Kai River Blevins
Program: Anthropology PhD
Year of Entry: Fall 2020
Advisor: Alex Dent
Kai is interested in the politics and ethics of transformation, drawing on work across various fields, especially linguistic anthropology, critical phenomenology, political theory, and feminist science and technology studies. Their dissertation explores the evolving relationship between psychedelics and American public culture, with an emphasis on gray markets, integration groups, and political advocacy in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In addition to their academic work, Kai is an indie film producer and writer who is involved in local political organizing in DC.
Kai’s research focuses on psychedelics and the anthropology of consciousness, with a specific focus on neuroethics, scientific and therapeutic practice, U.S. law and policy, and identity. They are currently researching psychedelic-assisted therapy and the psychedelic decriminalization movement in the United States. Their research interests include: science and technology studies, linguistics, public mental health, cognition, memory, social movements, gender and sexuality, ethics, law and policy, and participatory research methods.
Research Interests: Critical Phenomenology, Embodiment, Language, U.S. Law & Politics, Consciousness, Sensory Anthropology, Ethics & Morality, Critical Theory, Drugs
MPhil in Anthropology, George Washington University, 2023
Master of Legal Studies, Willamette University College of Law, 2018
BA in Sociology and Political Science, University of Colorado-Denver, 2016
Peer Reviewed Articles:
Blevins, Kai River and Colleen Small. “Mycoremediation’s Material Imaginaries: Neoliberal Rationality in the Fungal Turn.” Forthcoming at interconnections: journal of posthumanism 3(2).
Neitzke-Spruill, Logan, Caroline S. Beit, Jill Oliver Robinson, Kai River Blevins, Joel M. Reynolds, Nicholas G. Evans, and Amy Lynn McGuire. 2024. “A Transformative Trip? Experiences of Psychedelic Use.” Neuroethics 17:33.
Blevins, Kai River. 2023. “Psychedelics, Embodiment, and Intersubjectivity.” Journal of Psychedelic Studies 7(S1):40–47.
Chavez, Margeaux Alana, Kai River Blevins, Christopher Brown, Angela J. Giles, Monica M. Matthieu, Marete Wester, Jacquelyn Heuer, et al. 2022. "The Future of Veteran Community Engagement: Perspectives on Engaging Veterans and Other Stakeholders in Research Agenda Setting." Journal of Veterans Studies 8(2):21–35.
Blevins, Kai River and Andy Blevins. 2021. “Advocating for Minority Veterans in the United States: Principles for Equitable Public Policy.” Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health 7(s1):136–142.
Editor Reviewed Articles:
“Care and the Promise of Psychedelic Science,” Backchannels, Society for Social Studies of Science, forthcoming
“The Poetics of Internet Memes,” The Geek Anthropologist Blog, August 2020
Blevins, Kai River. 2018. “I’m on the Wrong Track Baby, I Was Made This Way: How Cisnormativity and Gender Essentialism Discipline the Transition Processes of Transgender Individuals.” Social Justice and Equity Law Journal 1(1):148–181.
Contributor, “Advancing Trans Studies: A Compendium of Resources,” Sociologists for Trans Justice Committee, American Sociological Association, July 2017.
Dean's Graduate Student Lectureship, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, George Washington University, 2024
Instructor, January 2025 – May 2025
George Washington University, Department of Anthropology
ANTH 1000: Drugs and American Culture, Spring 2025
Graduate Teaching Assistant, January 2019 – May 2023
George Washington University, Department of Anthropology
ANTH 2502: Anthropology of Science and Technology, Diana Pardo Pedraza, Spring 2023
ANTH 1004: Language in Culture & Society, Alexander Dent, Fall 2022
ANTH 1002: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology, Sarah Wagner, Spring 2022
ANTH 1004: Language in Culture & Society, Alexander Dent, Fall 2021
ANTH 2501/WGSS 2121: The Anthropology of Gender, Ferhan Güloğlu, Spring 2020
ANTH 1002: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology, Hugh Gusterson, Spring 2019