Events in Religion at Otago

Inaugural Professorial Lecture

Professor Ben Schonthal
University of Otago

About Ben Schonthal's research

Ben researches the interactions of religion, law and politics in Asia, with a particular focus on Buddhist communities. His work draws on training in Asian history and languages as well as social scientific approaches to the study of law and religion.

He has published widely on topics such as religious freedom, constitutional design and religious nationalism. He has advised courts, governments and humanitarian organisations on issues relating to law and religion and co-directs (with colleagues in Law and History) the newly formed Otago Centre for Law and Society.

Ben’s current research explores the development and contemporary practice of Buddhist law in South and Southeast Asia, while also asking broader questions about how secular states deal with religious law.

Ben received his PhD from the University of Chicago and has held visiting positions at Northwestern University, the Institute for Advanced Studies (Bielefeld) and the Law School at the University of Chicago.

He currently serves as Associate Dean (International) for the Division of Humanities.

This lecture will be followed with light refreshments, tea, coffee and juice.

Castle 1 Lecture Theatre (75 Albany Street, North Dunedin, Dunedin Otago).

Albert Moore Lectures 2023 - Lecture 1 - Contemporary Buddhist Tales of the Paranormal

Dr Dee Osto
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Massey University

Moot Court Lecture Theatre, located on the tenth floor of the Richardson Building.

Albert Moore Lectures 2023 - Lecture 2 - Nonbinary Buddhism

Dr Dee Osto
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Massey University

Archway 2.

Albert Moore Lectures 2023 - Seminar - Psychedelic Buddhism, Inner Space, Outer Space and the Limits of Human Knowledge

Dr Dee Osto
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Massey University

Moot Court Lecture Theatre, located on the tenth floor of the Richardson Building.

Religion, Maternal Support, and Child Health and Development across Five Cultures

Associate Professor John Shaver
University of Otago

Abstract:From an evolutionary perspective, the higher relative fertility of religious individuals in contemporary environments represents a puzzle: studies find a negative relationship between child number and developmental outcomes for each child; however, there is currently little evidence that children born to religious parents fare worse, despite larger family sizes. Using anthropometric, demographic, and social network data collected from over 5,000 mothers and their children across Bangladesh, the Gambia, India, Malawi and the United States, this talk describes the results of a study designed to evaluate the hypothesis that religious systems motivate cooperative parenting behaviours among extended kin networks and unrelated co-religionists to enable large families of successful children.

Richardson 7N10 Seminar Room.

Psychedelics as Personalised Medicine: Strategies, Experiences, and Outcomes of Lay Psychedelic Use for Health and Well-Being in New Zealand

Chris Arnison
PhD Candidate, University of Otago

Abstract:The earliest religious specialists were also medical specialists: shamans who entered trance states to interact with supernatural forces in order to heal illness. In some instances psychoactive flora were used to occasion such states, and now in the present century, psychoactive substances - and especially those with psychedelic properties - are being investigated for their potential to treat a range of psychiatric conditions. In this seminar I will offer a brief comparison of indigenous shamanism and contemporary psychedelic-assisted therapy before presenting preliminary findings of qualitative research undertaken in New Zealand exploring a third modality of psychedelic medicine, where non-professionals are self-administering psychedelics as a component of self-managed treatment strategies for health or well-being issues.

I will suggest that the data I have collected, taken together with accounts of how psychedelics were traditionally employed in indigenous contexts and descriptions of their use in contemporary clinical contexts, suggests the purported efficacy of these substances must not be thought of solely in terms of pharmacological action, but that cultural factors - including spirituality - play an important role in mediating therapeutic experiences and outcomes.

Furthermore, I will suggest that instead of developing a one-size-fits-all clinical model of psychedelic-assisted therapy, it may be more appropriate to develop a model that uses a personalised, or precision approach. Similar to personalised medicine in oncology where treatments are tailored to an individual's genome, personalised psychedelic medicine would be tailored to a person's particular cultural - and in some cases spiritual - background and beliefs.

Richardson 7N10 Seminar Room.

Billy

Cameron Vercoe-Groenen
PhD Candidate, University of Otago

tba.

Richardson 7N10 Seminar Room.