Parapsychological Association Convention Comes to Durham, North Carolina

The principal international scientific organization studying parapsychology and the nature of consciousness, the Parapsychological Association (PA), will be holding its 55th annual convention on August 9-12, 2012 at the Millennium Hotel in Durham, North Carolina.  For three days, leading scientists and other academics from around the world will gather to present the latest research into psi (or “psychic”) experiences and related phenomena, such as extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, psychic healing, altered states of consciousness, mediumship and possible survival of bodily death. Hosted by the Rhine Research Center and Atlantic University, the event will be open to the public and to academics alike.

Thomas Robisheaux, Professor of History at Duke University, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday night. His talk titled Looking for Psyche: Historical Reflections on Parapsychology, Psychical Research and the Anomalous Experience will look at the historical conditions that have fostered innovative new understandings of anomalous experiences. Other notable speakers include Daryl J. Bem, social psychologist and professor emeritus at Cornell University, who will discuss the experiences he has had dealing with critics of his well- known ESP experiments, which were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2011.  Research Triangle residents John A. Palmer and James C. Carpenter will also receive distinguished awards.

Licensed child psychologist Athena A. Drewes will be leading two workshops, one on understanding psi experiences and another on creating and facilitating psi experience support groups. Panels honoring William A. Roll and Stanley S. Krippner, as well as workshop on medical dream diagnosis will also be presented.  Additionally, PA members will present a variety of papers and posters from experimental, clinical, scholarly, and analytical research approaches to the study of parapsychology.

The PA convention will offer an unique opportunity for those interested in that wide range of human functioning popularly known as the ‘psychic’ or ‘paranormal’ to hear the latest and most advanced scientific thinking about parapsychological topics. Information on registration and accommodations is available at www.parapsych.org