@samshonkoff.bsky.social
Jewish studies professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley | Working these days in contexts of Hasidism, German-Jewish thought, psychedelic studies, and fatherhood. https://linktr.ee/samshonkoff
Looking forward to this panel on "Apocalyptic Imaginaries in Jewish Psychedelic Discourse" w/ @leorroseman.bsky.social, Natalie Bloch, and yours truly. March 21st at 4pm Sweden time (10am ET, 7am PT). More details & free registration here: calendar.prodwebb8.lu.se/evenemang/en...
We are happy to advertise the international Leo Baeck Fellowship Programme 2026/2027 (German academic year October 2026-September 2027).
More information and how to apply: www.lbilondon.ac.uk/fellowship
@dubnow.bsky.social
I’m teaching a public program TONIGHT via livestream and IRL in Berkeley on “Homeland, Exile, and Diaspora in Jewish Spirituality.” All are welcome. www.eventbrite.com/e/homeland-e...
This panel will illuminate the cultural significance of the Hopkins/NYU study and how its results might inform views on psychedelics, religions, & entanglements between them.
Hosted by the GTU in collab w/Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics & Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.
In a panel at the GTU (Berkeley) on June 11, Pollan will engage in discussion with Zac Kamenetz, who participated in the Hopkins/NYU study; anthropologist Aidan Seale-Feldman; anthropologist Bia Labate; and neuroscientist Michael Silver. Scholar of religion Sam Shonkoff will moderate.
Publication of the scientific article from the Hopkins/NYU study was stalled for years. On May 19, Michael Pollan published his own article in The New Yorker about the study, its contexts, & its controversies. Then, the scientific article finally appeared on May 30 in _Psychedelic Science_.
The team sought to replicate/improve upon the 1962 “Good Friday Experiment.” Both studies asked: What happens when you give psilocybin to seasoned religious practitioners from traditions that don’t normally use psychedelics? Are they somehow primed? Do psychedelics change their religious outlooks?
Entanglements between psychedelics and religion are nothing new. However, we now find ourselves at an intriguing moment in that history. Nearly a decade ago, a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins & NYU observed the effects of psilocybin on dozens of religious leaders from various traditions.
Event on June 11: “Psychedelics and Spirituality in Light of the Religious Leaders Study,” at the GTU, w/ @michaelpollan.bsky.social, @zackamenetz.bsky.social, Aidan Seale-Feldman, Bia Labate, & Michael Silver, moderated by @samshonkoff.bsky.social.
events.gtu.edu/event/gtu.ev...
At long last, religious leaders study published, in Psychedelic Medicine | Ahead of Print www.liebertpub.com/toc/psymed/0/0
May 2025 is a big month in psychedelics & religion, kicked off by @michaelpollan.bsky.social's piece today, which contextualizes the scientific article that will (finally!) come out this month on the Hopkins-NYU study of psilocybin effects on religious leaders from nearly a decade ago. Great piece.
Israeli police inform protestors that they can no longer hold up “photos of children or babies from Gaza.” Let that fact sink in.
📕 Book Presentation "Seeking the Hiding God"
🌟Professor Arnold Eisen in conversation with
🌟Revd Prof Serena Jones, and
🌟Prof Sam Shonkoff
More information 👇 and registration 🔗
see also joel beinin on this question: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TmN...
I think my talk will be cool, but I'm most excited to listen to these other three papers. Sweet session. Come say hi if you're still alive next Tuesday morning in San Diego! #aarsbl24 #sblsaar24
A matriarchal culture probably wouldn't use the phrase "contemplating your navel" as a shorthand for unproductive thinking.
New article: "Child Mind in Hasidic Spirituality." Hasidic celebrations of the “simple person's" capacity for spiritual connection is well known. An oft overlooked image, though, is that of the child, whose "beginner" consciousness may be emulated by adult seekers. www.academia.edu/110219703/Sa...