On the Block with Justin Panneck
We met this guy at an academic conference two years ago and was blown away by his razor wit, deep insight, Buddha-like compassion and academic prowess. His presentations weave together cultural analysis, anthropological analysis, psychological insights and piercing humor to reveal deep truths about human nature and culture and the complex dialectic between the two. We sat down a while back to discuss his journey into the shadow and his emergence back into a world alive with spirit, meaning and truth. And how he is working to translate those realizations into his work as a psychologist and an academic. Dr. Justin Panneck is an assistant professor of Psychology at Colorado Technical University as well as an instructional designer for several Fortune 500 companies. He holds a MEd in Instructional Technology and a PhD in Health Psychology and is currently finishing a counseling degree. In addition to psychology, he has lectured and taught classes on such diverse subjects as organizational psychology, history of psychology, stress management, world history, American history, American culture and American diversity. He has also published a work of fiction entitled \u201cThe Knight of Dark Wood: The Last Tree Whisperer\u201d which included themes of mythology and consciousness. He is currently researching consciousness, altered states, dreams, ethnopharmacology and plant medicines, shamanism, mythology and alchemy, spirituality, and behavioral health. His most recent research study involved the effects of ayahuasca on consciousness, spirituality and stress coping, which has been published as a book entitled \u201cEthnopharmacology and Stress Relief.\u201d In his spare time, Justin does everything in his power to bend social mores and societal rules, including conducting humorous and uncomfortable skits in public that expose some hidden truth or another that the culture struggles to name or integrate. He is also an avid mushroom hunter and spends a good deal of time in the woods connecting with nature. As a cultural critic and researcher, he also spends time exploring important mysteries such as the Bigfoot phenomenon and UFOs, mostly examining the psychology of those who pursue these field and the cultural meanings behind their relevance. A self-proclaimed iconoclastic oneironic psychonaut, he also spends his time exploring his dreams and consciousness by experimenting with altered states, remote viewing, bi-location, active imagination, lucid dreaming and meditation. He lives in Portland, OR by day and somewhere near the fringes of Sloan\u2019s Wall by Night.