53rd Annual Parapsychological Association Convention

53 rd Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association
Enclos Rey – Paris, France
July 22-25, 2010
Program Chair: Dr. Nicola Holt
Arrangements Chair: Dr. Mario P. Varvoglis

Local Host: Institut Métapsychique International

General Information

The Annual PA Convention is an multidisciplinary international gathering of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of psi or ('psychic') experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The convention features three days of papers and posters presenting the latest academic research taking place in laboratories and research centers around the world. PA conventions are open to the public, and provide ample opportunities for attendees to discuss and exchange ideas.

L'Enclos Rey, a convent situated in the Parisian 15th sector, will be the site of the 2010 PA convention. Located just a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, the convent features a 6000 square metre garden within its walls, and can accommodate overnight guests at budget rates. With its urban location, there are many hotels, restaurants, and sight-seeing activities within walking distance of Enclos Rey.

Preceding the convention will be a public-friendly day of lectures hosted by the Institut Métapsychique International. The IMI day will take place at the Enclos Rey on Thursday, July 22 from 09h00 to 19h00. This day, aimed at a general but sophisticated public, will touch on a number of themes, including the history of parapsychology, research, epistemological issues, and applications. A majority of the presentations will be in French. Registration details for the IMI day are available at http://www.metapsychique.org/IMI-Day-of-PA-Convention-2010.html.

The IMI day will be followed by three days of PA convention activities in English. On Saturday evening, the annual banquet will be held at les Pavillons de Bercy, a cultural space and museum that holds three themed venues and outdoor gardens. The banquet speaker, Paul Devereux is managing editor and co-founder of the peer-reviewed publication, Time & Mind - The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture. A research associate at the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Devereux was a Senior Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) in Princeton for twelve years.

For information on registration visit:

http://www.parapsych.org/convention

New Newsletter

I have just started work putting together a new newsletter called "Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal". It will feature a range of short articles, news, reviews and so on from a variety of different writers.

If you would like to receive this free newsletter click on the following link and fill in the form:

http://paranthropology.weebly.com/newsletter.html

The Old Rennaissance and the New

I was just thinking, while reading the amazon blurb for a book on Spiritualism and its role in early feminism ("Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth Century America" by Ann Braude), about the possibility that mass social change is conduive to paranormal phenomena. A link between the concept of liminality,anti-structure and the paranormal has often been suggested; a major exposition of the issue can be found in George Hansen's "The Trickster and the Paranormal". The rise of spiritualism in the 19th century was coincident with enormous social change: the rise of modern science, the decline of religion, women's rights and so on - by any reckoning an anti-structural scenario. The spiritual phenomena allegedly produced at this time were of an extraordinary variety: full materializations of spirits, levitation, ectoplasmic rods, independent voice, and apports to name just a few. Might it be that these spirit manifestations were so impressive as a result of the seances taking place right in the middle of widespread social flux? If there is a link between intensity of paranormal phenomena and social upheaval, then might the alleged successes of certain mediumship groups (for example the Felix Experimental Group and the Yellow Cloud Circle) in producing materializations be linked to the current state of society? Is our society in a state of change?