Psychedelics in Monotheistic Traditions: Sacramental Practice and Legal Recognition | Harvard Law School
at Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
More Info / Registration
Chaired by Professors Noah Feldman and Jay Michaelson, Psychedelics in Monotheistic Traditions: Sacramental Practice and Legal Recognition is an interdisciplinary symposium bringing together scholars of religion, legal experts, and contemporary psychedelic religious leaders to explore the legal recognition of religious psychedelic use in Jewish and Christian communities. Sessions will draw on methodologies of religious studies, law, and the humanities, and will cover topics including:
o Biblical, theological, philosophical, and mystical bases for the present-day religious use of psychedelics.
o Forms of psychedelic use in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities today
o Legal pathways to recognition including religious exemptions, decriminalization, rescheduling, and federal and state legislative initiatives
o Critical issues including safety, ethics, diversion, representation, access, and justice.
The symposium is co-chaired by Professors Noah Feldman and Jay Michaelson, and is sponsored by the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Study of Psychedelics and Culture, with the participation of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University, and the Petrie-Flom Center’s Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience (PULSE) project at Harvard Law School.
Confirmed participants include Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, Sughra Ahmed, Ismail Ali, Laura Appleman, Karina Bashir, Nathaniel Berman, Jeffrey Breau, Rev. Jaime Clark-Soles, Ron Cole-Turner, Joshua Falcon, Paul Gillis-Smith, Natalie Ginsberg, Christian Greer, Rabbi Dr. Jill Hammer, Allison Hoots, Ayize Jama-Everett, Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, Victoria Litman, Madison Margolin, Mason Marks, Oriana Mayorga, Bryan McCarthy, Tim McMahan King, Elly Moseson, Sharday Musorinjohn, Ethan Nadelmann, Roman Palitsky, Adena Phillips, Rev. Hunt Priest, Fayzan Rab, John Rapp, Yosef Rosen, Zach Schaffer, Sam Berrin Shonkoff, Rick Strassman, and Elliot Wolfson.
Outline of Schedule
Wednesday, March 5 Culture and Theology
9am Welcome and frame-settings
10am Christianity and non-ordinary experiences
11am Biblical & Mystical Judaism and non-ordinary experiences
12pm Hasidism as Psychedelic Inspiration
115pm Lunch
230pm Islam and Psychedelics
330pm Complexifying Psychedelic Theologies
430pm Contemporary religious use: Hearing from practitioners
8pm Open space sessions and screening of A Table of our Own
Thursday March 6 Law and Policy
9am Safety, Access, Justice, and Equity
1030am RFRA, DEA, and Religious Exemptions
12pm The Legal Landscape
1pm Closing lunch
Admission is free but advance registration is required.
