Richmond IONS June 2021 Meeting (June 19) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Diana Walsh Pasulka, PhD.
Where: Online and in person, through ZOOM and at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238.
When: On Saturday, June 19, 2021, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch. See the detailed ZOOM instructions in the email.
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Richmond IONS June 2021 Meeting
“American Cosmic – UFOs, Religion, Technology.”
Our June 19, 2021 program will feature a talk by Diana Walsh Pasulka, PhD, Professor of Religion at UNC Wilmington, about her most recent book, American Cosmic – UFOs, Religion, Technology (2019).
In American Cosmic, Dr. Pasulka chronicles her encounters with several individuals whose lives have been dramatically altered through the phenomena of UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligences and technologies.
She writes, “In 2012 I began a research journey that produced American Cosmic and also changed the way I understand my reality and my life. I encountered two accomplished and well-known scientists who believed they were researching the phenomenon commonly known as UFOs.
They do not draw conclusions about the nature of the mysterious phenomenon, but they do provide a unique method of inquiry that leads to what I believe creates the conditions for spiritual experiences and knowledge. I compare them with other practices found within the history of religions.”
One of the two primary subjects of Dr. Pasulka’s research is a successful aerospace engineer, entrepreneur and inventor of cutting-edge biotechnologies, who credits the inspirations for his inventions to psychic downloads from
ETs.
The other is a distinguished scientist at a prestigious university with a childhood history of ET encounters, who for decades has pursued an obsession with ET artifacts and a quest to comprehend the evolutional and cosmic significance of ETs and their technologies on our lives.
Dr. Pasulka’s presentation will recap the highlights of her years-long research project which resulted in American Cosmic and her conclusions about its religious implications. This will be our group’s first in-person program since February 2020, and we are thrilled at the opportunity to resume with such an exciting speaker and timely topic. Welcome back to all!
About Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka, our Richmond IONS June 2021 Presenter
Dr. Diana Walsh Pasulka is a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and former head of its Department of Philosophy and Religion. Her research spans Catholic history to New Religious Movements.
Previous books include Heaven Can Wait (2014), as well as many anthologies that focus on the impact of technology on religious beliefs and practices. American Cosmic is critically acclaimed and earned a Publisher’s Weekly starred review as well as mentions in the New York Times and other major newspapers and magazines.
Dr. Pasulka is an invited speaker at institutions including Harvard University, the Guggenheim Museum, the Commonwealth Club in Silicon Valley, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein’s podcast as well as numerous other venues in the U.S. and Europe.
Her current projects include two edited volumes, Believing in Bits: New Media and the Supernatural, co-edited with Simone Natalie, and Post Humanism: The Future of Homo Sapiens, co-edited with Michael Bess.
Other work involves being the lead investigator on an ongoing study of Catholic manuscripts and saints at the Vatican Secret Archive and the Space Observatory. There she is the only university professor with a contract to translate and digitize several sacred texts, specifically the canonization records of the saint Joseph of Copertino and the nun Maria of Agreda, both of whom were alleged to levitate.
About Central VA IONS Community Group:
Central VA IONS Community Group is an unincorporated association and a local community group of The Institute of Noetic Sciences, an international association based in Petaluma, California (www.noetic.org).
We do not promote any religion, religious organization, doctrine or set of beliefs or practices and we are open to all. Central VA IONS entirely depends on voluntary donations of its members and friends to support its programs, mailings and other costs.
We appreciate a love offering at each meeting from those attending who are not dues paying members. Richmond IONS/Central VA IONS meetings take place each month at locations announced in its program notices (currently on Zoom) and are open to all. Our website is at richmondions.com.
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