Albert Hofmann Assignment Storming Heaven, pages 136-184 In-class video: 1/3 Berkeley in the 60s Recreational Internet Field Trip: Search Google for <Bicycle Day> http://www.cedu.niu.edu/lepf/edpsych/faculty/roberts/Why-Is-Bicycle-Day-April-19th.doc Nov.21 ============================================= Some years ago I myself made some observations on this aspect of nitrous oxide intoxication, and reported them in print. One conclusion was forced upon my mind at that time, and my impression of its truth has ever since remained unshaken. It is our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus, and at a touch they are there in all their completeness, definite types of mentality which probably somewhere have their field of application and adaptation. No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite discarded. How to regard them is the question,--for they are so discontinuous with ordinary consciousness. William James Varieties of Religious Experience ================================================ Assignment Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.key-z.com (a site for soar eyes) Storming Heaven, pages 185-235 Field trip: to Normal Road site of 60’s historical artifact. In-class video: 1/3 Berkeley in the 60s Nov. 23 no class, but there is an assignment ================================================ The rejection of any source of evidence is always treason to that ultimate rationalism which urges forward science and philosophy alike. Alfred North Whitehead Assignment Storming Heaven, pages 236-288 Recreational Internet Field Trip: Bear’s website. www.thebear.org/ Nov. 28 ================================================ I should say also that I consider Humanistic, Third force Psychology to be transitional, a preparation of a still “higher” Fourth Psychology, transpersonal, transhuman, centered in the cosmos rather than in human needs and interest, going beyond humanness, identity, self-actualization and the like. Abraham Maslow Preface to Toward a Psychology of Being, 2nd edition ================================================= Assignment Weekly Internet Field Trip: www.cognitiveliberty.org Storming Heaven, pages 289-320 Nov. 30 ==================================================== Deep reverence for life and ecological awareness are among the most frequent consequences of the psychospiritual transformation that accompanies responsible work with non-ordinary states of consciousness, The same has been true for spiritual emergence of a mystical nature that is based on personal experience. It is my belief that a movement in the direction of fuller awareness of our unconscious minds will vastly increase our chances of planetary survival. Grof, p. 221, The Holotropic Mind. ================================================== Assignment Storming Heaven, pages 321-374. Test. Storming Heaven and 60s test and wrap-up discussion Week of Dec. 5 Turn in Portfolios You will submit a portfolio that will include your current research report, evaluation of your class discussion, leadership, BPM analysis, book review, your own presentation handouts, your self-selected or term project, and anything else that portrays your work this semester. In place of a final, you will turn in your portfolio during a brief, scheduled meeting with me during this week. Also include a statement that accurately describes the grade you think you deserve and why that is an appropriate grade. Consider how much work you have done, its quality, thoroughness of your preparation, class participation, and anything else that evaluates your work in this course. However, do not compare your work to others in this class From: Hintzen, Annelie & Torsten Passie 2010. The Pharmacology of LSD: a Critical Review Courtesy of.Oxford University Press/Beckley Foundation Press. Page 7. Book Project Content Bibliographic information Author, Year published. Title and subtitle. Edition Place published. Publisher Anything special? One of a series? Award winner? Index? Illustrations? References? Appendices? What the book is about and the author’s purpose Hint: Prefaces, forewords, and introductions are helpful here. Author’s credentials and background Author’s approach to the book’s topic, overall position or slant. Intended readership(s). Does the author write to a specific readership(s)? Complexity of thought Reading difficulty Specialized vocabulary Is relevant information omitted from the book? Errors? Does it consider other perspectives fairly? Does the book’s physical appearance add to the book, especially art books and books whose illustrations are a significant aspect of the book? Irrelevant for many books. What do other reviewers say? In order to form your own judgments, I suggest reading other reviews after you’ve read the book and formulated your own judgments. Is the intended readership well served? Who would and who would not benefit from reading the book? Implications for what we are studying in this course PAGE 5