Research
Osiris González Romero, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychedelics and Spirituality, CSWR
Osiris holds a BA in philosophy from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); an MA in humanities (specializing in moral and political philosophy) from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM); and a PhD in philosophy (the heritage and rights of indigenous peoples) from Leiden University, the Netherlands. In 2015, he received the Coimbra Group Scholarship for Young Professors and Researchers from Latin American Universities.
His doctoral dissertation, “Tlamatiliztli: The wisdom of the Nahua people. Intercultural philosophy and land rights,” was published by Leiden University Press. He did a postdoctoral stay at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada on the project “Cognitive liberty and the psychedelic humanities,” and at the Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas “Luis Villoro” at the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) on the project “Native American Philosophies in the History of Ideas in Mexico (Nahua, Maya, and Zapotec).” During his fellowship at the CSWR, Osiris focuses on a research project, about “Indigenous Medicine and Psilocybin Mushroom Rituals in Mesoamerica.”
During the 2025 spring term, he taught the course: “Psychedelics and Religion: Indigenous Traditions of the Americas”, at Harvard Divinity School. Previously he taught courses on “Nahuatl Philosophy” and “Philosophy of History” at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Faculty of Philosophy.
Digital Display Design
Ashley Borders Zigman, Creative Content Specialist, CSWR (2024-2025).
Ashley holds a BA in Intercultural Studies and International Relations from Wofford College and is currently a Harvard graduate student and ALM Degree Candidate (Fall 2025). As an award-winning film/tv costumer and set designer, she has been bringing artistic visions to life, on screen and in print, for over the past 15 years throughout The United States and MENA Regions. Ashley worked as a Shariah specialist for international advertising campaigns in UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). Ashley has been responsible for creating the styles in international projects ranging from music videos and feature films to campaigns such as Pepsi, Sony, Gulfstream, Mercedes, and more. She has worked alongside Osiris in Mexico and in Cambridge at the CSWR designing and building this digital exhibit to honor and showcase these sacred traditions. Her work explores the intersections of sacred geography, cultural memory, ethnographic storytelling, indigenous healing, and spiritual archaeology. This includes documenting forgotten wisdom traditions, pilgrimage routes, regenerative craft practices, and the symbolic languages embedded in clothing, architecture, and ritual. Her current work is situated around building digital archives, creating films, and offering workshops that revive and transmit ancestral knowledge for future generations.
Editing
Aaron Michael Ullrey, Research Associate, Editing and Writing Specialist, CSWR
Aaron is a historian of religions specializing in South Asian rituals, specifically magic rituals in tantra sources. His PhD was awarded by University of California Santa Barbara, supervised by David Gordon White, defending a dissertation titled Grim Grimoires: Pragmatic Ritual in the Magic Tantras (2016), based on field and archival research funded by Vanderbilt University, Fulbright-Hayes, and the American Institute of Indian Studies.
His research archives span Sanskrit, Hindi, and Tibetan language tantra sources affiliated with Hinduisms, Jainisms, Buddhisms, and Islams. In addition to studying South Asian sources, he explores paranormal experiences that constitute the building blocks of religious innovation, especially altered states of consciousness and UFO encounters. His longtime interest in folk and vernacular modes of religions culminated in a co-edited volume titled Living Folk Religions, published by Routledge in 2023.
Current projects include a duograph comparing the magic tantras and western learned magic, a first-of-its-kind study comparing Indic magic to western esotericism; “Pulp Tantras: A World of Magic”, surveying cheaply published vernacular magic tantras; and “Write a Rite!” exploring writing pedagogy for teaching ritual studies. He continues to document magic rituals in Śaiva Hindu tantras and is preparing a comprehensive study and translation of two medieval Jain tantras.
He has taught Religious Studies courses and Sanskrit language courses at various universities including University of Houston, Naropa University, and Youngstown State. His courses emphasize counter-narratives, social-cultural histories, minority aspects of religions, lived and folk religions; all with an eye to ritual.
Cultural Art Collaborators-
TBD
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