The psychedelic field has generated a vast body of work in terms of psychology, art, spirituality and understandings of the mind and consciousness. Having engaged with the field for the last ten years, I have been curious as to why issues of race, gender and class are not included in the analysis and theories that are generated from the field. My background in feminism, queer studies, anti-racism, critical theory and social justice, as well as my interest in consciousness and psychedelics, led me to conduct a literature review and analyze it with a critical framework. The literature showed an overwhelming gap in the field in regards to inclusion and analysis of issues pertaining to race, gender and class. This gap needs to be addressed and I look forward to conducting fieldwork in the future such as interviewing people about their experiences of race, class and gender and its intersection with psychedelics. I hope to contribute to the field in terms of creatively and productively including an analysis of race, class and gender to the psychedelics field.

The psychedelic field has generated a vast body of work in terms of psychology, art, spirituality and understandings of the mind and consciousness. Having engaged with the field for the last ten years, I have been curious as to why issues of race, gender and class are not included in the analysis and theories that are generated from the field. My background in feminism, queer studies, anti-racism, critical theory and social justice, as well as my interest in consciousness and psychedelics, led me to conduct a literature review and analyze it with a critical framework. The literature showed an overwhelming gap in the field in regards to inclusion and analysis of issues pertaining to race, gender and class. This gap needs to be addressed and I look forward to conducting fieldwork in the future such as interviewing people about their experiences of race, class and gender and its intersection with psychedelics. I hope to contribute to the field in terms of creatively and productively including an analysis of race, class and gender to the psychedelics field.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s the two youth movements of the beats and the hippies emerged in the United States. Disagreeing with the progressive positivism of the previous generations these youths were part of a counter culture that adhered to an ideal of living in the present. Alan Wilson Watts (1915–1973), most known for his popularization of eastern philosophy and religion in general and Zen-Buddhism in particular, became one of the most influential and well-read advocates of the new movements. Drawing upon eastern philosophy and religion as well as modern psychology, Watts challenged the western world view by rejecting the dualism of self and environment, arguing that man is one with God and nature and claiming that nothing exists but the present experience here and now. Based on Watts’ view of man and reality, and in the context of the emerging youth movements, this study examines Watts’ criticism of western culture and society as well as his view on happiness and the possibility of a better life for the individual living in the west. The study shows that, according to Watts, the root of the problem facing western society lies in man’s incapability of distinguishing concept from reality, preferring abstract ideas and symbols to the experience present in everyday life. As a result, man perceives himself as separate from nature, waging war on his environment in a futile attempt at finding happiness by constantly striving for ever greater achievements of which the main goal always seems to lie somewhere in the future but never in the present. His ideas inspired the youth movements, although they moved in a different direction than the one he would have wanted. Watts, suggesting that an altered understanding of oneself as one with the universe is central in maintaining a thriving society in union with nature, claims that the essence of happiness consists of this understanding here in the present rather than the pursuit and obtaining of a desired goal.

My MFA portfolio consists of two scripts for performance and a research essay exploring the methods and process of writing these. Songs My Mother Taught Me is a one-woman cabaret piece; set in 1972, it explores hippie culture in New Zealand and a young women‟s search for independence. This portfolio contains two versions of this script. Both versions of this piece have been performed. In Defence of Love is a play for three actors, each of whom plays one aspect of an abused woman trying to find her way out of a destructive relationship.

In this paper I introduce and explain the construct of ‘Craft Fiction’ as a setting for my own artistic work. Within a fictional framework, I am mediating between the field of craft and the contemporary environment of relocated materialities and digital worlds I find myself in. Using the vehicle of language and analyzing those dialogue that are ongoing in craft processes, I am assessing the intimate relationships between maker and its tools/machines, in order to discuss hierarchies and purpose of crafting.

La littérature américaine est en mouvement constant. Elle cherche des pistes, des issues et des histoires évoquant ou transgressant la réalité. Depuis l’arrivée des premiers colons, l’influence des auteurs européens ne s’est jamais démentie sur les futurs natifs d’une terre en pleine expansion. Progressivement voué à l’exploration et à la découverte de l’intériorité de l’homme, l’auteur décrit les multiples évolutions métamorphosant la terre et les consciences. S’affranchir des lieux communs afin de s’approcher au plus près du mythe ultime – à savoir le « Grand Roman américain » – est une manière pour les écrivains du Nouveau Monde d’entrer dans la légende en s’appropriant le langage. Grâce à Jack London et la Beat Generation, écrire est synonyme de témoignage, la langue étant perpétuellement à réinventer. Libérer l’écriture de ses entraves est bien plus qu’un simple projet, c’est en quelque sorte un moyen d’émanciper la page. Du voyage clandestin dans les wagons de marchandises à la glorification du verbe neuf, la route tient toute ses promesses. / American literature is a constant flux. It is looking for new paths, exits and stories evoking or transgressing reality. Since the arrival of the first settlers, the influence of European authors on the future natives of this always-expanding country has never waned. As he progressively devoted himself to the discovery and exploration of the interiority of Man, the author has described the multiple evolutions which transformed both the land and the minds. Freeing oneself from commonplace ideas in order to get closer to the ultimate myth – that is, the “Great American Novel” – is a way for the writers of the New World to go down in history by taking full ownership of the language itself. Thanks to Jack London and the Beat Generation, writing has become a byword for testimony, as the language has continuously been reinvented. Freeing writing from its shackles is much more than a simple project, it is a way to liberate the novel. From illegal trips in freight cars to the glorification of a new Word, the road has kept all its promises.

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Counterculture history is often divided, with a focus on either the turbulent 1960s or the "back to the land" exodus of the 1970s. A study of Stephen Gaskin and his followers' founding of The Farm, a rural commune near Summertown, Tennessee, provides a unique insight into the commonalities and connections of these two periods. It will be the aim of this thesis to weave the separate narratives of this demographic into one complete idea. The idea that the hippies constituted a counterculture suggests that once that culture went into exile, onto numerous communes, they existed as a diaspora. The Farm's existence as a spiritual commune, with their roots in Haight-Ashbury's short-lived utopian dream, and their continuation and evolution of that dream in Tennessee, make this particular group a model for the diaspora. The Farm, with its larger profile, publishing, and outreach programs, became the preeminent post-Haight-Ashbury commune. The commune was able to preserve the counterculture in exile, while it became a leader in dictating the direction of its progress. The Farm's efforts in midwifery, sustainable living, promotion of vegetarian diets, and outreach in America's inner cities and the Third World all point to a proactive counterculture and the commune's leadership role for the remnants of the counterculture. While the profile of the counterculture has diminished, a shift in American attitudes toward natural childbirth, ecology, and a more earth-friendly diet containing a greater variety of organic and vegetarian options reveal a significant success for their agenda.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:32:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Cristiana_Fernandes.pdf: 817648 bytes, checksum: a119839915c6670e7217c4e7ce3d5cc3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-06 / In these work is considered that Craftworks are pieces made with manual techniques that presuppose lack or a few utilization of industrial machines help. The consumption s acceleration provided by the globalization, the constant technology s breakthrough, the cultural industry and the tourism are some of the factors that alter the craftwork in so far as that appear risks of objects padronization and consequent change on its meaning and sense. Considering those suppositions, the market and production analisation, in other words, the craftwork in the and for the market having as focus what was showed on the Hippie and Cerrado markets in Goiânia, recovering its organizational net. The craftwork on the markets, besides being a way to survive for the many merchant, has peculiarities and particularities that strick out in Goiânia s city. It s emphasized that so the production as the comercialization are parts of economy s inferior circuit, for owning characteristics like informality, whether on the production system characterized by being familiar, or in the way of comercialization on the own market. The pieces production is constantly influenced by the television and by the fashion s tendency. But due to specifics contexts, as comercialization s place and public that buy the pieces, we notice that the crafwork brings up some modifications in each market studied. The research is justified by the need of geographic production that are about these activity, in spite of its relevance, seeing that, ordinarily, even in the short distance s trips, there are no one that don t buy a little present or don t admire the skill of someone who produces such or what object when go around the markets. Methodologically, we drew on the techniques of observation and interview with structured and semi structured questionnaires applied in fieldworks, besides the documental and bibliographic analysis / Considera-se neste trabalho que artesanato são peças feitas com técnicas manuais e que pressupõem ausência ou pouca utilização de auxílio de máquinas industriais. A aceleração do consumo propiciada pela globalização, o constante avanço da tecnologia, a indústria cultural e o turismo são alguns fatores que alteram o artesanato na medida em que há o risco de padronização dos objetos e conseqüente modificação no seu significado e sentido. Considerando-se tais pressupostos, analisa-se o comércio e a produção, ou seja, o artesanato no e para o mercado, tendo como foco aquele exposto nas feiras Hippie e do Cerrado em Goiânia, recuperando-se sua rede organizacional. O artesanato nas feiras, além de ser um meio de sobrevivência para os diversos feirantes, possui singularidades e particularidades que se destacam na cidade de Goiânia. Ressalta-se que tanto a produção quanto a comercialização são parte do circuito inferior da economia, por possuírem características como informalidade, seja no sistema de produção caracterizado por ser familiar, seja no modo de comercialização nas próprias feiras. A produção das peças é constantemente influenciada pela televisão e pelas tendências da moda. Mas devido a contextos específicos, como local de comercialização e público que compra as peças, notamos que o artesanato apresenta algumas modificações em cada uma das feiras estudadas. A pesquisa justifica-se pela carência de produção geográfica versando sobre esta atividade, apesar de sua relevância, já que comumente, mesmo nas viagens de curta distância, não há quem não compre uma lembrancinha ou não se admire com a habilidade de alguém para produzir tal ou qual objeto, ao circular por uma feira. Metodologicamente, recorrem-se às técnicas de observação, entrevistas e questionários estruturados e semi-estruturados aplicados em trabalhos de campo, além das análises documental e bibliográfica