Paris to Host Annual Convention of Parapsychologists in July

The principal international scientific organization studying the nature of consciousness, the Parapsychological Association (PA), will hold its 53rd annual convention in Paris, France on July 22-25, 2010.  Members of the PA are engaged in the study of psi (or ‘psychic’) experiences such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, precognition and survival of bodily death.  Leading scientists and scholars from universities and laboratories around the world will gather to present and discuss their latest research findings on these sometimes controversial, but always fascinating, aspects of human consciousness. 

The event will feature over 30 presentations on a variety of parapsychological topics. Several presentations will look at historical and case studies of mediums, including a neuroimaging study of mediumistic trance.  Papers examining the effects of geomagnetic activity on psi will also be presented, as well as studies looking at meditation and psychic functioning.  There will be reports of anomalous mental phenomena studied in South America and Tibet, while other studies will look at the experience of telephone telepathy, psychokinetic experiences, and the application of psi in archeology.

The convention’s keynote speaker, Paul Devereux is managing editor and co-founder of the peer-reviewed publication, Time & Mind - The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture. A research associate at the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Devereux was a Senior Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) in Princeton for twelve years. He has written 27 books since 1979.  His latest work, Sacred Geography, a look at ancient and traditional mindscapes, is due out in October 2010.

Other notable speakers include Russell Targ, a physicist and author who was a pioneer in the development of the laser and laser applications, and investigator of psychic abilities in the 1970s and 1980s for the CIA.  The winner of PA’s 2009 Career Award, Targ’s invited address is titled, Why I am absolutely convinced of the reality of psychic abilities, and why you should be, too.  Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Saybrook University, fellow of the American Psychological Association, and author of numerous articles and books on dreams, hypnosis, altered states of consciousness, will lead a workshop on psi and creativity. 

The convention, which is open to the public and academia alike, will offer a rare opportunity for attendees interested in that wide range of human functioning popularly known as the ‘psychic’ or ‘paranormal’ to hear the latest and most advanced scientific thinking about parapsychological topics .

Hosted by the Institut Métapsychique International and held at Enclos Rey in Paris, full PA convention information can be found at http://www.parapsych.org/convention.

About the Parapsychological Association:

The Parapsychological Association is the international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of consciousness-related experiences and phenomena known as 'psi'’ (or 'psychic') experiences. The primary objective of such studies is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.  The PA was first established in 1957, and has been an affiliated organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 1969. It provides an international forum for scholarly exchange through annual conferences, generally held in North America or in Europe, and through the publication of its Mindfield bulletin. There are approximately 300 PA members around the world.

Contact Information:

Annalisa Ventola, Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 24173
Columbus, OH 43224

Phone/Fax: 202-318-2364

http://www.parapsych.org
business@parapsych.org