Book Talk: Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey, with Erika Dyck, PhD, Professor of History, University of Saskatchewan

Registration is required.
Please register to attend on zoom.

Psychedelics are pushing into the mainstream—whether through FDA decisions, court cases on religious freedom, visual and material culture, or commodified retreat centers and mushroom-infused chocolate bars—prompting a deeper understanding of the role of mind-altering plants in society.  
  
In conversation with Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith, CSWR's Program Leads for “Spirituality and Psychedelics,” Erika Dyck will share the knowledge and insight revealed in her new book, Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey (The MIT Press, 2024). With captivating imagery, this book provides an introductory history of psychedelics that is global in scope and attendant to visual culture.  
  
Dyck has published prolifically on the role of psychedelics in the history of medicine. Her latest book illuminates a history that holds together ancient traditions, Indigenous practices, scientific research, and contemporary cultural relevance. Her text stitches together the current scholarship on psychedelics in medicine, anthropology, history, and sociology alongside an informed assessment of the place psychedelics currently hold in society. Dyck asks, “Are we truly experiencing a renaissance or is this more of a flashback? Is it forward looking, as a true renaissance would be, or ‘Psychedelics 2.0’ merely another, possibly undesirable, rehash of an earlier failed experiment?” 
Speaker's Bio: 
Erika Dyck is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the History of Health & Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. She is the author of Psychedelic Psychiatry and Facing Eugenics, coauthor of The Acid Room: The Psychedelic Trials and Tribulations of Hollywood Hospital, and coeditor of Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelics. She is also a Board Member of Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines.