Towards Intersectionality in Critical Psychedelic Studies: The Psychedelic Intersections Conference
The "Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-cultural Manifestations of the Sacred" conference, held at Harvard Divinity School on February 17, 2024, provided an unprecedented forum for the exploration of psychedelic spirituality across diverse cultural and disciplinary landscapes, and welcomed more than 230 in-person and 800 remote attendees. Hosted by the Center for the Study of World Religions, the conference sought to deepen the understanding of how psychedelics intersect with religion, spirituality, and medicine across traditions, modern and ancient, as well as across social stratifications, such as race, class, gender and culture. This year's programming built upon the foundational work of the previous year's conference, expanding the conversation beyond Harvard and investigating the capacity for psychedelic spirituality encounters at the intersections of diverse belief systems, disciplines, and communities. Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna, the first keynote speaker and director of the Wasiwaska research center in Brazil renowned for its work on sacred plants, visionary art, and consciousness, opened the conference with a compelling discussion on plant consciousness, drawing from his extensive research at Wasiwaska and formative relationship with Terrence McKenna. Dr. Luna’s presentation underscored the importance of respecting and preserving Indigenous sacred plant traditions as a way of maintaining biodiversity and biosocial life. Dr. Luna recounted a conversation with his mentor, Don Emilio, in which he asked him why he drank ayahuasca. Dr. Luna imparted Don Emilio response which was that to drink is “to clarify your mind and to strengthen your body. [...]The visions are not so important.” While western psychedelic perspectives often emphasize the significance of “visions”, Dr. Luna accentuated that, within vegetalismo, or shamanic, traditions such as Don Emilio’s, “ayahuasca is a doctor” wherein “health and wisdom are two sides of the same coin”.
Above: A condensed video of Dr. Luna's remarks. Watch Dr. Luna's full keynote on YouTube.
Amidst pressing ethical concerns fomented through the globalization of psychedelic applications, including extractivist psychedelic tourism, biopiracy, and biocultural appropriations of Indigenous wisdom traditions, Dr. Luna’s emphasis on the importance of preserving Indigenous traditions and conserving and remediating the environment through situated and relational efforts calls to mind the towering stakes at play in the field of critical psychedelic studies. Conference panels and workshops offered a variety of entry points into the significant contributions being made within the field of critical psychedelic studies along the throughline of spirituality.
The "Psychedelic Spirituality and Race" panel featured discussions on the intersections of race and identity within spiritual psychedelic communities and emphasized the field's turn toward equity and justice, notably through the scholarship of panelists such as Grant Jones, a Clinical Psychology PhD candidate at Harvard University, and Julian Sanchez Gonzalez, PhD Candidate in Art History at Columbia University and a Research Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art’s Cisneros Institute.
Split into two sessions, the panel featuring underground psychedelic spiritualities included contributions from panelists Michelle L’Hooq, Journalist and Author of “WEED: Everything You Want to Know But Are Always Too Stoned to Ask”, and J. Christian Greer, Lecturer in American Studies at Stanford University, who shared their analyses of often-overlooked psychedelic legacies, or–according to Greer–“Psychedelicisms”, such as rave culture and Black psychedelia.
The panel on "Psychedelic Spirituality and Medicine", examined the intersections between spirituality and medicine within clinical psychedelic research, including perspectives from panelists such as Dr. Franklin King, Director of Education and Therapist Training of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
The "Psychedelic Spirituality and Indigenous Traditions” panel featured contributions from speakers such as Osiris González Romero, Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan, spoke to the critical analysis of transcultural correspondences between psychedelic studies and Indigenous spiritualities, highlighting the magnitude and primary importance of the study of Indigenous wisdom and practices within the field of critical psychedelic studies.
Panelist featured in the “Psychedelic Spirituality and Ancient Traditions” session emphasized the enduring connections between religion and psychedelic spiritualities, and included contributions from scholars such as Geoffrey Smith, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and Director of the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins, who underlined the often-unrecognized impact of ancient traditions in contemporary discourse.
Conference workshops, including “Reimagining Psychedelic Integration” and “Voice as Muscle of the Self: Using Voice to Map Psyche”, foregrounded the importance of experiential practices alongside scholarly discussions within critical psychedelic studies, underscoring the importance of acknowledging and incorporating creative and means of rigorously engaging psychedelic spiritualities beyond more conventional approaches to scholarship.
Dr. Carl Hart, Mamie Phipps Clark Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University and author of Drug Use for Grown-Ups, rounded out the conference with a keynote speech that implored the audience to reconsider hierarchical notions of drug use in relation to the mortal stakes of the so-called “psychedelic renaissance” and the ongoing repercussions of the global war on drugs within the structurally biased U.S. carceral system, which weaponizes violence primarily against Black and Latino communities. In contextualizing psychedelic exceptionalism, Dr. Hart underscored the deadly consequences of disparaging certain drug practices while championing others. “This thing we call psychedelic exceptionalism,” said Dr. Hart, “where one thinks that their drug is more superior, better, whatever adjective you like to use, I’m going to show how that sort of thinking is not only dangerous, but it has become deadly in the United States.” Dr. Hart went on to emphasize that by engaging in “psychedelic exceptionalism, which is not warranted, it's dangerous and even deadly, [...]what it does is that it really allows this sort of vilification of users of drugs not included in this category [of psychedelics]. [...] More importantly, what it does is that it allows the dehumanizing of people who use other drugs. And this dehumanization is the thing that really contributes to people getting killed.” Dr. Hart urged listeners to transform their attitudes and behaviors regarding drugs, advocating for an understanding of drug use as an inextricable part of the biosocial context in which people who are marginalized, especially Black and Latino men, suffer dehumanization and threats to life for their drug use. Furthermore, Dr. Hart underlined that to quell the impact of selective policing and incarceration and transform reductive notions of drug exceptionalism, it is vital that people seriously adjust their behaviors and attitudes towards drug use and empower their communities with education.
Following the conference, reflections from attendees offered glimpses into the event's impact. Natalie Ball, MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School, spoke to her appreciation for the conference’s “comprehensive exploration of diverse fields within psychedelic studies”, highlighting “the multidisciplinary nature of psychedelic research and its implications across different cultures and practices” and “the importance of critical thinking across sectors”. Naming Dr. Hart’s talk as “a standout”, Ball lauded his contributions “to the conference’s exploration of complex issues and the need to continually challenge existing policy frameworks.” Beandrea July, an independent arts journalist and film critic and Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, shared her takeaways, including “a breakthrough” regarding approaches originating from within the medical-industrial complex compared to the perspectives and practices flowing from Indigenous plant medicine traditions. July reflected upon “the power of psychedelics for deep rest as a form of resistance,” a perspective which underscores the political stakes of the conference and the field of critical psychedelic studies at large. July's experience reflects the conference's exploration of psychedelics' multifaceted roles, resonating with themes presented by Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna regarding the sacred in vegetal consciousness. Reflections offered by Dr. Jim Hopper, a nationally recognized expert on psychological trauma and Teaching Associate in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, further underlined the importance of intersectionality in critical psychedelic studies. “I wholeheartedly embrace [intersectionality] as critical—especially around issues of access, safety,” Dr. Hopper remarked, emphasizing intersectional perspectives which surfaced in panels and conversations at the conference. Attendee responses point to the vital necessity of adopting an intersectional lens within psychedelic research and practice to bridge divides across belief systems, disciplines, and communities.
Above: A condensed video of Dr. Hart's remarks. Watch Dr. Hart's full keynote on YouTube.
Dr. Hart’s keynote represents a powerful fulcrum for the conference’s call to evince the intersectionality intrinsic to critical psychedelic studies. Acknowledgement of the various and complex ways in which psychedelics and spirituality converge across different cultures and contexts constitutes the minimum basis for intersectionality in critical psychedelic studies. However, for intersectional approaches to take material form beyond the good intentions inscribed within such a call, stakeholders in the field of critical psychedelic studies must cultivate reparative initiatives to bridge existing divides, and foreground efforts through measurable steps to increase representation of marginalized voices, and foster belonging and equity in psychedelic and plant medicine research, practice, and policy.
Illuminating the dynamic interplay between mental states, physical experiences, cultural influences, and collective practices within the context of spirituality, the Psychedelic Intersections conference not only explored the historical and contemporary connections between religion and psychedelics but fostered new avenues for understanding the intercultural future of drug spiritualities. By bringing together leading researchers, practitioners, and thinkers, the conference highlighted the complex ways in which psychedelics intersect with the many dimensions of human experience, marking a significant contribution to building the field critical psychedelic studies.
Story by Tristan Angieri, MDiv '26