The Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) and the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry are pleased to announce the 2025 Flourish Fellows and Psychedelics in Society and Culture projects.
The Psychedelics in Society and Culture Fellowship Program is a collaborative initiative between the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) and the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry, in partnership with Harvard University’s Mahindra Humanities Center. While much research on psychedelics has focused on their therapeutic potential, this program supports collaborations that explore the intersections of psychedelics and humanistic inquiry with a focus on the following goals:
• Deepen understanding of psychedelics’ historical, cultural, and societal roles, as well as their broader implications for human experiences.
• Explore psychedelics across diverse histories, cultures, and geographies to expand scholarship and contribute to the growing field.
• Foster collaboration and intellectual exchange among scholars and institutions through shared learning opportunities.
• Support innovative scholarship that advances knowledge of psychedelics’ complex roles in society and culture.
The fellowships provide grants of up to $45,000 to support projects across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Recipients of these fellowships are known as Flourish Fellows. This initiative funds projects by UC Berkeley undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty.
Flourish Trust, the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry and the BCSP gratefully acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Indigenous participants and other community collaborators, whose perspectives and efforts enrich this initiative and exemplify the principles of reciprocity and inclusion. As the flagship project of the BCSP’s Culture and Community pillar, the Psychedelics in Society and Culture fellowship program reflects its mission to deepen our understanding of psychedelics, their impact on human experiences, their diverse histories, cultural meanings and connections, and their significance across different societies.
2025 Cohort
- On the Floor, led by Maria Silk, is a performance-based research project exploring the role of psychedelics in queer nightlife during the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Through a public artist talk and a series of oral history interviews, the project will trace how psychedelic substances and practices shaped experiences of grief, pleasure, and community on the dance floor.
- Navajo Tribal Governance and Psilocybin Policy: Advancing Sovereignty in State Regulations is led by Marlena Robbins, and will document perspectives on psilocybin policy through interviews with Navajo tribal leaders, urban Indian health organizations, and policymakers across Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Grounded in both lived experience and policy inquiry, the research explores how sovereignty, spirituality, healing, and governance shape the development of state-level psychedelic regulations.
- Psychedelics and Synesthesia, led by Roshanak Kheshti, is an ethnographic research project that investigates how psychedelic users narrate synesthetic experiences and challenges the default framing of these phenomena as hallucinations. The study explores how cultural context shapes interpretations of psychedelic perception, particularly in relation to sound, movement, and ritual with the key output being an audio essay, drawing from interviews and soundscape recordings
- Bridging Psychedelic Rituals with VR Set and Setting through Fractal Geometry, led by Luc Virgili Phan, explores how virtual reality might support culturally informed psychedelic therapy by examining the principles of ritual design, specifically drawing from Santo Daime traditions. By integrating qualitative research, computational modeling, and abstract fractal geometry, the project aims to build a prototype of a VR experience that evokes ritual structure without appropriating specific cultural symbols, with guidance from engaged practitioners.
- The Shulgin Archive Exhibit at UC Berkeley, led by David Presti and Wendy Tucker, is a public exhibit crafted from the archives of Ann and Alexander Shulgin, exploring the history of MDMA. This exhibit will bring vital awareness to the Shulgins’ singular role in psychedelic history. We hope this project will serve as an entrée to a groundbreaking effort to preserve local psychedelic history within UC Berkeley’s archival holdings.
- Poetics and Plant Medicine, curated by Stephanie Young and Ramsey McGlazer, is a yearlong public reading series that brings together poets, experimental prose writers, and scholars working at the intersection of aesthetics and psychedelic culture. Through cross-disciplinary conversations, "Poetics and Plant Medicine" aims to speak to audiences both within and outside the academy. Events will feature creative readings and critical dialogues that encourage inclusive, intellectually rigorous explorations of psychedelics in a time of cultural transition.
- Elastic: The Magazine of Psychedelic Art and Literature, edited and published by Hillary Brenhouse, is an artist-led magazine and cultural initiative that explores the layered, global, and often-overlooked dimensions of psychedelic art. Funding to support an expanded public program including live events that deepen cross-disciplinary dialogue, spotlight performance and sound-based psychedelic work, and offer a platform where artists, scholars, and the public can explore what psychedelic culture has been—and what it might become.