About Horizons
Mission
Horizons is a forum for learning about psychedelics, held annually in New York City. The goal of the conference is to open a fresh dialogue on the role of psychedelics in medicine, culture, history, spirituality, and art. 2009 is its third year.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, legal research with psychedelics spurred important discoveries in science and psychology. During the 1960s, psychedelics entered worldwide popular culture. Fueled by the wild social dogmas of the era, recreational use become commonplace. Questions about their safety, medical value, history and implications in politics and culture were unfortunately answered with numerous myths spread by both their users and the media.
In recent years, a small group of dedicated researchers, scholars, and activists has orchestrated a renaissance that is re-shaping the public's understanding of these unique substances. Horizons brings together the brightest minds and the boldest voices of this movement to share their research, insights, and dreams for the future.
History
After experiencing the Gaia Media Foundation's LSD: The Spirit of Basel Symposium in Basel, Switzerland in 2006, Kevin Balktick recognized a widespread hunger for knowledge about psychedelics and a community ready to support it. With the help and generosity of Judson Memorial Church and the generosity and wisdom of ten speakers, the vision became a reality on October 27, 2007. Hundreds of people attended to learn and meet one another. A unique element of the 2007 event was the exhibition of more than twenty New York and Boston-based artists, curated by Elke Charlotte.
In 2008, Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D., one of the 2007 speakers, became the presentation curator. The same year, James Vasile, Esq. of the Software Freedom Law Center joined Horizons, completing the three-person board membership.
The 2008 edition was a huge success, and saw the conference expand to not only two days of presentations, but also a reception on Friday evening featuring art, performance and music. Sasha & Ann Shulgin headlined the speaker line up.
The venue, Judson Memorial Church, is a historically significant, landmarked location. Judson Memorial Church has a long history of promoting the arts, free speech and progressive politics. It also has a deep commitment to social justice. It is actively involved in projects that promote immigrants' rights, fair trade, gay rights, pacificism, drug abuse harm reduction, healthcare reform and aid to the homeless. Notable artists whose works has been exhibited at Judson include Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Yoko Ono and Twyla Tharp.
Horizons Media, Inc. is currently in the process of getting 501c3 non-profit designation from the IRS. It is neither a political nor medical organization and does not officially endorse or condemn any particular personal decisions about drug use, public policies, research, or political candidates.
Horizons Board Members
Kevin Balktick
Kevin Balktick is the founder and director of Horizons. He is a Brooklyn-based cultural event producer. Events he has organized include multimedia art exhibitions, outdoor festivals, conferences, street parades, dance parties and many things in between. Venues have included such diverse environs as the city's streets, churches, lofts & warehouses, colonial-era fortifications, public parks, ferry docks, art museums, bars, yoga studios and subways.
His most recent project was Stranded, a 1,500 person warehouse party featuring over 20 installation artists, and a full line up of bands, DJs and performers. He is a co-founder and ombudsman for FIGMENT, a three-day participatory art event on Governors Island that drew over 13,000 people this year. Both events were created by a local community of hundreds of artists, crew members, volunteers and other participants working together.
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D.
Neal Goldsmith is the presentation curator for Horizons. is a psychedelically-inspired psychologist working to facilitate spiritual maturation in his clients. He has assisted many clients facing psychedelic emergencies to integrate the benefit of a difficult psychedelic experience.
Among his publications, he is perhaps proudest of "The Ten Lessons of Psychedelic Psychotherapy, Rediscovered" (in the new Psychedelic Medicine textbook, Praeger, 2007), his [unsuccessful] affidavit to the California Superior Court in Santa Cruz on "Rescheduling Psilocybin: A Review of the Clinical Research," and the frequently cited, "The Utilization of Policy Research."
James Vasile, Esq.
James Vasile is an organizer, adviser and advocate in the world of freedom, technology and art.
He currently works with the Software Freedom Law Center, a non-profit, pro bono law firm that strives to preserve liberty and speech in the digital world. He serves on the board of Circle Arts, a fiscal sponsorship organization for arts projects. James is also an advisory board member of Open Source Matters, a not-for-profit dedicated to free and open source software. OSM is best known for producing Joomla , a content management system used by hundreds of thousands of websites around the world.
James holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review and a Stone scholar. He also has a bachelorŐs degree in corsu honorum in political science and economics from Fordham University. He spent several years in the litigation department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
He maintains an infrequently-updated blog at http://hackervisions.org
MAPS Conference in April
April 15-18, 2010 in the San Francisco Bay Area
The Psychedelic Science conference will bring together international experts exploring clinical applications, issues relevant to healthcare professionals, and social and cultural issues surrounding the therapeutic and recreational uses of psychedelics.