A multidisciplinary conference, inspired by Hotel Nirvana, a play about Timothy Leary’s encounter with Mexico and mushrooms, brings together theater, research on drugs, law, and war with a documentary film and a visit to the Houghton collection of psychedelic art. An interview with novelist and playwright Juan Villoro will explore connections between art and complex issues of security and public health to reflect on today’s innovation and appropriation of ancestral knowledge. Hosted by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, its Cultural Agents Initiative, with support from the Mahindra Center for Humanities program, Psychedelics in Society and Culture, and from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Program

Friday, March 27, 2026

 – Fong Auditorium (Boylston Hall)

9:00 – 10:30: Panel 1: Psychedelics for Health

 –   Franklin King, MD (United States) — Neurologist at Massachusetts General    Hospital and Harvard Medical School, specialist in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

–   Roxanne Sholevar, MD (United States) — Psychiatrist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with extensive experience at the intersection of psychiatry and medicine.

–   Juliana Zambrano, MD (United States) — Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

10:40 – 11:00: Coffee Break

11:10 – 12:40: Panel 2: Ethics and Sacred Psychedelics

–   Pedro Favarón (Peru) — Philosopher, poet, and researcher of Amazonian Indigenous traditions, and critic of neo-shamanism.

–   Rick Doblin (United States) — Founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and partner pioneer with Leary in psychedelic-assisted therapies.

–   Héctor de Jesús-Cortés, PhD (Puerto Rico) — Neuroscientist specializing in learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity.

– Boylston Hall, room 403

1:00 – 2:00: Lunch for speakers and Screening of “Rao: The Challenges of    Shipibo-Konibo Ancestral Medicine”

– Houghton Library

2:15 – 3:15: Guided Visit to the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Collection of Psychedelic Art

– Farkas Hall

3:30 – 4:30: Staged Reading of Hotel Nirvana, directed by Leyma López

4:45 – 6:00: Interview with Juan Villoro, author of Hotel Nirvana

Saturday, March 28, 2026 / Resource Room (CGIS)

– CGIS, DRCLAS Resource Room

10:00 – 11.30: Panel 3: Drug War Narratives and the Violence of National Security Paradigm

–   Oswaldo Zavala (México) — professor at CUNY, author of Drug Cartels Do Not Exist and The War in Words.

–   Rachel Nolan (United States) — historian and Pulitzer Prize journalist, professor at Boston University.

–   Boris Muñoz (Venezuela) — journalist, editor of Boom, an independent digital journalism initiative to fight misinformation.

–   Andrew Ryan (United States) — Boston Globe journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist; member of the investigative team at Spotlight.

11:30 – 12:00: Coffee