Green College Special Lecture
“Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Studies, and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew”
Kenneth W. Tupper, School of Population and Public Health and Beatriz C. Labate Visiting Professor, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico; Green College Society Member (’06-’07)
Coach House, Green College, UBC
Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 5-6:30 pm
Applying ideas from the field of science and technology studies, Kenneth Tupper considers how ayahuasca’s myriad ontological representations in the 21st century—plant teacher, traditional medicine, religious sacrament, material commodity, cognitive tool, illicit drug—influence our understandings of it as an object of inquiry. He explores epistemological issues related to ayahuasca studies, including how the indigenous and mestizo concept of “plant teacher” or the notion of psychedelics as “cognitive tools” may impact understandings of knowledge. Should scientists engaged in ayahuasca research be expected to have personal experiences with the brew, and will this help or hinder the objectivity of their pursuits?