Dr Susan Blackmore: A 21st Century Séance

Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Invited Speaker Series, 2011/12

Abstract
When Susan Blackmore attended her first séance back in 1971 she already knew something of the history of spiritualism: its beginnings with two young girls in New York State in 1848, its rapid spread across America and Europe, and the Victorian rage for private séances where a medium might be gagged and bound inside a curtained cabinet while astonished sitters in the blacked-out room awaited “physical phenomena” such as disembodied voices, wisps of ectoplasm from the medium’s orifices, or even materialised spirits. She never experienced any such inexplicable thrills! Indeed after Michael Faraday’s conclusive experiments in 1853, and countless subsequent exposures of fraud one might have expected the whole circus to disappear. But no – it is still with us. After a decade of avoiding the paranormal, curiosity has tempted her to accept an invitation to just such a séance in October 2011. She will report on what precautions she takes, what happens, and whether or not she witnesses the promised inexplicable physical phenomena.

Biography
Sue Blackmore is a psychologist and writer researching consciousness, memes, and anomalous experiences, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. She blogs for the Guardian and Psychology Today, and often appears on radio and television. Her book “The Meme Machine” (1999) has been translated into 15 other languages; more recent books include “Conversations on Consciousness” (2005), “Zen and the Art of Consciousness” (2011), and a textbook “Consciousness: An Introduction” (2 ed., 2010).

APRU Invited Speaker Programme

Dates & times

Date	Time	Add to calendar
22 Nov 2011	6:00pm - 7:30pm	apple google outlook

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