List of schools offering courses related to psychedelics

[Euphoric]

SWIM has been searching for schools (specifically in Canada) that offer courses that are heavily linked to psychedelics. SWIM's research has been unfruitful. He's decided to start this thread where people can post any schools from around the world and the courses they offer in psychedelics. SWIM already tried MAPS and found nothing in Canada. If he researches again, he will add to this thread even if the schools are not in Canada. SWIM thinks he will have to do independent research, that is if he can find a prof to supervise him. Anyways, may the listing begin.

Happy psychedelic research.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Interesting thread, may help me choose a course!

[RaverHippie]

There are schools that allow for degrees in individualized study where one essentially makes up his own major and designs the entire coursework by selecting available courses from the university and incorporating independent study projects. That may be a simpler route.

but to stick to the topic, I'm unaware of any colleges that have such course listings, but I'm US anyways.

[pseudonym0]

Originally Posted by RaverHippie

There are schools that allow for degrees in individualized study where one essentially makes up his own major and designs the entire coursework by selecting available courses from the university and incorporating independent study projects. That may be a simpler route.

swim attends one such school (hampshire college in western massachusetts) and he agrees that this might be a good option for anyone hoping to receive a 'degree in psychedelics' so to speak. if you were motivated enough and networked with the right faculty members it is possible that you could develop a study program at least partially concentrated in psychedelic studies. you would have to do quite a few independent studies since few courses relate directly to this subject. swim has heard of one class on ethnobotany at university of massachusetts in amherst in which students learned about and experimented with various psychoactives such as kava-kava. although this was not officially part of the course, some of those students took a trip to peru along with their professor to ingest ayahuasca in a traditional ritual.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for contributing to this thread, interesting info/idea

[Panthers007]

As a lifetime education-freak, I've looked into many, many courses of study available. But I've never seen one designed, specifically, towards psychedelics.

Perhaps a better approach would be to list subjects/courses that one could take to help develop a language to better understand how & what psychedelics can be applied for positive personal/social benefits. I'll start:

Logic 101.

[Euphoric]

Even an anthropology course that focuses on a culture/religion that uses/used a mind altering substance would be good. Like a course on the Bwiti or Santo Daime or something like that...

[Alfa]

There is a thread on the topic, but cant find it.

[~lostgurl~]

There is this thread about chemistry and pharmacology courses: University Courses to Aid The Quest

[Alfa]

What sciences are related to the topic drugs and how to they handle the topic?

[Euphoric]

The above posts are appreciated by what I'm really looking for is more like course names, descriptions and the schools that offer them.

Here is a small start taken from the MAPS website (http://www.maps.org/students_research.html):

If possible, take a course in psychedelics. Dr. Stacy B. Schaefer teaches a class on Indigenous People of Latin America at California State University, Chico, dealing in part with the peyote-using Huichol Indians. Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres teaches an Art and Shamanism course at Florida International University, exploring traditional cultures that use psychedelics. Northern Illinois University offers regular courses by Dr. Thomas Roberts. Invite him to be a guest lecturer at your own school! Dr. Roberts writes:

If your department or another would like to offer either course– Foundations of Psychedelic Studies or Entheogens – Sacramentals or Sacrilege? to students (graduate or undergraduate), it might be possible for me to travel every now and then and meet with a class, say over long weekends or for a day or two every couple of weeks. The rest we can do by Internet.

[Expat98]

You might find some courses of interest at Atlantic University. I don't know much about them or what kind of accreditation they have. It's just something I bookmarked a couple of years ago.

They offer a masters degree in Transpersonal Studies:

Transpersonal studies is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human nature and the world around us. It attempts to synthesize many complementary disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, religious studies, art, anthropology, history, and healing.

Here is their course catalog:

https://www.atlantic-university.org/home.php?CopyID=63

I think most of these courses can be taken online. I see that they do have a course on shamanism. I would actually love to do some of these courses myself if I had the time.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Useful, cheers.
	some very interesting courses

[Tick]

great post, i am a psych major with the goal of getting my masters, once i get settled in a career i would love to begin work on a the degree from atlantic university or at least take some course. looks amazing.

[Bajeda]

Keep in mind that with specialized courses like the ones you are seeking, they will only be offered if there is a professor who wants to teach them. I doubt they would be offered every year, so it might be harder to find them on course lists and the like as they may only be an occasional offering depending on the professor's interests and schedule.

You may be better off looking for professors would specialize in areas that interest you, then looking at what courses they teach. Besides, its the professor that really matters, not the course topic.

[Tick]

youre right, i got a little excited when i checked out their site is all

[Expat98]

Here is another school that looks interesting and has some courses on shamanism among various other topics related to psychedelics:

California Institute of Integral Studies
"Higher Education Honoring the Spiritual Dimension of Intellectual life"

[Ontherooftops]

Swim knows a girl getting her major in something along the lines of psychopharmacology at the University of Washington.

[brandonthegreat]

Drugs and Behavior at American University is a 200-level course

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for your input

[Nodnarb]

It's a little tangential but there's a great podcast series of a Drugs and Behavior course from Berkley at http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_d...sid=1906978365 . As a bonus, he uses Dale Pendell's books as core reading material.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Thanks for sharing.
	Good links about the uni course
	Thanks, nice link. Lots of good course podcasts on the site.

[Synesthesiac]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

It's a little tangential but there's a great podcast series of a Drugs and Behavior course from Berkley at http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_d...sid=1906978365 . As a bonus, he uses Dale Pendell's books as core reading material.

Awesome. Who needs to go to uni when they put practically every lecture online for anyone anyway? definately gonna be listening to some of them.

[~lostgurl~]

Thanks for the link Nodnarb. I have added the audio to the archive here Psych 119 Drugs and Behavior - course from Berkley

[salviablue]

Here in the UK Neuroscience courses have started to proliferate, when I started a Neuroscience BSc about 10 years ago, there was only 3 or 4 uni`s offering them. They significantly changed my course half way through, from a 70/30 Biology/Psychology base to a near complete switch, and I wasnt too fond of psychology the first year! Unfortunately I left a few months into the second year (been kicking myself ever since mind) but not just for the psychology reason, had other stuff going on too.

Anyway here is the list from UCAS for uni`s here in the UK.

University of Bristol Neuroscience 3FT/4SW Hon BSc

University of Central Lancashire Neuroscience 3FT Hon BSc

University of Dundee Neuroscience (3 year Hons) 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience (4 year Hons) 4FT Hon BSc Biochemistry and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScGeology and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScInternational Relations and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience and Psychology 3FT Hon BSc

Keele University American Studies and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BSc Astrophysics and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BSc Chemistry and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScComputer Science and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScCriminology and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScEconomics and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScEducational Studies and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScEnglish and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScFinance and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScForensic Science and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScGeography and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScHuman Geography and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScHuman Resource Management and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScInformation Systems and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScLaw and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScMathematics and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScMedia, Communications & Culture and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScMedicinal Chemistry and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScMusic Technology and Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience and Physical Geography 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience and Physics 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience and Politics 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience with Science Foundation Year 4FT Hon BSc

University of Leeds Neuroscience 3FT/4FT Hon BSc

The University of Manchester Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychol w Ind/Profe Exp Hon BScNeuroscience (B140)Neuroscience (4 years) 4FT Hon MNeurosc3FT Hon BScNeuroscience with Industrial/Profes Experience 4SW Hon BSc

The University of Nottingham Neuroscience 3FT Hon BSc

University of St Andrews Neuroscience 4FT Hon BSc

University of Sussex Cognitive Neuroscience 3FT Hon BScNeuroscience (B140)3FT Hon BSc

University College London (University of London) Neuroscience 3FT Hon BSc

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Key
available in UCAS Extra
Route A Art and Design course
Route B Art and Design course
complete entry profile

FT = full-time, SW = sandwich


search criteria:
subject: NEUROSCIENCES, single subject: Y

Most of what was covered could be directly applied to psychedelics (seretonergic system, Cholinergic system, norepinephrine system etc), although no specific psychedelic compounds/actions were covered in any detail. A lot of stuff about perception was covered as well. The course basically consisted of Neurobiology, Psychobiology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Chemistry, Psychology, Psychiatry.
There was more scope to expand into more specific actions of psychedelics in the second year (but I never got that far!).

Obviously this could be combined with a botany/plant medicine type minor or organic chemistry (whatever specialisation maybe interesting).

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Thank you
	Very helpful list, thank you for taking the time to add this.

[Euphoric]

For those looking to pursue graduate research into drugs (where it seems most of the opportunities are), this link may be helpful: http://www.psycomp.org.uk/

[oxman12345]

Swim was thinking that a pharmaceutical chemistry course would be useful in helping one learn how to synthesise more complex molecules such as 2c-x and whatnot no?
(Not in the actual making of them sense more in development of technique and such.)

[terrapinzflyer]

The evergreen state college in olympia wa (aka the everstrange green college) used to have a chemistry professor who offered a course on Pihkal- not sure if they still do...or if he is still even facutly there. Swims turtle won't publish his name here, but ~may~ provide more info to standing members here if requested.

[caltrain208]

SWIM just finished taking Music of the Grateful Dead at UC Santa Cruz. SWIM learned a lot about the history of LSD and the culture associated with its use. Many other drugs also came up a few times, such as opiates, psilocybin mushrooms, DXM, weed, mescaline, amphetamines, and cocaine. Mickey Hart (one of the drummers) even came in to the class and told stories about all the people they used to drug with LSD.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Interesting, thanks for sharing.