Call for Papers - Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness Conference

ASSOCIATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 12TH ANNUAL MEETING
Gis Convention Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
June 19th-22nd , 2008
http:// www.ym.edu.tw/assc12/
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The 12th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC 12) will be held from June 19th to June 22nd, 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan (Gis Convention Center, National Taiwan University).

ASSC12 is intended to promote interdisciplinary dialogue in the scientific study of consciousness. The overall goal of the conference is to promote the scientific study of consciousness in all of its
forms.

This is the first time for an ASSC annual meeting to be held in Asia. ASSC12 provides a chance for you to see Taipei and Taiwan, an island nation with a newly born democracy in Asia. Taipei offers an interesting combination of eastern and western cultures. Taiwan has recently been
selected by the National Geographic Traveler Magazine as "probably the best traveling destination in Asia" among the 111 islands evaluated. The meeting promises to be both intellectually stimulating and culturally interesting!

For latest updates, please check the conference website: http://www.ym.edu.tw/assc12/
The web site will be continually evolving, so please visit often for updated information.

Confirmed speakers include:
Presidential Address:
David Rosenthal, City University of New York, USA

Keynote Speakers:
Thomas Metzinger,
The Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz, Germany,
topic: The Self

Mitsuo Kawato,
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Japan,
topic: Engineering Consciousness

Tetsuro Matsuzawa,
Kyoto University, Japan,
topic: The Mind of the Chimpanzee

The list will keep growing. You may also visit ASSC12 website for latest information.

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THE FIRST CALL FOR PAPER AND POSTER SUBMISSIONS SUBMISSION MUST BE RECEIVED BY FEBRUARY 1, 2008!
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Speakers in concurrent sessions are invited to talk on any topic relevant to the scientific study of consciousness. Submissions that include anthropological, evolutionary, physiological, psychological, philosophical, or computational perspectives are all welcome.

Submissions for both posters and talks will be accepted (please specify preference). Any person may present only one submission, but may be co-author on more than one. Oral presentations will be limited to 20 minutes, to be followed by a ten-minute discussion period.

You will be asked to include with your submission the information listed here: http://www.ym.edu.tw/assc12/news-4.htm

If you have any difficulties in submitting your proposal, or any other questions regarding the meeting, please contact assc12@ym.edu.tw.

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CALL FOR TUTORIAL PROPOSALS DEADLINE: DECEMBER 17th, 2007
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As in previous years, this notice is also intended as a first call for tutorial presenters. One of the aims of this meeting is to allow researchers to gain a background in areas that they may know little about. Towards that end a number of tutorials are planned. Some participants in the conference would be very interested in learning about technical matters such as fMRI or other important brain imaging techniques. Others might enjoy a seminar on a philosophical topic, or
a tutorial on relevant matters in cognitive psychology or linguistics.

Tutorial presenters are expected not to present just their own material, but to give a broader tutorial overview and encourage discussion and debate. A non-exclusive list of possible topics can be viewed on here: http://www.ym.edu.tw/assc12/news-4.htm

Each tutorial is intended to last approximately three hours. The sizes of tutorials will vary between a minimum of 10 to a maximum of around 25 attendees. Tutorial presenters will be paid US $1,500 and their registration fee for the conference will be waived. The cost of attending tutorials will be $50. Tutorials that do not achieve the minimum enrollment of 10 people may not be offered.

Send the tutorial proposal along with the requirements provided here at http://www.ym.edu.tw/assc12/news-4.htm to Ralph Adolphs (radolphs@caltech.edu ) as soon as possible.

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REGISTRATION
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As in previous years, discounted registration will be available to ASSC members, who will also enjoy a range of book discounts and other member benefits. The registration discount will be greater than the cost of membership, so prospective members are encouraged to join ASSC now! To find out more about the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, and to apply for membership, please consult our website at http://assc.caltech.edu/

Registration will open on Jan. 1, 2008.

ASSC12 Scientific Program Committee:

Ralph Adolphs, California Institute of Technology (Co-Chair)
Allen Houng, National Yang Ming University, Taiwan (Co-Chair)
Max Coltheart, Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Australia
John-Dylan Haynes, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Germany
Dan Lloyd, Trinity College, USA
Stephen L. Macknik, Barrow Neurological Institute, USA
Michael Pauen, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany
Shinsuke Shimojo, California Institute of Technology, USA

First Annual Ghost Rush Conference - Northern California

Volcano, Ca – American Paranormal Investigations announced today that its first annual Ghost Rush conference will take place March 28-30, 2008 at the St George Hotel in Volcano, California. Volcano is located in Amador County, about an hour outside of Sacramento.

Ghost Rush 2008 will be the first event of its kind held in Northern California. Conference Attendees will have the opportunity to attend lectures provided by some of the most respected names in the Paranormal Community, including: Jeff Belanger, Konstantinos (warning: goth music at the link), Loyd Auerbach, Todd Sheets, Mark Stinson and Al Tyas. Workshops will also be offered throughout the event and even more speakers are anticipated as the date nears.

"This will be a great event for novice and seasoned investigators alike. We’ll have full access to some highly sought after and active locations and have the chance to learn from some of the best in the field" said Amy Bruni, conference organizer, Producer for Beyond Reality Radio and Investigator with API.

In addition to the informative lecture series, conference goers will spend two nights investigating the town of Volcano. All of the event speakers, as well as Kris Williams from the Sci Fi Network show, Ghost Hunters, will lead teams of attendees on ghost hunts. Local business owners have teamed up with American Paranormal Investigations to allow access to their buildings after hours. At the St George Hotel alone, frequent reports of beds being unmade, knocking heard on walls, coins being thrown at bar patrons and full bodied apparitions are just a few of the happenings that drew conference organizers to Volcano in the first place.

" I’m looking forward to speaking at the Ghost Rush conference in Volcano, California," said Jeff Belanger, author, founder of Ghostvillage.com , and one of the event’s featured speakers. "When you consider Volcano’s mining history, remote location, and haunted reputation, we’re sure to have a ghostly great time investigating and discussing the paranormal in a setting that hasn’t been overly exploited like many of the better-known haunts on the West coast. It’s an opportunity for the attendees and for me as well!"

More information about Ghost Rush 2008 and American Paranormal Investigations can be found at http://www.ap-investigations.com

November MAPS News Update + Conference Announcement

MAPS - The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies has posted their November News Update.

Among the many links in their news update is word of this conference:

World Psychedelic Forum
Change of Consciousness:
A Challenge of the 21st Century

Basel, Switzerland. At the World Psychedelic Forum, which will take place from 21st to 24th March 2008 at the Congress Center Basel, more than fifty experts from all over the world will inform about and discuss the multi-dimensional aspects of consciousness expanding substances, and will present their tremendous potential for self-awareness and for the change of consciousness.

Psychedelics have been widely used for thousands of years nearly everywhere on the planet. Psychoactive plants have been central to most ancient sacred rituals and primitive medical treatments. They have been worshipped in all cultures as "Plants of the Gods" and considered as mediators between human beings and the universe, linking the physical to the spiritual dimensions of existence.

In January 2006 the International Symposium "LSD – Problem Child and Wonder Drug" took place at the occasion of the 100th birthday of Dr. Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD. Several thousand visitors and more than 200 media people from 37 countries gathered in Basel to hear lectures from scientists and historians, to exchange ideas and disseminate information. It was the biggest conference of its kind worldwide. For the first time since the turbulent 1960s, a wide range of psychedelic issues and topics has been brought back to public discussion and re-evaluation.

The World Psychedelic Forum will expand upon this renewed interest, presenting a unique opportunity for experts, researchers, and interested persons from all around the globe, to exchange views and hear presentations of the latest research on the value of these remarkable psychedelic substances in medicine, psychology, science, religion, culture and the arts.
The term "psychedelic" is derived from the Greek "psyche" (soul) and "delos" (manifest), and means a state in which the soul manifests itself. It was coined in 1956 by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, in a now-famous exchange with writer Aldous Huxley; both recognized the potential of these compounds for self-awareness, and their correspondence to psychoactive plants held sacred for millennia.

Albert Hofmann experienced the extraordinary mental effects of LSD in the context of his work as a chemist in 1943. He so was placing a cornerstone for new insights and knowledge about by the time unexplored consciousness expanding substances. The following decade saw the publication of thousands of research papers about the nature and the effects of LSD, mescaline and psilocybin. But when LSD got out of the laboratories and "out of control", to be used for self-exploration by 1960s youth, Western governments generally declared psychoactive substances a menace, claimed it had no psychological, educational or therapeutic value, and linked it to dangerous and addictive narcotics. With a compliant mainstream media that sensationalized and parroted the official drug policy, the "authorities" not only prohibited research on these sacred compounds but criminalized the users, a situation that has prevailed ever since, except for example in the Netherlands and in Switzerland, and although inroads have been made in recent years that will be one of the many themes of this conference.
The classic psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin from magic mushrooms, mescaline from peyote and ayahuasca – the Amazonian "Vine of the Soul" – are not drugs in the medical sense but belong, according to Albert Hofmann "concerning their chemical structure and their pharmacological effects, to the sacred substances, re-discovered through LSD, and used in ritual settings for thousands of years." They are characterized by the fact that they are neither toxic nor addictive, and have the power to bestow benefits of both practical and transcendental value.
The global youth movement, that peaked some forty years ago with the "Summer of Love", was fueled by psychedelics. A historical view shows, that the "consciousness-expanded" hippie counterculture exerted an enduring influence on society. Without the soul-opening and sensory stimulus of psychedelics, many of the social, cultural and ecological advances taken for granted today would be absent from our lives.

At the World Psychedelic Forum more than fifty experts from all over the world will bear witness to, and shine light upon the multi-dimensional psychedelic experience with its tremendous potential for expanding consciousness and for self-awareness. We will hear of the renewal of research that foretells a promising future when psychedelic plants and their synthetic derivatives will reclaim their destined position as incomparably valuable tools for individual and collective evolution and thus supporting the needed consciousness change for humanity.

The general headline for Friday, 21st March will be The Psychedelic Experience: Opening the Doors of Perception

On Saturday, 22nd March, we will shed light on The Legacy of the Shamans: Ancient Traditions and New Dimensions

Sunday, 23rd March is all about Change of Consciousness: A Challenge of the 21st Century

The World Psychedelic Forum welcomes the elite of the international consciousness researchers, among them Rick Doblin, Stanislav Grof, Ralph Metzner, Jeremy Narby, Daniel Pinchbeck, Thomas B. Roberts, Christian Rätsch, as well as Alexander and Ann Shulgin. But also prominent artists and contemporary witnesses like "Mountain Girl" Carolyn Garcia or visionary painter Alex Grey will come to Basel, to give account about their personal experiences with psychedelics and its influence on art and culture. In addition more than 30 papers and dissertations from young scientists from various countries will be presented. LSD discoverer Albert Hofmann will attend the conference as a guest of honor.

Program Flow
Each morning will begin with a "Tune-in", a meditative-musical start into the program. Afterwards, as well as in the early afternoons, the plenary events "Panorama" will be presented: with short talks a moderator and several speakers will illustrate the day’s topics in order to give the audience reference points for easy navigation through the dense program of the day. Before noon, in the early and in the late afternoon, 40 and 90-minute seminars, panels, and workshops will be staged. There will be three blocks of 3 to 4 presentations each. At the end of most lectures the speakers will be available in the foyer of the Congress Center for follow-up discussions or individual conversations.
A rich supporting program will be presented in the foyer of the Congress Center from Friday to Sunday, with discussions, exhibits, shows and films.
On Monday, 24 March, day- and half-day seminars will take place with Alex and Allyson Grey, Stanislav Grof, Ralph Metzner and Manuel Schoch.

Patrons are the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), USA, The Beckley Foundation, UK, consulting the UN for drug matters, and the Swiss Medical Association for Psycholytic Therapy (SAEPT).

The World Psychedelic Forum will be presented by the Gaia Media Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the communication and networking of information for a holistic and up to date understanding of our existence, and the potential of human consciousness, and its expanded states. Under the motto The Spirit of Basel the foundation organizes local and international events.

Information and Registration
Spirit - Congresses and Events
Neuweilerstrasse 15
CH - 4054 Basel
Switzerland
P +41 61 302 12 36
F +41 61 383 97 21
info@psychedelic.info
www.psychedelic.info

Press Office
World Psychedelic Forum
Neuweilerstrasse 15
CH 4054 Basel
Switzerland
P + 41 61 383 97 22
F + 41 61 383 97 21
presse@spirit-services.ch

Conference: Proof of an Afterlife?

San Francisco Conference: Proof of an Afterlife? Jan. 19-20, 2008

Forever Family Foundation to present Investigations of Consciousness and the Unseen World.

Forever Family Foundation, a non-profit, non-sectarian organization that supports the premise that life does not end with physical death, announces a groundbreaking conference that will bring together world-renowned scientists, medical doctors, researchers, and mediums with a goal of educating the general public. The conference, scheduled for January 19-20, 2008 at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center, will help raise awareness among the general public about the extensive research of consciousness and its implications that we survive our physical deaths.

"This will be the first scientific conference of its kind geared to general audiences," said Robert Ginsberg, co-founder of Forever Family Foundation, "One of our goals at Forever Family Foundation is to further the understanding of life after physical death. Mainstream science has historically ignored the study of consciousness, and we have brought together experts who are at the forefront of such research who will present evidence that our minds are not dependent on our brains."

The two-day conference is designed for the public rather than a scientific audience. The speakers will present bodies of evidence on near-death experiences, reincarnation, the nature of consciousness, quantum physics, ghosts and apparitions, afterlife encounters, mediumship, and other phenomena that suggest an existence beyond our physical lives.

"It is time for the scientific community to bring survival of consciousness research out of the labs, files, peer review journals, and private conferences," said Dianne Arcangel, President of Forever Family Foundation. "By bringing our findings into the public arena, we offer comfort to the bereaved as well as necessary education and hope to the masses."

Confirmed Presenters:
Dr. Fred Alan Wolf - Physicist, author, lecturer, and What the Bleep contributor

Dr. Dean Radin - Consciousness researcher, author, and senior scientist at I.O.N.S.

Dr. Gary Schwartz - Investigations of mediumship, professor, author of The Afterlife Experiments.

Dr. Bruce Greyson - Researcher of near-death experiences, medical doctor, author

Dr. Jim Tucker - Reincarnation studies, medical doctor, author of Life Before Life

Dr. Arthur Hastings - Psychomanteum research, author, and professor

Loyd Auerbach, M.S. - Apparitions, professor, author, and paranormal investigator

Dianne Arcangel, M.S. - Afterlife encounter research, author of Afterlife Encounters

Robert Brown - Demonstration of mediumship, author, and lecturer

Hollister Rand - Demonstration of mediumship, integration of science and music

Admission: $225-275 (join FFF for free online and pay lower price)
Conference website: www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org/SanFrancisco.htm

In addition to the two-day conference, Forever Family Foundation also announces a psychic entertainment event, Mindreading by the Bay. This special fundraising event will feature Loyd Auerbach, Professor Paranormal, and a surprise guest. Tickets to this separate event are $25-$45 and are not included with the conference admission.

upcoming conferences

The Julian Jaynes Society is announcing their biennial conference.

Tentative Dates: August 7–9, 2008
Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

Keynote Address: To Be Announced

The Julian Jaynes Conference on Consciousness was created as part of the Julian Jaynes Memorial Endowment at the University of Prince Edward Island. This fund was established to create a lasting tribute to the late Princeton professor and author, and long-time PEI resident, and to fulfill his legacy to support and encourage the study of consciousness.

The conference is coordinated by Dr. Scott Greer at the University of Prince Edward Island Psychology Department. It is the only consciousness-related conference endorsed by the Julian Jaynes Society.

Also, the Second Annual International Brain Conference is coming up soon, too.

Combining the latest research foci and treatment modalities, the Second Annual International Brain Conference at UCF offers physicians, scientists, pharmaceuticals, medical device manufacturers, nurses, allied medical professionals and students the opportunity to learn about the absolute latest in brain research and practice. Participants will also be able to earn Continuing Medical & Psychological credits.

Held at UCF’s beautiful Rosen College of Hospitality Management in the heart of Orlando’s tourist district, the Second International Brain Conference at UCF features keynote speaker Dr. Konrad Beyreuther, recipient of the Potamkin Prize and the Henry M. Wisniewski Award for Lifetime Achievement in Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Beyreuther’s work laid the foundation for understanding the molecular processes that lead to Alzheimer’s Disease.

On opening night Special Guest Mark McEwen, weatherman and entertainment reporter on the CBS Early Show for 16 years, will tell his inspiring personal story: “Stroke: My Recovery Story and the Regenerative Powers of Hope and Rehabilitation.”

Take advantage of early registration rates that end December 1. Special rates are also available for ADI members. Register now at www.brainconference.org or call 407-882-1576 for more information.

Horizons Conference

From their website:

Horizons: Contemporary Perspectives on Psychedelics

Saturday October 27 2007 12pm - 8pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012


Horizons is an afternoon of learning about psychedelics. Psychedelics are a unique class of psychoactive drugs that have been used by humans for thousands of years. Millions of people in every corner of the globe have used them to alter their consciousness in search of introspective contemplation, spiritual insights, creative exploration and physical and psychological healing.

In the 1950's and early 1960's, legal research with psychedelics spurred important discoveries in science and psychology. During the 1960s, psychedelics entered worldwide popular culture. Fueled by the wild social dogmas of the era, recreational use become commonplace. Questions about their safety, medical value, history and implications in politics and culture were unfortunately answered with numerous myths spread by both their users and the media.

Times are changing. The freewheeling sixties are now a distant memory and the hype of the millennial rave fever has finally been laid to rest. Incredibly, in the face of government and institutional biases, a small group of dedicated researchers and activists have orchestrated a renaissance in psychedelic research that is re-shaping the public's understanding of these unique substances.

Horizons seeks to open a fresh dialogue about psychedelics and challenges the 21st century to rethink their role in history, culture, medicine, spirituality and art.

Speakers
Kenneth Alper MD, Rick Doblin Ph.D, Neal Goldsmith Ph.D, Alex & Allyson Grey, Julie Holland MD, Michael Mithoefer MD, Ethan Nadelmann Ph.D and Andrew Sewell MD.

Artists
Garrison Buxton, Ray Cross, Scott Draves, Nick Hallett, Todd Polenberg, Robert Horansky, Image Node, Anakin Koenig, Aaron Taylor Kuffner, Deniz Kurtel, Leif Krinkle, Zach Layton, Brock Monroe, Peripheral Media Projects, Leo Villareal and James Vogel. More artists will be added shortly.

Click here for more information

Contact: info@horizonsnyc.org

"Consciousness and the Megalithic Temple Builders" Conference in Birgu

Metageum '07, includes a conference, workshops, and tours of Malta's megalithic heritage.

There will be three programming threads, according to The Malta Independent:

The three threads centre on the theme of understanding the consciousness of the people who built the megalithic temples and consist of an international, inter-disciplinary conference on different ways of approaching the thinking and imagination of the Neolithic people who built the megalithic temples in Malta and elsewhere in the world, a series of workshops enabling us to make the imaginative leap into the Neolithic worldview, and a tour of Malta’s megalithic heritage.

Conference thread: Speakers at the conference range from archaeologists, psychologists and artists, to researchers in esoteric subjects. This conference is intended to present new results of research, and to encourage debate and discussion. It does not hold any particular position on the interpretation of the temples. Different people hold radically different perspectives, some of which are diametrically opposed to each other. The aim is to create a space in which the evidence and competing claims can be seen, heard, discussed and assessed. After the morning plenary sessions, attendees can choose to stay for more presentations at the conference venue, go on field trips to the temples or participate in the workshops. The list of renowned guest speakers from the archaeological field, both academic and independent is long and highly interesting, and includes such world-renowned researchers and authors as Graham Hancock.

Tour thread: Each afternoon a bus will take a guided tour to one or more of the megalithic temples and other prehistoric sites. Margaret Frendo, a professional licensed tour guide with several decades of experience introducing people to the Maltese temples, will lead the tour. Margaret’s experience goes back to the heady days of the 1980s when goddess groups performed ceremonies at the temple sites, through to the security-tightened present day.

Experiential thread: This spans a broad range of disciplines: archaeology, psychology, and philosophy on the one hand, and art and music on the other, as well as including esoteric and therapeutic perspectives. In this vein, the event starts off with an optional “trance-dance” run by Body Temple, a New York-based group who have offered this structured form of group shamanic activity for a number of years. The trance-dance evening will provide a sample of shamanism. For conference attendees who wish to go further with shamanic journeying, Body Temple will be providing workshops each afternoon. For those who are not yet ready to step into the Neolithic mind-set, there will be a choice of afternoon talks, or guided visits to the megalithic temples around Malta.

Metageum runs from November 3-November 11.

More info can be found here, and Erica Brincat of the Malta Independent has an interview with Peter Loyd, the lead organizer, here.

Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Conference

via The Dream Studies Portal:

THE SOCIETY FOR THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Spring 2008 Annual Meeting and Conference
March 19-23, 2008 • Yale University
CALL FOR PAPERS
Theme: Consciousness and Spirit

For all its material correlates and consequences, the anthropology of consciousness incorrigibly connotes an aspect or dimension that is immaterial, yet somehow integral to that which is at the most intimate core of the personal—that which bursts forth in life and vanishes in death, leaving behind a useless husk. Cultures in every age and place have called it spirit, placed it at the center of their worldviews and religions, and sought to grasp its ephemeral essence. Even our materially oriented culture reaches out for the spiritual, however defined.

How does something/someone called spirit impinge on consciousness, lifting it from myriad electrochemical processes into the richness and depth we experience in the world, in others, in ourselves? What is it: will o’ the wisp or Pentecostal flame? A metaphor standing in for a bundle of meanings, a component of obsolete dualism, or an emergent property of material processes? A divine presence mixed into physicality—the indestructible élan vital that incarnates (and perhaps reincarnates) to transform dead matter into beings who experience joy, suffering, desire, and mortality? How has it been understood across time and cultures, and how can it be understood in the new century?

The Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness, a section of the American Anthropological Association, welcomes proposals for papers and panels related to this crucial theme for its Annual Meeting, to be held March 19-23, 2008 at the Yale Divinity School in New Haven. The event is open to a broad range of academic disciplines and theoretical orientations, and will serve as a forum for the presentation of ideas that may overstep the strict bounds of one’s own discipline. Possible topics include, among many others:
• Spirit as metaphor: changing uses and significance in the new century
• Defining the Interface Between Spirit and Matter
• Crossroads: the quest to locate the nexus between material and spiritual worlds
• Computer simulation as a way to simulate/induce spiritual experiences
• Neural correlates of spiritual experiences
• Spirit after life: spiritual phenomena in medical crises
• The anthropology of spirit possession: ethnography, etiology, implications
• Spirit manifestation via the I Ching and other oracular systems
• Other topics germane to an understanding of the anthropology of consciousness

Scholars, practitioners, educators, and students are invited to join in this intellectual adventure designed to expand our understanding of human capabilities and experiences. The conference will include academic presentations, experiential sessions, and invited panels. Please email your proposals by January 10, 2008 to:
james.vanpelt@yale.edu

For more information and to download the proposal and registration forms:
www.sacaaa.org

Reminder: Psiber Dreaming Online Conference Starts Today

Just a reminder...

The Sixth Annual PSIber Dreaming Conference presented by the International Association for the Study of Dreams begins this weekend.

The Online Conference begins on Today, and runs until October 7.

The full schedule can be found here.

From the IASD:

Throughout recent history, many famous artists, scientists, politicians and others have recorded dreams which led them to life-changing discoveries and creative work. This list includes (but is not limited to): Mark Twain, Buckminster Fuller, Albert Einstein, Mary Shelley, Alice Walker, Isabel Allende, Sting, John Lennon and Carl Jung. Most of these dreams contained an element of psi: telepathy, precognition, psychopompic dreaming.

This year's PsiberDreaming Conference will present papers and workshops, special events and discussions focusing on how some of these creative dreams might have come about--and how any of us might use dreaming for creative endeavors.

Conference Rates

General Public $40 (US Dollars)

IASD Members $35

Students with Valid I.D. $25

To register, go here:

Presenters include Deirdre Barrett, Art Funkhouser, Dale Graff, Ed Kellogg, Stanley Krippner, and more.

PSIber Dreaming Conference begins this weekend

The Sixth Annual PSIber Dreaming Conference presented by the International Association for the Study of Dreams begins this weekend.

The Online Conference begins on Sunday, September 23, and runs until October 7.

The full schedule can be found here.

From the IASD:

Throughout recent history, many famous artists, scientists, politicians and others have recorded dreams which led them to life-changing discoveries and creative work. This list includes (but is not limited to): Mark Twain, Buckminster Fuller, Albert Einstein, Mary Shelley, Alice Walker, Isabel Allende, Sting, John Lennon and Carl Jung. Most of these dreams contained an element of psi: telepathy, precognition, psychopompic dreaming.

This year's PsiberDreaming Conference will present papers and workshops, special events and discussions focusing on how some of these creative dreams might have come about--and how any of us might use dreaming for creative endeavors.

Conference Rates

General Public $40 (US Dollars)

IASD Members $35

Students with Valid I.D. $25

To register, go here:

Presenters include Deirdre Barrett, Art Funkhouser, Dale Graff, Ed Kellogg, Stanley Krippner, and more.

IASD 2008 Conference - Dreams Without Borders: Call for Presentations

Call for Presentations
for the 25th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.

Tuesday July 8, through Saturday July 12, 2008 at the Hotel Auberge Universel Montreal

DEADLINE for submissions: DECEMBER 15, 2007.

Complete information is available at http://www.asdreams.org/2008, updates and registration information will also be at this address as they become available.

The Venue
Hotel Auberge Universel Montreal
5000 Sherbrooke Street East
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H1V 1A1
Tel: 514-253-3365, Toll Free: 1-800-567-0223

Located right next door to the Olympic Stadium and Village, the Auberge Universel is also right across the street from Montreal's beautiful Botanical Gardens. This location really captures the feeling of Montreal. It is a five-minute subway ride to Downtown, and Old Montreal's cobble stoned streets and harbor. To view the hotel, go to: http://www.auberge-universel.com. To view info about Montreal and its many attractions, go to: http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp.

Submission Instructions
While all good proposals with any theme will be actively considered, DREAMS WITHOUT BORDERS offers a chance to demonstrate how dreams speak to us in an international language in an era when international tensions are rising.

The theme presents an excellent opportunity to produce work based on cooperative international research, as well as work that examines the cross-cultural implications of dreams.

It is encouraged that submissions fall into one of the following tracks:

• Research and Theorietical
• Arts and Humanities
• Cultural and Anthropological
• Education
• Religious, Spiritual, and Philosophical
• Clinical and/or Dreamwork Practice
• Extraordinary, PSI, and Lucid Dreams

Submission Categores include the following:

1. Paper Presentations - typically 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for Q&A that will be assigned to a seminar of similar papers
2. Symposia - a pre-organized seminar of 1.5 to 2 hours with presentations sharing a common theme
3. Panels - 1.5 to 2 hour organized panel of very short presentations followed by discussion
4. Workshops - 1.5 to 2 hour experiential sessions for the practical demonstration of an approach
5. Special Events or Major Presentations - up to 1 hour innovative, artistic, or participatory events or special presentations
6. Hot-off-the-Press - 10 minute theory or research briefs that may be submitted until 1 March 2008.
   

Note that due to the large number of proposals anticipated, timeslots for workshops and Special Events or Major Presentations are very limited and although multiple proposals from any one individual will be reviewed, it may not be possible to accept more than one.

How to Submit Your Proposal
All submissions mus be electronically submitted in the body of an e-mail or an attachment to submissions@asdreams.org. Submissions will be received by Laurette Dupuis (Program Chair), and Sylvia Green-Guenette (Database Manager). If you do not receive a confirmation within 10 days please notify them using this same address. Use Microsoft Word (.doc) format; Mac users should send the proposal in the body of an e-mail or as a rich text format (.rtf) file.

For Formatting Guidelines, and additional information, please visit http://asdreams.org/2008.

Conference Contact Information

• E-mail: office@asdreams.org
• Telephone: 1-866-DREAM12 (1-866-373-2612)
• Mailing: IASD, 1672 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703, USA
• Conference Host: Layne Dalfen, layne@dreamsdocometrue.ca
• Program Chair: Laurette Dupuis, ldupuis6@yahoo.ca
  

Toward A Science of Consciousness 2008 in Tucson...

Announcement and Call for Abstracts

TOWARD A SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS 2008
April 8-12, 2008
Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona

Sponsored by: The Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona

The eighth biennial Tucson conference continues an interdisciplinary tradition of intense, far-ranging and rigorous discussions on all approaches to the fundamental question of how the brain produces conscious experience.

Plenary/Keynote Sessions:
Is Consciousness Local or Global?
Brain Imaging as Mind Reading Technology Is Consciousness
Distinct From Attention?
Sub-Neural and Quantum Factors in Consciousness
Introspection and the Richness of Consciousness Sex and
Consciousness Anomalies of Consciousness Development of
Consciousness Brain Synchrony Boundaries of Consciousness

Plenary/Keynote Speakers will include:
Andy Clark, Stanislas Dehaene, Janniko Georgiadis, Alison Gopnik, Stuart Hameroff, Christof Koch, Barry Komisaruk, Rafi Malach, Adrian Owen, Eric Schwitzgebel, Susanna Siegel, Rupert Sheldrake, Wolf Singer, Frank Tong, Michael Tye and many others

We invite submission of abstracts for Concurrent Talks, Posters and remaining Plenary slots in all areas of Consciousness Studies including the following broad categories: Philosophy, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science/Psychology, Physical and Biological Sciences, Phenomenology and Culture. All accepted abstracts will be published in a Journal of Consciousness Studies Abstract publication.

Abstract Submission: www.consciousness.arizona.edu/tucson2008

Concurrent Talk Program

Seven concurrent sessions will take place 4:30 to 6:35 on Tuesday April 8, Wednesday April 9 and Friday April 11. Each session consists of 5 talks of 20 minutes each with 5 minutes discussion. The 105 concurrent talks will be selected from submitted abstracts, as will open plenary slots.

Poster Sessions

Poster Sessions will be held Wednesday evening April 9 and Friday April 11 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm with a cash bar.

Poster presentations will be selected from submitted abstracts.

Pre-Conference Workshops

Pre-conference workshops will take place in three sessions:
'Monday morning April 7, 9 am till 1 pm, Monday afternoon 2 pm till 6 pm, and Tuesday morning 9 am till 1 pm (The conference Plenary session opens at 1:45 pm on Tuesday) Workshops to be announced

Social Events

The Welcome Reception will be Tuesday evening April 8 inside and outside the TCC Foyer.

The Conference Di! nner is Thursday evening April 10 at the Desert Museum, in a new building with a panoramic view.

Friday evening April 11 10:00 pm till midnight is The Poetry Slam/Zombie Blues, expanded with surprise performances....
Consciousness Talent Show.

Saturday night April 12 is the End-of-Consciousness Rock the Casbah party at The Casablanca Mansion, a sprawling Middle Eastern belly dancing restaurant with a large walled patio where we will have a live band, bar and food. It is a short walk from the hotels.

Side trips:

Monday night April 7:
Kitt Peak Observatory Nightly Observation Program (new moon, dark sky) to look through world class telescopes http://www.noao.edu/outreach/nop/

Thursday afternoon April 10 (free afternoon)
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum http://www.desertmuseum.org/ (where the conference dinner will be in the evening)

Also (or) Thursday afternoon April 10
Visit the Phoenix Mars Mission's Science Operations Center at the University of Arizona http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

Sincerely,
The University of Arizona - Department of Psychology
P.O. Box 210068 - Tucson, AZ 85721-0068 USA
center@u.arizona.edu
tel: 520-621-9317
fax 520-626-6416

Toward A Science of Consciousness Conference VIII -
Tucson Convention Center - APRIL 8-12, 2008 TUCSON ARIZONA
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/ Abstract Submission By Nov. 1
~
Consciousness: The WebCourse
September 24 to December 14, 2007
details at: www.consciousness.arizona.edu

Music and Esotericism Conference

Call for Papers

Conference

Music and esotericism:
Art and science of sounds facing the occult knowledge

Rome, 14-18 April 2008
Academia Belgica, 8 via Omero, 00197 Rome

The Conference “Music and esotericism” seeks to bring together those working on the esoteric sciences – notably magic, astrology, alchemy, demonology, divination and cabale – in their relationship to music.

The Conference is an interdisciplinary event, aimed at breaking down the barriers between history, the history of art, of music, of science and of ideas. It is meant to be a multidisciplinary dialogue on musical practice, as studied in the light of specific historical and scientific contexts, in order both to deepen and to share our knowledge of the cultural background of the musical world in terms of science and belief.

Each lecture will focus on either the use of music within cultural and occult scientific traditions, or on the presence of these traditions in music. The multiple approaches will take into account all esoteric sciences and disciplines.

They will be divided into two complementary parts: the first from the viewpoint of philosophers and the way their theories integrate music and the second from the viewpoint of musicians, composers and theoreticians who are either interested in or have sought to integrate their knowledge into their theories or their musical scores.

The discussion will cover the need to take into account these sciences in the European tradition for the Medieval period until the 18th Century, together with the historiography.

These epistemological issues invite historians of science and of ideas to dialogue with musicologists, in order to create together a large network of the multiple relationships which exist between music and the esoteric sciences or disciplines, in order to view afresh the interpenetration of knowledge from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Scientific Committee :
Brenno Boccadoro (Université de Genève)
Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute, London)
Walter Corten (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Paolo Gozza (Università di Bologna)
David Juste (Sydney University)
Steven Vanden Broecke (Katholieke Universiteit Brussel)
Laurence Wuidar (F.N.R.S)

Timing:
Abstracts (approx. 400 words) should arrive before November 1st 2007.
The speakers will be allowed up to 30 minutes.

L’Academia Belgica : 8 via Omero, Rome

The Belgian Academy of the Arts and Sciences is located in the garden of the villa Borghese. It has a conference and concert room, decorated with tapestries from Brussels dating from the 1550s . The Academy has a good library, focusing on the study of astrology, including the history of astrology. This is because Franz Cumont, from whom the Academia received the archives, is one of the pioneers of the history of astrology in Antiquity.

You will find a map, showing the location of the Academia, together with the necessary practical information on how to reach it (bus, taxi…) on the website http://www.academiabelgica.it/

If arriving by train: from Roma Termini take metro line A to Flaminio.

If arriving by air: the low-cost company Ryanair flies to Roma Ciampino from several European cities. From the airport, take the bus to Anagnina, then the metro - line A to Flaminio) or the bus (2 to 8 euro). See the website www.ryanair.com

Contact adress:
lwuidar@ulb.ac.be
Laurence Wuidar,
23 rue des Griottes,
B- 1180 Bruxelles.

Inscription fees: free.

Activities: a visit to the Villa Farnesina, famous for its astrological paintings, will be organised. The participants can also book seats for the recital of Krystian Zimerman on April 16, in the Santa Cecilia concert room on the Auditorium di Roma.

If our budget allows, we would like to organize a concert dedicated to the sonata cycle of the 17th century, which integrated the zodiac.

As a big fan of both music and esotericism, this sounds like one amazing conference. I'm tempted to submit something, myself. I have long been interested in the intersections of music/sound and consciousness. Why does certain music make us feel certain ways? I trance out plenty to Sufi music (and did my fair share of raves back in the early 90s), but what about some of the more insidious uses of music and sound for mood-alteration? The Muzak Corporation has done a number of studies showing that certain tempos, rhythms, and instrument combinations make for more productive work places, or more pliant shoppers. In the 1970s, disco became as huge as it was, because it was scientifically engineered to make you get up and shake your booty. Countless #1 r&b and soul hits had been analyzed to find the perfect rhythms, and bass lines, which were then re-assembled into hours of fun at Studio 54.

Ask yourself sometime - do you really like that song?