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More Media MentionsPsychedelics have brought mysticism into modern medicine. Researchers are listening. What happens when transcendent experiences collide with a culture that lacks language for understanding them?
September 30, 2026
Millions of Americans now use psychedelics, as mounting evidence suggests that substances like psilocybin, ketamine and ayahuasca may help alleviate depression and other mental health conditions. “Psychedelic medicine” is becoming increasingly mainstream, with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly recently agreeing to acquire one such drug developer for up to $3.8 billion.
But when you speak to someone who took psychedelics with therapeutic intentions, they don’t just say they feel better. They talk about transcendence: strange visions, encounters with ancestors, perhaps even meeting God. This is new territory for mainstream Western psychiatry and culture. A psychedelic isn’t just medicine, yet taking one isn’t just “tripping.” So what is it?
Notre Dame medical anthropologist Aidan Seale-Feldman studies such questions. She’s spent the past couple years interviewing people who took psychedelics for improved mental health in settings ranging from underground churches to clinical trials, and, in many cases, emerged with a reshaped worldview.
WSBT TV
Paleo games at Notre Dame lets student, staff try ancient skills
September 28, 2026
“This is hands-on learning as I've been asking some students as they use the spears and the dunk tank how hard is it do you think you'd be able to hunt down your dinner in the Paleolithic and they're like no we'd die,” said Cara Ocobock, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anthropology. “So, I think it helps students really get some idea of what our life was like you know 100,000 years ago 300,000 years ago and the kind of very necessary and difficult skills you'd have to cultivate to survive."
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Anthropology
The Washington Post
The surprising science of how fatherhood changes the brain
June 18, 2026
While men with higher testosterone were more likely to become partnered fathers, they experienced larger declines in testosterone than single non-fathers, one study found. Indeed, fathers who spent a significant amount of time on child care had lower testosterone levels than those who were not involved.