Research Overview

The Materiality of Thought: Theatrical Mentalism and Speculative Neuroscience.

My research uses archive research conducted as a Kluge Fellow at the Library of Congress to show how late 19th and early 20th century performers of Theatrical Mentalism interacted with the philosophical/spiritual New Thought movement and influenced the development of modern-day ideas about the power of the brain. Ideas that have shaped cognitive capitalism, transhumanism, and the rise of literal wishful thinking in the political sphere. My work aims to provide fresh insight into present-day political and scientific discourse and contribute to Religious History, Critical Neuroscience, and Critical Neuroart.