I will be updating the information and moving to another blog in the next few months. Please note in the meantime that Devin Terhune has been a Ph. D. for some time doing a very successful post-doc at the University of Oxford.

Lectures in Vienna

Etzel will be lecturing  in Vienna.
January 19th at 20.15 
The Artist as Seer: Ostensible Psi Phenomena and Alterations of Consciousness in Modern and Contemporary Art

January 20th at 20.15 
Alternate Doorways: The Relation between Alterations of Consciousness and Psi Phenomena
at the University of Vienna.
For more information see http://parapsychologie.ac.at/

A forthcoming lecture on a fascinating early figure in the study of psi:

Thursday Nov 14, 15.15-17, Paradisgatan 5P, room P206, Lund

The Perfect Insect of the Imaginal: Frederic Myers and the Evolution of the Human Imagination

Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor, Rice University, USA 

Prof. Kripal will explore the intellectual roots of the contemporary category of the "paranormal" in Victorian university culture and the central figure of the Cambridge classicist Frederic Myers.  Prof. Kripal will also treat Myers' framing of the "imaginal" nature of psychical experiences and the reception history of this category in the work of Theodore Flournoy, C. G. Jung, and Henry Corbin.  Finally, he will also compare Myers with the American humorist Mark Twain, who was similarly fascinated by psychical phenomena. 

hi, the following events relate to anomalous psychology and art and are free at malmö's konsthall
17-20/7 Talk and Meetings: Etzel Cardeña
Victoria Skogsberg, Kungliga Konsthögskolan, Stockholm (SE), bjuder in Etzel Cardeña, professor i psykologi vid Lunds universitet. Etzel Cardeña leder CERCAP, Centrum för forskning om medvetande och anomalistisk psykologi. Läs mer
Ons 17/7 kl. 18
Etzel Cardeña gives a talk:
Ostensible PSI Phenomena in Modern and Contemporary Art. OBS! På engelska.
Tors 18/7 kl. 15-17
Meetings between Victoria Skogsberg and Etzel Cardeña. OBS! På engelska.
Fredag 19/7 kl. 11-17
Platsspecifik anomalistisk upplevelse för besökare.

2 news today, one related to two plays directed by Etzel and the other to a forthcoming lecture co-organized by CERCAP.

1) ITM PRODUCES STRINDBERG IN ENGLISH IN COPENHAGEN 

The Stronger + Simoom

Two short plays by August Strindberg

Saturday March 9th at 16:00 and 19:00

Venue Krudttonden (Stalden), Serridslevvej 2, 2100 Kbh (www.drudttonden.dk). Tickets: 60 kr. (www.ctcircle.dk)

Easily accessible from S-train station Nordhavn or train station Österbrogade and bus 1A (your train station is valid for the bus)

2) Seminarium: professor Jerry Kroth, "Psyche's exile: An empirical odyssey in search of the soul"

Jerry Kroth Associate Professor Emeritus, Santa Clara University, California. Psyche's exile: An empirical odyssey in search of the soul: Dr.Kroth examines ‘forbidden databases’ of academic psychology: near death experiences, telepathy, synchronicity, psychic dreaming, premonitions, archetypes, and considers how each underscores the transcendental and transpersonal nature of the psyche. 
Tid: 2013-03-25 kl. 13.00 
Sluttid: 2013-03-25 kl. 15.00 , Plats: P206

Two theatre events directed by Etzel that may interest you:

A  staged reading of a complete play and two fragments of surrealist plays as part of the exhibit on surrealism at the Moderna Museet , Malmö, on Tuesday, December 4^th  at 18:00 hrs.

Location: Moderna Museet

  Gasverksgatan 22

   Malmö

Admission: Free to MMV vänner, otherwise 50 SEK

Two Strindberg one-act plays in English for lunchtime theatre at the Pufendorf Institute, Lund on December 11^th 2012 at 12:00 lunchtime sharp.

Location: Pufendorf Institute

 Classicum

 Biskopsgatan 3/Sölvegatan 2

 Lund

VILL DU PROVA HYPNOS?

Dag: Fredagen den 14:e december 2012

Tid: 15.00

Plats: P206 (Psykologibyggnaden, andra våningen, Paradisgatan 5)

Ta med: En penna

Professor Etzel Cardeña genomför en grupphypnostest. Sessionen tar ca en timme och har redan administrerats till över 1400 lundabor. De allra flesta tycker att hypnosen är en spännande upplevelse!

Ta gärna med en vän!

För frågor kontakta

Hanna Nilsson

Forskningsassistent

Mail: hanna.jenny.nilsson@gmail.com

Telefon: 073 828 67 00 

A clarification with references

As some of you have read in Swedish newspapers, a group of Lund professors attacked me and the university’s magazine, LUM, for publishing an article describing the research we conduct at CERCAP on parapsychology. Here are some clarifications and references on this matter:

1) No single experiment in parapsychology (psi), or in other areas of science for that matter, “proves” the reality of a phenomenon; the strength of the evidence depends, rather, on whether well-conducted studies cumulatively provide evidence for its validity. Analyses of the context we used (1, 2), ganzfeld, show that results supporting a psi hypothesis cannot be reasonably attributed to chance or to poorly conducted research. Our study (3) supported this general finding in that our measure of telepathic functioning during ganzfeld correlated strongly with two variables that have previously been found to correlate with psi (believing that one will be successful in the experiment, and reporting previous ostensible psi phenomena), and very strongly with experiencing an altered state (among high hypnotizables).

2)   Analyses of all the relevant research literature (meta-analyses) have also found support for other psi phenomena (4-6) and this evidence has been found to be at least as strong as that for accepted phenomena in mainstream science (7).

3)   Critics misunderstood our study in that it was not designed to test whether telepathy exists or not (so-called “proof experiments”), but to investigate the relationship between specific variables, such as experiencing an altered state and the psi task (a “process experiment”). The separate analyses of high and low hypnotizables in our study were determined a priori after screening hundreds of individuals because we expected, based on previous research, that alterations of consciousness would be especially evident among high hypnotizables. We developed the study’s hypotheses before we conducted it, thus any criticism about post-hoc analyses is unfounded.

4)   Although there are general principles that underlie the scientific method across disciplines such as a respect for research data irrespective of one’s ontological preferences, the rationale behind using specific techniques and analyses require specific education in a research area, knowledge of the specialized literature, and so on. The notion that a group without specific competence in an area would appoint themselves as authorities to dictate which areas should or should not be studied scientifically harkens back to the prescientific era in Western civilization.

5)  There are scientists that vehemently oppose psi, but there are also eminent scientists and scientific organizations that have been convinced by the evidence for psi or, at least, are supportive of further research in the topic. Work on psi is being conducted in some top universities such as Cornell and University of California in the USA, and more than a dozen universities in the UK.

6)   My activities doing research in hypnosis and psi fulfill exactly the remit for the Thorsen Chair for which I was unanimously appointed by Lund University in 2005. My work was singled out as “excellent” by the independent group RQ08 in 2008, has been published in top journals in psychology and psychiatry, and has received more than a dozen awards from diverse scientific organizations. 

We are currently conducting a follow-up of our 2011 study. Anyone interested in receiving a copy of it can send me an email requesting it. 

References

1: Storm, L., Tressoldi, P. E., & Di Risio, L. (2010). Meta-analysis of free-response studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the noise reduction model in parapsychology. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 471–485. doi:10.1037/a0019457

2. Willliams, B. J. (2011). Revisiting the GANZFELD ESP debate: A basic review and assessment. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 25, 639-662.

3: Marcusson-Clavertz, D.  & Cardeña, E., (2011). Hypnotizability, alterations in consciousness, and other variables as predictors of performance in a ganzfeld psi task. Journal of Parapsychology, 75, 235-259.

4. Mossbridge, J., Tressoldi, P., & Utts, J. (2012). Predictive physiological anticipation preceding seemingly unpredictable stimuli: a meta analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 3. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390

5. Schmidt, S. (2012). Can we help just by good intentions? A meta-analysis of experiments on distant intention effects? Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 6, 529-533. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0321

6. Storm, L., Tressoldi, P. E., & Di Risio, L. (in press). Meta-analysis of ESP studies, 1987-2010: Assessing the success of forced choice design in parapsychology. Journal of Parapsychology.

7. Utts, J. M. (1996). An assessment of the evidence for psychic functioning. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10, 3–30.

THESE EVENTS MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU

1) In association with the Friends of Moderna Museet of Malmö(MMV) we present the series of talks Surrealisms. The series explores surrealist expressions in different areas, from film to music, from psychological perspectives, through artists in the exhibition and much more. Surrealisms with definite expressions within defined areas or different aspects of one SUPERSURREALISM?

9 October 6pm. Surrealisms: Psychology
Etzel Cardeña is professor of consciousness and anomalistic psychology at Lund University. Under the titleExploring other realities: altered states of conciousness, psi and surrealism he will talk about surrealisms relationship with psychology. (In English).

4 December 6 pm. Surrealisms: TheatreEtzel Cardeña returns to the museum, here in his role as the artistic director of the International Theatre of Malmö (ITM). We will be given an introduction to surrealist theatre and staged readings of the first act of If you please by André Breton and Philippe Soupault and the final act of When five years pass by Federico Garcia Lorca, with actors from ITM. (In English)

The lectures will be held at The Loading Dock, the only room open during the evening programme. Free admission for members of MMV, 50 SEK for others.

2) Lecture

Tid: 2012-10-16 kl. 10.00 
Sluttid: 2012-10-16 kl. 12.00 

Professor Raymond Tallis: "Aping Mankind: Neuromania and Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Mankind. Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity, chosen as one of the Books of the Year 2011 in the Guardian (David Lodge), Observer, and Evening Standard (George Walden), exposes the exaggerated claims made for the ability of neuroscience and evolutionary theory to explain human consciousness, behaviour, culture and society. Dr. Tallis has published research on clinical neurology as well as philosophy, poetry, and other areas.
Plats: Eden 121, Lund
E-post: Etzel.Cardena@psychology.lu.se

An interesting seminary today!

Madness and the ancient Greek society: abnormal behavior and its treatment

Professor. Yulia Ustinova Dep of Gen History
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer Sheva  

Tid: 12 september, kl 15.00-17.00
Lokal: P-202

Professor Ustinova has also published extensively on ancient technologies to alter consciousness.