Video

Photo of Jeffrey Kripal looking off into the distance

Audio: Pop Apocalypse: Ecstatic Knowledge and the Study of Religion featuring Jeffrey Kripal

March 6, 2024

For episode five of the pod, we are honored to welcome Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair of Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. In this career-spanning chat, we discuss Kripal’s Catholic upbringing, psychoanalysis, and the ecstatic experience in Calcutta that changed the direction of his career. From there, we touch on Jeff’s role at Esalen, historical mystics and paranormal powers, telepathic insects, and how the study of religion and popular culture come together in film, comedy, and comics.

Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in...

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Audio: Pop Apocalypse: Inside the Mind of a Spirit Channel – A Conversation with Paul Selig

March 6, 2024

For our sixth episode, we welcome the spirit channel, teacher, and playwright Paul Selig. In this conversation, we explore Selig’s early career as a playwright and professor, his spiritual awakening during the Harmonic Convergence of 1987, how he cultivated his mediumship abilities, and the twelve books Selig has channeled from “the Guides.” On the way, we explore what happens to Selig in the channeling state and the metaphysics of mind that make these states possible.

Paul Selig is considered to be one of the foremost spiritual channels...

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Video: Peripheries Launch Event 2023

January 16, 2024

On the evening of November 30, 2023, the much-anticipated event celebrating the launch of Peripheries, the Center for the Study of World Religions’s (CSWR) annual literary and arts journal, unfolded with a blend of poetry, music, and art, drawing over 140 attendees both in-person and virtually. The air buzzed with excitement as guests, including Chef Daniella Malfi, a MRPL candidate and musician deeply inspired by the journal, expressed their eagerness to delve into the 6th edition. 

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Video: Enheduanna: Voicing the Feminine Divine Presentation and Musical Performance

January 12, 2024
On December 12, 2023, the CSWR hosted a special evening celebrating the life and writings of Enheduana, also En-hedu-Ana; (c. twenty-third century B.C.E.) who is the first named author in human history. Enheduana, an Akkadian princess and daughter of King Sargon I, was appointed high priestess of the moon god Nanna (Sîn) in the holy city of Ur. Her poems and hymns offer unique, first-hand accounts of her personal experiences of the goddess Inana, and provide insights into issues of gender, sexuality, theology, and goddess-worship in early Mesopotamia.... Read more about Video: Enheduanna: Voicing the Feminine Divine Presentation and Musical Performance
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Video: Psychedelics and the Future of Religion: Mescaline and Psychonauts with Mike Jay

January 2, 2024

As part of the Psychedelics and the Future of Religion series, the Center for the Study of World Religions presented an interview with author Mike Jay about his two most recent books, Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, and Mescaline: A Global History of the First Pychedelic.... Read more about Video: Psychedelics and the Future of Religion: Mescaline and Psychonauts with Mike Jay

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Video: Psychedelics and Philosophy: Metaphysics and Meaning-Making in Psychedelia

December 14, 2023

As part of the Psychedelics and the Future of Religion series, the Center for the Study of World Religions hosted scholars Drs. Christine Hauskeller and Peter Sjostedt-Hughes. Philosophers Prof. Hauskeller and Dr. Sjöstedt-Hughes present a multi-perspectival hermeneutics of psychedelic-occasioned experiences. They discuss the question: How do we make sense of the myriad of experiences and extraordinary states of being that psychedelics can evoke through lenses ground from the discipline of Philosophy?... Read more about Video: Psychedelics and Philosophy: Metaphysics and Meaning-Making in Psychedelia

Artistic Rendition

Video: Don Revell, Reading and Conversation (with Intro by Stephanie Burt): Almost a Prayer: The Afterlife of Enchantment

November 13, 2023
As part of the CSWR Poetry Series, the Center hosted award-winning poet, Don Revell for the Fall 2023 Poetry Symposium, Almost a Prayer: The Afterlife of Enchantment.  The symposium and Revell were introduced by literary critic, poet, and professor of english at Harvard, Stephanie Burt.  After a reading by Revell, conversation was joined by audience members and on-line guests including Jorie Graham.... Read more about Video: Don Revell, Reading and Conversation (with Intro by Stephanie Burt): Almost a Prayer: The Afterlife of Enchantment
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Video: Psychedelics and the Future of Religion: Race and Exoticism in Global Psychedelic Spirituality

November 7, 2023

As part of the Psychedelics and the Future of Religion series, the Center for the Study of World Religions hosted scholars Dr. Amanda Lucia, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California-Riverside and Dr. Arun Saldanha, Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society at the University of Minnesota for a discussion on "Race and Exoticism in Global Psychedelic Spirituality".... Read more about Video: Psychedelics and the Future of Religion: Race and Exoticism in Global Psychedelic Spirituality

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Video: ​​​​​​​Gnoseologies: Angela’s Symposium: YouTube, Esotericism, and the Academia

November 6, 2023

Center for the Study of World Religions hosted our first Gnoseologies series webinar of the academic year on October 18, 2023.  Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani engaged in conversation with Dr. Angela Puca.  In this discussion, Dr. Puca describes how she pioneers an innovative approach to academia by utilizing popular social media platforms, aiming to bridge the gap between esoteric academic scholarship and the wider community.... Read more about Video: ​​​​​​​Gnoseologies: Angela’s Symposium: YouTube, Esotericism, and the Academia