Parapsychological Association Conference - Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

54^th Annual Parapsychological Association Convention

Curitiba, Brazil

August 18-21, 2011

The 54^th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association (PA) will be held from Thursday August 18^th, through Sunday August 21^st, 2011, in Curitiba, Brazil.

The deadline for the receipt of all submissions is Monday April 11, 2011. Submissions received after this date will be considered only in exceptional circumstances. Abstracts of all accepted submissions other than workshops will be included in the convention booklet, provided that they are received before the deadline.

All submissions to the 2011 PA convention, except proposed workshops, must be submitted electronically. They should be emailed as attachments, to the chair of the Program Committee, Dr. Marios Kittenis, at m.kittenis@aston.ac.uk. Authors who are not online or who for some other reason cannot meet these requirements should contact Marios prior to submission, either by mail: c/o Dr Marios Kittenis, Psychology, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK or by phone: +44 121 204 3000 ext. 4318.

For more details, please see: http://www.parapsych.org/breaking-news.html#18

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

Paranormal Cultures: An interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex - Friday 4 June 2010

Registration is now open for The Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies one-day interdisciplinary conference on Paranormal Cultures, Friday 4 June 2010 at The University of Sussex.

The paranormal has always exerted a particular 'pull', triggering in some an urge to explore and explain and in others a more emotional or even spiritual reaction. Discussions about and enjoyment of a rich mixture of topics and experiences grouped under the umbrella term 'paranormal cultures' are becoming increasingly popular and mainstream. An abundance of media coverage, television and cinema entertainment and an ever growing interest in supernatural phenomena, ghosts, UFOs, psychic powers, astrology and other forms of alternative knowledges on the Internet testifies to a willingness to explore the 'paranormal' and the extraordinary in our everyday lives.

This conference seeks to open up discussions about the anxieties, desires and engagements with the paranormal discourse, in popular culture, literature and visual culture as well as in everyday life, and across historical periods. The recent increase in popularity of all things paranormal across literature, art and popular culture suggests not only a reinvigorated interest in notions of the paranormal but possibly also new functions and pleasures of these fascinations, pursuits that scholars need to engage with, and we hope the conference will be a stimulating starting point for such engagements. Conversations across disciplines, from Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, History, to Art History will be addressing questions such as: What is the influence of the paranormal on our personal and social lives? What can researching a society's engagements with the paranormal and alternative knowledges tell us about a culture? How should the recent increase in popularisation of the paranormal be interpreted?

All of these conversations and more will spill over into lunch and coffee breaks and no doubt into the wine reception at the end of the programme. And for the curious and courageous we have also arranged for a Ghost Walk in the Lanes, central Brighton in the evening [limited spaces available].

Keynote Speakers:
Prof John Harvey (Aberystwyth)
Dr Anita Biressi and Prof Heather Nunn (Roehampton)

Speakers from Sussex include: Prof Sally R Munt (Director of the Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies) Dr Alie Bird (Anthropology) Dr Olu Jenzen (English and Cultural Studies) Dr Tatiana Kontou (English) Dr Jon Mitchell (Anthropology) Dr Pam Thurschwell (English)

Conference fee: £40 (£15 unwaged and students)includes lunch and refreshments. Organisers: Prof Sally R. Munt and Dr Olu Jenzen To register please contact: o.l.m.jenzen@sussex.ac.uk Closing date for registrations: 24 May 2010 For programme and further information visit our website: www.sussex.ac.uk/sccs

Call for Papers - 2nd Exploring the Extraordinary Conference at University of York - 24th-25th Sept. 2010

EXPLORING THE EXTRAORDINARY
2nd Conference
University of York, UK
Friday, 24th September – Saturday 25th September, 2010

CALL FOR PAPERS

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our second Exploring the Extraordinary network conference. We would like to invite people to submit papers based on contemporary studies of extraordinary experiences. Some examples of topics may be:

• Individual accounts of extraordinary experiences
• Health, well being and extraordinary experiences
• Belief systems that incorporate extraordinary experiences
• Theoretical discussions of extraordinary experiences, and/or the potential for interdisciplinary perspectives
• Developing suitable methodologies to research extraordinary experiences

This conference will be hosted by the Anomalous Experiences Research Unit (http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/soci/research/aeru.htm), members of which established Exploring the Extraordinary in 2007 at the University of York, with the aim of creating a supportive researcher network that would encourage interdisciplinary links and discussions regarding the study of extraordinary experiences. By ‘extraordinary’ we refer to experiences that are considered by experients to be beyond the mundane, having significant spiritual or life changing connotations. We include experiences that have been called supernatural, paranormal, mystical, transcendental, exceptional, spiritual, and religious, as well as the belief systems such experiences may connect to.

Papers should be intended for an interdisciplinary audience.

Please submit a 300-500 word abstract to Dr Hannah Gilbert (heg104@york.ac.uk) by the 2nd April 2010. Papers should ideally be 20 minutes in length. Please include contact information and a brief biographical note. Accepted papers will be decided upon by a committee, and a decision will be made within one week of the closing date.

Accepted papers will also be invited to submit a full paper for possible publication in a special issue of the Journal for the Society for Psychical Research, which will be guest edited by Dr Madeleine Castro and Dr Hannah Gilbert. If you would like to be considered for inclusion in the special issue of the JSPR then submit a full paper of no more than 6,000 words in APA format (for guidance click here ) including an abstract of 300-500 words, by no later than the 28th May. If you wish to be considered for the conference but not the JSPR special issue then submit just an abstract (no later than the 2nd April) for your presentation. Please note all papers will be subject to anonymous peer review following submission, and acceptance for the conference will not guarantee acceptance for publication.

Timescale:

2nd April 2010: Deadline for abstract submissions
28th May 2010: Deadline for paper submissions
24th -25th September 2010: Exploring the Extraordinary conference

Inquiries can be sent to

Dr Hannah Gilbert,
Anomalous Experiences Research Unit,
Sociology,
University of York,
Heslington, York,
YO10 5DD

heg104@york.ac.uk