Secularity, Synchronicity, and Uncanny Science: Considerations and Challenges

Agrama, Hussein Ali

doi:10.1111/zygo.12671

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Both have occurred. Recently, scholars across disciplines have taken anomalies more seriously, from cooperation within academia to conferences and written collaboration with public partners (Agrama, 2021;Graves, 2023;Kingsbury, 2019;Kripal, 2011;Limina, 2023;Masters, 2021;Wendt and Duvall, 2008). During the weekend of February 10, 2023, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) made international headlines when it shot down three UAP: one over the Alaskan coast on Friday, one over central Yukon on Saturday, and one over Lake Huron on Sunday.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faculty perceptions of unidentified aerial phenomena

Yingling

Bell

2023

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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Recently, former and current government officials, legislators, and faculty in the United States have called for research on what their government terms Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP, now called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena). Investigative journalism, military reports, new government offices, and scholarship have piqued broad attention. Other countries have begun conversations about UAP. The United States government is undertaking new hearings, reports, and investigations into UAP. What might the implications of this issue in academia be? Despite this topic’s associated stigma, these developments merited asking faculty about their perceptions. In this national study—which is the first to thoroughly examine faculty evaluations, explanations, and experiences regarding UAP of which the authors are aware—tenured and tenure-track faculty across 14 disciplines at 144 major research universities (N = 1460) participated in a survey. Results demonstrated that faculty think the academic evaluation of UAP information and more academic research on this topic is important. Curiosity outweighed scepticism or indifference. Overwhelmingly and regardless of discipline, faculty were aware of reports but not legislation. Faculty varied in personal explanations for UAP, and nearly one-fifth reported UAP observations. We discuss the implications of these results for the future of the academic study of UAP.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faculty perceptions of unidentified aerial phenomena

Yingling

Bell

2023

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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“…The U.S. federal government is holding private and public hearings regarding the matter of unidentified aerial phenomena and has established an office to investigate what former and current government officials, legislators, and others publicly claim are not secret U.S. military technologies, their allies, or their adversaries (60 Minutes, 2021; Boetel, 2021; Carson, 2021; Cowen, n.d.; C‐SPAN, 2022; Gillibrand, 2021; Holpuch, 2021; Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2021; Sells, 2022). NASA and scholars are studying them (Agrama, 2021; Davenport, 2022; Harvard University, 2021; Knuth et al, 2019; Nolan et al, 2022; Pasulka, 2019). Meanwhile, other countries are holding their own hearings, establishing reporting mechanisms for their militaries, and researching them (Bockman, 2014; Chen, 2021; Emmerich, 2022; Girão et al, 2022; Ryall, 2020; SECU, 2021).…”

Section: “New Space”: Commercialization and Exploitation In Unexplore...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social work in space: Expanding policy and practice into the cosmos

Yingling

2023

Int J Soc Welfare

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As private interests expand in space, what is the significance, if any, to social work? To answer this question, I present several implications of contemporary human activities in space and assess their relevance to environmental and ecological justice. Specifically, I evaluate the connection between the profession and the commercialization and exploitation of space resources, human‐generated cosmic “trash,” and terrestrial challenges. I conclude that social work must “look to the stars” and help humanity navigate competing interests in a delicate space future. Nearly a quarter century ago, ecological consequences of human activity prompted social work to incorporate the natural environment into practice. In preparation for the realization of modern extraterrestrial objectives, I propose that social work expand its conceptualization of the natural environment from ecosphere to cosmos. In this uncharted context, I propose future directions and offer questions to which leaders, scholars, and practitioners might begin seeking answers.

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“…7.7.This finding is genuinely uncanny for a discipline that explains the effectiveness of cultural forms in relation to historical and geographic specificities. Writing on the possibility of “uncanny science,” Hussein Agrama (2021, 400, 410) argues that surprising “ synchronicities , whereby our senses of future and past are brought together in striking ways … [require] new analytics … beyond our current categories” to discuss “techniques and protocols that reshape the sensorium, enable and enhance our sensitivities, and shift our awareness.” And he asks if these techniques may be “the product of interactions between two different intelligences, one human and the other, other ?” (Agrama 2021, 411).…”

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confidence: 99%

Malicious Game

Sheldon

2023

Cult. Anthropol.

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In the late-night cafés of Amman, Jordan, Iraqi refugees have adopted a new game, called jaakaaroo, that they say is more “malicious” than familiar favorites like dominoes or backgammon. Meanwhile, they decry the cruelty, greed, and suspicion that have eroded social bonds in their home and host countries. Borrowing concepts from Arabic philosophy, I argue that the formal routines of the game act on the same faculty of estimation (al-wahm) that migrants use to read strangers’ intentions while disguising their own. When this sense of suspicion emanates from the ingenious device of the game itself, which I theorize as a form of agent intellect (al-‘aql al-faa‘il), new and troubling feelings come to be absorbed within the broader aesthetic assemblage of teahouse sociality. In these spaces, the harshness of the present becomes enfolded within nostalgic routines—a creative act of solidarity that exceeds binary tropes of hope and uncertainty.

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Secularity, Synchronicity, and Uncanny Science: Considerations and Challenges

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Faculty perceptions of unidentified aerial phenomena

Faculty perceptions of unidentified aerial phenomena

Social work in space: Expanding policy and practice into the cosmos

Malicious Game

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