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Psychedelic substances have great promise for the treatment of many conditions, and they are the subject of intensive research. As with other medical treatments, both research and clinical use of psychedelics depend on our ability to ensure informed consent by patients and research participants. However, some have argued that informed consent for psychedelic use may be impossible, because psychedelic experiences can be transformative in the sense articulated by L. A. Paul (2014). For Paul, transformative experiences involve either the acquisition of knowledge that cannot be obtained in any other way or changes in the self. Either of these characteristics may appear to undermine informed consent. This article argues, however, that there is limited evidence that psychedelic experiences are transformative in Paul's sense, and that they may not differ in their transformative features from other common medical experiences for which informed consent is clearly possible. Further, even if psychedelic experiences can be transformative, informed consent is still possible. Because psychedelic experiences are importantly different in several respects from other medical experiences, this article closes with recommendations for how these differences should be reflected in informed consent processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What brings graduate students to feminist theories and feminist methodologies? In this essay, the author argues that graduate students are led by similar "feminist impulses" that many of us have in the field of feminist studies, whereby we are searching for ways to disrupt the status quo and the political and ethical terrain of the academy by doing "feminist" research. In a response to this feminist impulse, the author offers an example of their graduate seminar on Feminist Methodologies that is centered around Gayatri Spivak's legendary essay, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" By using Spivak's provocative essay, in all of its (mis)readings, the author argues that Spivak's essay and the controversies around it provide a perfect springboard for a graduate seminar on feminist methods. By centering Spivak's essay, the course forces students to consider what is at stake and what we are hoping to accomplish on the backs of our research (subjects). The questions at the heart of Spivak's essay are the questions at the heart of feminist methodology itself: who do we think we are when we attempt to do feminist research, what brings us to this work, and what does any potential savior complex have to do with it? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adapts scholar Judith Butler's theories on the performance of gender to investigate the performative nature of marriage in English playwright Thomas Dekker's city comedy, "The Shoemaker's Holiday." The cross-class clandestine wedding of the main plot allows the character Rose to work against her father's demands, against class endogamy, and toward a choice that provides her with economic and emotional benefits. This wedding, read in the context of the play's multiple weddings and remarriages, suggests a critique of the class, paternal, and gender hierarchies such ceremonies are often assumed to support.

Discusses the literature on Afro-Americans and ethnology. Discussion of the book 'Florence Grey,' by Ruth Todd; Comments on the characters in the book 'Hagar's Daughter,' by Pauline Hopkins; Information on the periodicals 'Bee' and the 'Colored American Magazine.'

Psychedelics have again become a subject of widespread interest, owing to the reinvigoration of research into their traditional uses, possible medical applications, and social implications. As evidence for psychedelics' clinical potential mounts, the field has increasingly focused on searching for mechanisms to explain the effects of psychedelics and therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT). This paper reviews three general frameworks that encompass several prominent models for understanding psychedelics' effects—specifically, neurobiological, psychological, and spiritual frameworks. Following our review, the implications of each framework for ethics and professional competencies in the implementation of psychedelics as medicines are explored. We suggest that interdisciplinary education may be necessary to improve communication between researchers, develop models that effectively incorporate multiple levels of analysis, and facilitate collaboration between professionals with diverse backgrounds in the implementation of psychedelic medicines. We also address pitfalls associated with overemphasis on neuro-mechanisms, risks associated with instigating vulnerable states of consciousness, and hurdles associated with the integration of spiritual frameworks in medicine. Ultimately, as psychedelics push the boundaries of explanatory frameworks focused on one level of analysis, developing new and more useful models to reflect knowledge being produced in this field should be a central aim of psychedelic science going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]