American Synesthesia Association

The American Synesthesia Association (ASA) is a not-for-profit[1] academic and public society whose mission is to foster and promote the education and the advancement of knowledge of the phenomena of synesthesia, a neurological condition in which stimulation in one sensory modality leads to experiences in a second, unstimulated modality. The ASA attempts to promote and provide a means for the people who experience and/or study synesthesia to be in contact with each other. As part of its educational mission, the ASA provides information to scientists, health professionals, academicians, researchers, artists, writers, musicians, lay persons and people who experience synesthesia.

Membership

The society currently includes about 200 members. Membership is open to anyone interested in the study of synesthesia, who experiences synesthesia, or who uses synesthesia in their art or published works. As public awareness of synesthesia has grown, the number of members has increased.

History

The American Synesthesia Association was created in 1995 by Carol Steen and Patricia Lynne Duffy after discovering, through correspondence with Simon Baron-Cohen, that there were other people in the New York metropolitan area who experienced synesthesia. The ASA was born out of a desire to meet other synesthetes, and to improve communication between synesthetes and researchers.

In 2000, the ASA was incorporated and received provisional status, 501(c)(3) in 2001. In 2005, the ASA received permanent 501(c)(3) status, and is now a Public Charity under the IRS tax code.

The Board Members of the ASA are Sean A. Day, Peter Grossenbacher, emeritus, Lawrence E. Marks, Daphne Maurer, and Carol Steen.

Meetings

As of 2013, the ASA has held ten major conferences, with attendees from around the world, but mostly from the United States and Europe. The first meeting of the ASA was held at Princeton University in 2001 with the attendance of numerous synesthesia researchers including Larry Marks, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Peter Grossenbacher, and artists and authors including Patricia Lynne Duffy and Natasha Lvovich. This meeting was featured in the popular press, including Time magazine[2] and other media outlets.[3] The first conference also became the subject of a documentary video. Since 2002, the ASA has instituted a keynote speaker, who gives an hour long lecture linking synesthesia with other domains of research. In 2011, the University of California, San Diego became the first location to host the ASA annual meeting twice (2002, 2011).

Summary of American Synesthesia Association Meetings
MeetingLocationDatesPresentationsKeynote Speaker
1stPrinceton UniversityMay 19, 200110[4]None
2ndUniversity of California, San DiegoMay 17–19, 200215[5]Richard Cytowic
3rdRockefeller UniversityMay 2–4, 200318[6]Lawrence Marks and Mriganka Sur
4thUniversity of California, BerkeleyNovember 5–7, 200420[7]Daphne Maurer
5thUT Health Science CenterOctober 28–30, 200517[8]Lynn C. Robertson
6thUniversity of South Florida St. PetersburgJanuary 26–28, 200721[9]Mike Dixon
7thMcMaster UniversitySeptember 26 – 28, 200827[10]Jamie Ward
8thVanderbilt UniversityOctober 1–3, 201018[11]Julia Simner
9thUniversity of California, San DiegoOctober 14 – 16, 201120[12]Edward Hubbard
10thOCAD UniversityMay 31 - June 2, 201323[13]Noam Sagiv

See also

Notes
  1. 501(c)(3)
  2. Ah, the Blue Smell of It! in Time Magazine by Unmesh Kher Sunday, May. 13, 2001, accessed Sept. 30, 2010
  3. They See Where Others Hear / To a synesthete, making sense is in eye, ear, nose of beholder in SFGate by Keay Davidson, March 29, 2001 accessed Sept. 30, 2010
  4. Princeton ASA Program
  5. UCSD 2002 ASA Program
  6. Rockefeller ASA Program
  7. Berkeley ASA Program
  8. UT ASA Program
  9. USF ASA Program
  10. McMaster ASA Program
  11. Vanderbilt ASA Program
  12. UCSD 2011 ASA Program
  13. OCAD 2013 ASA Program
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