Chacruna Institute

Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm PST

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Pedro Cesarino is Professor of the Department of Anthropology at the University of São Paulo. He is specialized in shamanism, oral traditions and cosmology of Amazonian native peoples and has published several articles and books such as Oniska – poética do xamanismo na Amazônia (Perspectiva, 2011) and “Amazonian shamanic enquiry: formulaic composition and specialized discourse” (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2023). From 2004 to 2009 he conducted fieldwork research among the Marubo from Vale do Javari Indigenous reservation, Amazonas state, Brazil. As a novelist he published Rio Acima (Companhia das Letras, 2016, translated to French as L’attrapeur d’oiseaux, Rivages, 2022) and A repetição (Todavia, 2023).

Dr. Bia Labate (Beatriz Caiuby Labate) is an anthropologist, educator, author, speaker, and activist, committed to the protection of sacred plants while amplifying the voices of marginalized communities in the psychedelic science field. As a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco, she has been profoundly influenced by her experiences with ayahuasca since 1996. Dr. Labate has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. Her work focuses on plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is the Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and serves as a Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Additionally, she is a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and an advisor for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition. Dr. Labate is also a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and the editor of its site. She has authored, co-authored, and co-edited 28 books, three special-edition journals, and numerous peer-reviewed and online publications (http://www.bialabate.net).

This talk will be recorded and immediately available for rewatch for all attendees.

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