June 10,
2002
Cognitive Liberty in the Classroom
A
unique course recently offered in the Philosophy Department of the
University of British Columbia explored the historical precedent and
current applications of cognitive liberty. UBC student Mark Bryan was
prompted to design this course after years of working within an academic
system that ignored any connection between freedom of thought and altered
states of consciousness, particularly those engendered by psychedelics.
“It always seemed odd to me that the university, a place where freedom
of thought is championed, will deal with an immense range of subjects, yet
will pretend that psychedelics do not exist. Academic freedom was being
hindered by the belief that a certain portion of human thought and
activity could be swept under the carpet,” stated Bryan.
Taking
advantage of a program allowing for student-directed seminars, Bryan
designed and led this innovative course, saying he “wanted to design the
‘Cognitive Liberty: Psychedelic Perspectives’ course in such a way
that it would be the most challenging, interesting, and unusual course
that I (and hopefully my classmates) participated in at university.”
Despite
admonitions that getting approval for this course from the UBC board might
meet apathy or even hostility, Bryan’s enthusiasm and academically-sound
course outline sparked the curiosity of the oversight committee. After the
fact, Bryan confirmed “the success of the class can partially be
measured by the amount of interest I received from people who heard about
the course after it started.” A class poll elicited responses such as
“excellent,” “dynamic,” “rare” and “invaluable.”
The
structure and the subject of the course were unique for the university
because the course was learner-centered not teacher-centered. Classes were
formatted as discussion groups relating to the reading outlined for the
week. The reading list ranged from John Stuart Mill to Richard Glen Boire
to Thomas Roberts. Guest speakers were also invited to share with the
seminar participants. During the “psychedelic cultures” week Scotto
Moore, the editor of TRIP magazine, introduced the use of Internet groups
as a form of psychedelic community. Additionally, Ken Tupper of Simon
Fraser University spoke about his recently defended MA thesis on the use
of entheogens as educational tools.
Participants
in the course praised its unique focus and overall success. “I really
feel that I have been part of a ground-breaking and radical new form of
education (related not only to the unique course content, but also to its
format as a student-directed course),” raved Stacey Sobell. “I feel
more informed, aware and inspired about both psychedelic and cognitive
liberty issues that I ever have before. Let’s hope that more and more of
these classes start popping up all over, and perhaps our society’s
negative relationship with psychedelic substances might begin to change
for the better.”
STUDENTS
& PROFESSORS
If
you would like more information about developing a “Cognitive Liberty”
course at your university, please email
info@cognitiveliberty.org.
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