DVD Roundtable and Book Launching – UFSC – Florianópolis – 2008
This DVD documents the roundtable discussion “Panorama of Ayahuasca Research”, held on April 29, 2008 at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in Florianopolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil) for the release of the book “Religiões ayahuasqueiras: um balanço bibliográfico” [Ayahuasca Religions: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Critical Essays] by Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Isabel Santana de Rose and Rafael Guimarães dos Santos (eds) [MAPS, 2009]. The DVD runs 150 minutes and contains the presentations of the participants and Q&A with the public. The participants were:
Alberto Groisman (professor at the PPGAS/UFSC)- “On the (In)Visibilities of Ayahuasca: Agency, research, and legislation.”
The presentation offers reflections on some of the implications of the visibility that the uses of ayahuasca have established in contemporary agendas.
Beatriz Caiuby Labate (anthropologist, NEIP researcher) – “Ayahuasca Religions: A bibliographical overview.”
Introduces the book, offering commentary on and evaluation of the state of the art in the global literature on the ayahuasca religions (Santo Daime, União do Vegetal, Barquinha, and their multiple denominations) and highlighting the principal characteristics, trends, and perspectives on this area of research.
Luiz Fernando Milanez (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Unicamp, Coordinator of the Scientific Commission of the Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, UDV) – “Objectives and Procedures of the UDV’s Scientific Commission.”
Reviews the history of the necessity for, and development of, a panel charged with the analysis, approval, and monitoring of projects focused on the União do Vegetal.
Oscar Calávia Saez (professor at the PPGAS/UFSC) – “On Anacondas and Perspectivism: The use of ayahuasca among Amerindian peoples.”
Presents a discussion of ayahuasca among indigenous peoples, outlining commonalities of the use of this drink in the Amerindian context and pointing to parallels and divergences between this context and the ayahuasca religions.