About the Frances P. Bolton Fellowship
The annual Frances P. Bolton Fellowship in the amount of $2000 will be awarded to a person who obtained their Ph.D. on the basis of a dissertation/thesis which dealt with some aspect of parapsychological phenomena and whose intent is to use the Bolton Fellowship to further write up and polish the data amassed during the preparation of their doctoral work. The Ph.D. does not necessarily have to be solely within parapsychology but must demonstrate that parapsychology is a large component of the work. Applications will be taken until November 1st, 2018 with the Fellowship awarded January 1st, 2019. A copy of the dissertation must be submitted along with three references and a description of how the Fellowship will be utilized.
In 2018 the Parapsychology Foundation is pleased to announce the PF’s post-doctoral fellowship named for our co-founder, Frances P. Bolton. The recipient of the Frances P. Bolton Fellowship for 2018 is Dr. Stephani Stephens.
Dr. Stephani Stephens
Stephani earned her PhD from the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK in 2012. Between 2004 and 2013 she served on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Jungian Studies. She is the author of the journal article “Active Imagination and the Dead”. In August 2017, she attended the IAJS conference in Cape Town, South Africa where she delivered a paper titled “The Dynamic of Transgenerational Influence or why don’t my thoughts feel like my own?” Her current research explores how unresolved issues, secrets and grief from previous generations lodge in the psyche and influence the agency of succeeding generations. She resides in Canberra, Australia and teaches Psychology in the International Baccalaureate program at Canberra Grammar School.
She submitted her doctoral thesis in consideration of the Bolton Fellowship “CG Jung and the Dead: The Red Book and Memories, Dreams, Reflections 1896-1916’’ and we proudly added it to the shelves of the Eileen Garrett Library. Her research is based on Carl Jung’s experiences with the dead and specifically how these particular encounters assisted him in defining a nuanced consideration of the interaction between the unconscious and conscious. Taken from her submission, Stephani writes that “My findings suggest that certain types of visionary encounters are in fact not simply projections of unconscious content, but rather can be treated as objective material. Thus when Jung discusses having encounters with the dead, he is referring to visionary experiences divorced from physical bodies, i.e. the dead in se, and that these encounters have a specific psychological effect than other types of sightings.
Stephani is expanding her doctoral thesis into book form titled Ways of Seeing: CG Jung and the Dead to be published by Routledge.
PF’s founder, Eileen Garrett, was very interested in the writings of Jung. During one of their visits Garrett discussed her intent to cease her mediumship. Jung disagreed and encouraged her to continue her mediumship. Stephani writes “Both Garrett and Jung shed a necessary and significant light on transrational experiences specifically because their honest and introspective approach left succeeding generations a method of inquiry to speculate on those same experiences. Garrett’s many writings are validated precisely due to her own skepticism as to exactly what was occurring during her experiences. Although such visionary experiences are often dismissed even today, it is further academic effort that will encourage openness for the discussion of the role of the dead in the psychological dynamic.”
We believe Dr. Stephens to be very deserving of the Bolton Fellowship and not in the least because of her brief mention of Eileen Garrett. She will utilize the award to finish up her manuscript and continue her in depth research.