March 3, 2018 9 a.m.–6 p.m.Kenny Theatre

King’s University College

Consciousness Conference

9 a.m. Opening Remarks

9:10 a.m. Lynda Hutchinson PhD, Department of Psychology, King’s University College, MindUP™ — A Curriculum for Supporting Children’s Development of Mindful Awareness

This presentation describes the MindUP™ program, a school-based curriculum designed to enhance children’s mindful awareness and socioemotional development. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to participate in some of the tasks and activities included in the curriculum including the mindful tasting exercise.

9:30 a.m. Devon Trower, MA Candidate, Faculty of Education, Western University, Exploring Children’s Self-Regulation for Learning within a Mindfulness-Based Social and Emotional Learning Program

This talk describes a study that explored young children’s development of social and solo self-regulation for learning (SR/L) within a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning program (MindUP™) in 14 kindergarten classrooms (N = 222 children). We investigated: (1) the observed changes in children’s social and solo SR/L over a mindfulness-based program, (2) how children’s demographic variables, and (3), teacher factors related to changes in children’s social and solo SR/L. Finally, we explored teacher-reports of qualitative changes in children’s social and solo SR/L behaviours over program implementation.

9:50 a.m. Daniel Kharlas, MA Candidate, Western University, Virtual Reality and Applications to Wellness

The use of virtual reality for education, mental health treatment, online well-ness programs and training programs provides limitless opportunities. I have explored its applications for augmenting meditation programs. In particular, focussing on how we can use psychological concepts, such as the induction of awe, to increase openness to experience so that we can improve the efficacy of meditation programs.

ProgramMaster of Ceremonies: Professor Laura Melnyk GribbleChair of the Department of Psychology

10:10 a.m. Morgan Gardner PhD, Faculty of Education, Memorial University, The Light of Winter Mornings: Lingering in Relational Wonder

If “the universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects” (Berry, 2006, p. 17) how might we be guided towards practices of “lingering in relational wonder” as citizens, students, academics and community professionals? What might it mean to explore our lives and stories through the lens of sacred, co-generative, co-creative action and authorship?

10:30 a.m. Morning break

10:50 a.m. Shannon Foskett PhD Candidate, Department of Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago, Rethinking Representation: Questions from Neuroimaging

Representation is an abstract and highly pliable signifier, which means that its referential target slips easily across multiple levels of description. This presents challenges for critical thinking in the collection, processing and interpretation of neuroimaging data, where multiple types of signification combine to produce highly complex inferential constructions that are commonly and erroneously consumed as the indexical evidentiary displays of silver gelatin photographs. My talk examines a growing body of research that confronts this “disanalogy between imaging and looking” (Mole and Klein 2010) in neuroimaging practice, contextualizing it within a broader set of philosophical arguments for anti-representationalism in the understanding of mind and experience.

11.10 a.m. Achim Kempf PhD, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Prospects of Artificial Intelligence on Quantum Computers

Over recent years, much progress has been made in the field of artificial intelligence, in particular, through the development of deep learning algorithms. At the same time, there has been great progress in the field of quantum computing, as quantum computers are reaching the scale at which they outperform the best classical computers. I will briefly review these developments and will then discuss the prospect of using quantum computers for artificial intelligence.

Master of Ceremonies: Professor Laura Melnyk GribbleChair of the Department of Psychology

11:30 a.m. Jonathan Geen PhD, Department of Religious Studies, King’s University College, Consciousness in the Buddhist Tradition: An Overview

According to the Buddha’s teachings, the experience of duhkha (i.e. mental suffering) is the universal predicament in human life, primarily constituting the ‘human condition.’ Because the pivotal issue was a mental experience, and there is, according to Buddhists, no experience without consciousness, the study of consciousness became a central and on-going feature of both Buddhist meditation practice (through introspection) and Buddhist philosophy (through the formulation of Buddhist ontology and epistemology). I will provide a brief overview of the development of Buddhist thought on consciousness over the centuries, from Abhidharma to Yogācāra.

11:50 a.m. Monali Malvankar PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Impact of Breathing Exercises and Meditation on Health-Related Quality of Life in Glaucoma and Dry Eye Disease Patients

People staring at computer screens for long hours, blinking less frequently, or having long-term contact lens wear are prone to dry eye disease (DED). DED may degrade vision and is associated with depression. A breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) followed by meditation may help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety, and enhance quality of life.

12:10 p.m. Akshya Vasudev MD, Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Sahaj Samadhi Meditation, a Type of Automatic Self Transcending Meditation, in Late Life Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The author will present data from a large single-centre RCT assessing safety and efficacy of Sahaj Samadhi Meditation, a mantra based meditation technique, in seniors suffering from clinically diagnosed mild to moderate depression. Key differences from other meditation techniques will be discussed. Potential for clinical use will be elaborated.

Program

12:30 p.m. Lunch break

2 p.m. Natalie Trent PhD, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, The Effectiveness of Reiki Healing as a Treatment Modality

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the rise in the United States. A popular CAM energy healing modality, Reiki (ray-key), is offered as a CAM treatment in over 800 hospitals in the United States. Despite its widespread use in the healthcare system, research on Reiki as an effective treatment modality is still highly preliminary. This talk will discuss the current state of the field of Reiki research and the practical, scientific, and philosophical implications associated with this healing modality.

2:20 p.m. Paul Frewen PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Trauma Related Altered States of Consciousness

The 4-D model of the dissociative subtype of PTSD (D-PTSD) describes four dimensions of consciousness that are often altered in traumatized persons: the experience of time (flashbacks, time dilation), thought (internal voice hearing), body (depersonalization), and emotion (numbing). Psychology and neuroscience research evaluating the 4-D model will be presented with an application to understanding the process of recovery in psychotherapy.

2:40 p.m. Loretta Norton PhD, The Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, Detecting Awareness in the Acute Comatose State

Little is known about whether any residual cognitive function occurs in the earliest stages of severe brain injury. This presentation will demonstrate that functional neuroimaging can detect preserved cognitive functions in some acutely comatose patients, which has both diagnostic and prognostic relevance.

3 p.m. Break

3:20 p.m. Isabelle Goulet PhD, University of Arizona, A Perspective on Consciousness Rooted in the Algonquin Traditions

It is becoming increasingly evident that an explanation of consciousness is incomplete without the acknowledgement and integration of non-physical concepts to our current physical worldview. Indigenous wisdom can provide the new scientist with tools to learn how to walk in both worlds toward a more accurate understanding of the cycle of life.

3:40 p.m. Kamini Vasudev MD, Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) involves a standardized collection of breathing techniques known to positively influence the autonomic nervous system and stress response system. SKY program has been found safe and efficacious in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in victims of natural disasters and war veterans. This study investigated the feasibility and tolerability of SKY in PTSD resulting from a wider range of trauma experience, including road traffic accidents, childhood physical, emotional or sexual abuse, or recurrent traumas over the lifespan.

4 p.m. Kasha Herba MSW, The Consciousness Lab, King’s University College, Transcendent States of Consciousness at a Self-Development Seminar

This presentation is a qualitative review of reported experiences during a consciousness altering self-improvement seminar. Reported experiences included: body sensations (loss of control, release of pain, change in temperature, feeling vibration, feeling a wave) changes in awareness (space, time, visualization, feeling of connection, feeling of growth, awareness of heart, feeling limitless, experiencing a new self, feeling of surrender), and emotional changes (laughing, crying).

4:20 p.m. Break

4:40 p.m. Monika Mandoki MA, Centre for Theory and Criticism, Western University, Explaining Near-Death Experiences using Plotinus’ Philosophy

Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) have been usually interpreted in line with either modern, philosophical materialism or religiously inspired dualism. This presentation offers an alternative view of the Neoplatonist and Paganist ideology of Plotinus who is a mystically inspired monist. His classical philosophy of death provides a fresh take on the theory of modern-day NDEs.

Program

5 p.m. Imants Barušs PhD, Department of Psychology, King’s University College, The Emergence of Consciousness Studies as an Academic Discipline

An explosion of academic interest in the multidisciplinary study of consciousness in the mid-1990s led to the emergence of consciousness studies as a disciplinary identity with its own corpus, research streams, academic journals, conferences, luminaries, and in-fighting. More recently, immersion in the consciousness research effort has led some investigators to conclude that there are aspects of consciousness that cannot, even in principle, be explained using computational or neuroscientific theories, and that a fresh, more comprehensive postmaterialist approach is needed if substantial progress is to be made in understanding the fundamental nature of consciousness and the potential applications of that knowledge. Largely due to the rigidity of academic silos, the new-found research enthusiasm has not been matched by educational programs that would prepare students to participate in the new discipline, so that there is a choking off of the talent that is required to advance the discipline.

5:20 p.m. Nicci Borowski & Jordan Kritzinger, Western University, Why We Need a PhD Program in Consciousness Studies

A PhD program in Consciousness Studies would offer interdisciplinary insight to a body of research that is at the frontier of scientific investigation. The structured methodology of a university allows for critical examination of the more challenging anomalous phenomena in a manner that facilities both responsible research and applications. With growing student interest in such topics, spearheading the educational forefront would be beneficial to the university, both economically and intellectually.

5:30 p.m. Audience questions, discussion, & evaluation

6 p.m. The end

This conference features 19 speakers who will provide an opportunity to reflect deeply on consciousness and emerging

applications of knowledge about consciousness.

kings.uwo.ca/consciousnessInquiries: baruss@uwo.ca