Across The Threshold: Creativity, Being & Healing is sponsored by the Duke University Dance Program, with support from a Visiting Artist Grant from the Council for the Arts, Office of the Provost, Duke University; The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation; and the Robertson Scholars Program Collaboration Fund. Co-Sponsors include the Duke University Department of Theater Studies, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Graduate Liberal Studies, The Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University Music Department and the Women’s Studies Program. The Organizing Committee announces the call for papers, panel proposals, lecture-demonstrations and workshops. Proposals will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee for their content relevant to the overall program's thematic intentions as well as for their practicality and suitability to an educational symposium format.

The Conference Theme: The complex interconnectedness of the mind, body and spirit has been well studied and practiced by cultures throughout the world. Through the long-standing practice of altered states of consciousness, many cultures have developed sophisticated systems through which heightened states of awareness may be achieved as a means of healing and transcendence from the physical or material to the spiritual realms of existence. Awareness of this interrelationship in the globalized world we live in provides a step towards empowered and enlightened healing of ourselves, our relationships, and our environment. The moment to moment interplay between mind, body and spirit on both the personal and social levels not only affect the quality of our lives, but also our ability to synthesize ideas and knowledge, to develop our intuition, to imagine and create, and to heal our selves and others. The Across the Threshold Conference will bring together scholars and practitioners from scientific, creative, and mystical disciplines to explore and share transformative paths leading to integration of mind, body and spirit.

The following questions may be helpful in developing the conference theme: What are the diverse and exploratory modes of interconnectedness between spirit, matter, and energy? What mind/body/spirit practices “part the veil”, allowing us to alter our perceptions/projections? How have different cultures shaped the way in which communities perceive the connection between mind, body and spirit and/or transformative practices concerned with that awareness? How are dance, music, and other artistic forms employed in the practice of altered states of consciousness? What is the role of the human spirit in health, illness and healing?

Additional possible sub-topics related to the theme of altered/heightened states of consciousness could include but are not limited to cultural, ethnographic, creative, experiential and theoretical studies pertaining to:

• altered or heightened state of consciousness as a psychological phenomenon, hypnosis, dream states
• creativity (including dance, music, arts) and the heightened states of consciousness
• mystic or ecstatic experiences, rituals pertaining to spirit possession, shamanistic and prophetic state of trance
• altered states related to rites of passage
• healing and therapy, yoga and meditation
• altered states caused by ingestation or abrupt withdrawal of psychedelic drugs, sleep deprivation, hallucination
• Mind control, torture, post traumatic stress disorders, altered states caused in a variety of clinical conditions and/or treatments

Two key note speakers and performers will highlight the conference:

Bradford Keeney, Ph.D., will lead a pre-conference ½ day workshop in Life Force Theatre and open the Conference with the keynote address SHAKING: The Original Path to Ecstasy and Healing on Thursday, March 19. Dr. Keeney has been called “an all-American shaman, the Marco Polo of psychology, and an anthropologist of the spirit” by the editors of Utne Reader. Elders of indigenous traditions throughout the world including the Kalahari Bushmen, the Caribbean Shakers of St. Vincent, the Guarani Indians of the Amazon, and leaders of the Japanese healing tradition of Seiki Jutsu have embraced Keeney as an elder and spokesperson for the old ways of ecstatic shaking. Following an academic career as a systems theorist and psychotherapist, he spent over a decade traveling the globe, living with spiritual teachers, shamans, healers, and medicine people who trusted him to share their words with others ? modern cultures in need of Elder wisdom. The result of Keeney’s work is one of the broadest and most intense field studies of healing and shamanism, chronicled in the critically acclaimed book series, Profiles of Healing, an eleven-volume encyclopedia of the world’s healing practices. Bradford Keeney’s website: http://shakingmedicine.com

Keynote Performer Vincent Mantsoe hails from Soweto, South Africa. During his formative years he danced with youth clubs practicing street dances and trying to imitate the dance moves seen in music videos. At the same time he woke everyday to the sound of the drum his mother played to greet the Ancestors. A descendant of a long line of Sangomas (traditional healers), Mantsoe grew up participating in traditional rituals involving the use of song and dance. It was not until he began his training at Johannesburg's Moving Into Dance Company that Mantsoe was able to merge these two distinct dance forms into his own style that he describes as Afro-fusion. Mantsoe's work draws on traditional African dance forms with a contemporary approach from modern, ballet and Asian forms such as Tai Chi, Martial Art and traditional Balinese dance. An internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Mr. Mantsoe will perform his solo work Ebhofolo (this madness) on Saturday, March 21 at the beautiful, historic Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC. He will also lead a workshop during the Conference. Vincent Mantsoe’s website: http://www.sekwaman.co.za

Deadline: All proposals must be received by September 15, 2008. Click here for submission form.

Submission Guidelines:

Individual Papers should not exceed 20 minutes for presentation including audio-visuals. Questions and discussions will be held at the end of each session. Submit a 500 word abstract of the paper in addition to a brief bibliography.

Panels consisting of three individual presenters may be proposed. Panel chair will be the contact person who will submit a 250 word description of the panel in addition to 500 word abstracts for the three individual paper proposals—as described above—for each presenter.

Lecture-Demonstrations or Workshops may run up to 90 minutes. Submit a 500 word abstract describing the topic and organization of the session. Also, clearly state the requirements for space, time, audio-visual equipment, and/or appropriate attire for participants.

For all Proposals

See website for updates and other details <www.duke.edu/web/threshold>

Abstract submissions will only be accepted online. Proposals sent via facsimile or snail mail will not be accepted.

Queries regarding the submissions may be addressed to the faculty below in their respective disciplines:

Humanities and General:

Dr. Purnima Shah

pshah@duke.edu

Integrative Medicine and Medical Sciences:

Dr. Larry Burk

Phone/fax: 919-489-2811

burk0001@yahoo.com

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