Call for Papers - Mens Mutata: Altered Minds in Antiquity (March 29, 2025) | Boston University Graduate Student Conference
Ancient societies considered altered states of mind as a bridge between the human and the divine, an avenue for healing, or a means of personal transformation. At the same time, these states also held the potential to incite destruction and distort the truth. This conference seeks to examine how literature from various cultures of antiquity conceptualized, experienced, and interpreted altered states of consciousness, whether through ritual, religious practices, pharmacological substances, asceticism, or other means.
The 2025 Graduate Student Conference at Boston University will take place on March 29, 2025 on BU’s campus. This conference examines ancient cultures’ experiences and literary interpretations of altered states of consciousness as well as these states’ metaliterary effects.
We welcome papers from current graduate students on topics that may include but are not limited to:
- The role of dreams, visions, and prophecies
- Rituals involving trance, ecstasy, or shamanistic states
- Depictions of altered mental states in art, literature, or mythology
- The use of mind-altering substances as depicted in texts
- Distortions of perception and memory and their effects on narrative
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts of 300-500 words should be submitted to caspurr@bu.edu by January 15th, 2025.
