UNC Asheville Hosts Talk on 1960s Counterculture Impact on Remote Mexican Town

UNC Asheville will host a talk on “Huautla in the Time of Jipis’: Remembering the Sixties in a Mexican Indigenous Psychedelic Tourist Town” by anthropologist Benjamin Feinberg at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, in UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library Whitman Room. The talk will focus on the impact of the 1960s counterculture on inhabitants of Huautla de Jimenez, a remote town in Mexico. The event is free and open to the public.

UNC Asheville has rescheduled the talk on “Huautla in the Time of Jipis’: Remembering the Sixties in a Mexican Indigenous Psychedelic Tourist Town” by anthropologist Benjamin Feinberg. The presentation, recently cancelled due to winter weather, has been rescheduled to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library Whitman Room. The talk will focus on the impact of the 1960’s counterculture on inhabitants of Huautla de Jimenez, a remote town in Mexico. The event is free and open to the public.

In 1957, American banker Gordon Wasson visited the town in southern Mexico, where he participated in a shamanic ceremony involving the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Upon his return, Wasson published an account of his experience in Life magazine. His essay prompted a flood of countercultural American and European tourists to make the difficult journey to Huautla, which led to a tremendous cultural exchange. Feinberg’s presentation explores Huautla natives’ response to their encounters with the tourists and how they continue to adapt and refashion their own sense of identity.

Feinberg, professor and chair of anthropology at Warren Wilson College, specializes in religious rituals and rites in Mexico. Author of a number of articles and reviews, Feinberg’s most recent book, “The Devil’s Book of Culture: Mushrooms, Caves, and History in the Sierra Mazateca,” was published in 2003. He is currently researching the influence of international educational experiences on student’s views of global capitalism.

The talk is co-sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Classics Department and the Archaeological Institute of America. For more information, call Laurel Taylor, UNC Asheville adjunct assistant professor of classics, at 828/251-6290.

Media Contacts:

• Laurel Taylor, UNC Asheville Adjunct Assistant Professor of Classics, 828/251-6290

• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526