October: Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness
Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness
Gary Laderman, Goodrich C. White Professor of American History and Cultures, Department of Religion, Emory University
Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 5pm
HUM 250
In this conversation, Gary Laderman will explore what drugged life has do with
religious life. The discussion will be tied into his recent book, Sacred Drugs: How
Psychoactive Substances Mix with Religious Life, which argues that altering consciousness
is not only a natural phenomenon in human and other species, but also an integral
element in religious cultures throughout time and around the globe. The conversation
will be framed by religious studies concerns and conceptualizations. We will likely
touch on coffee and cannabis, alcohol and amphetamine, psychedelics and
pharmaceuticals, and other drugging agents that are ubiquitous in American society,
as well as their dangers and the discourse around addiction which are also infused
with religious sentiments and sensibilities.