Rice Magazine | Summer 2023

Page 28

WISDOM touch with these altered states. Trauma, illness, danger and death also sometimes constitute major openings to the superhuman dimensions of who and what we already are. What would it mean to reimagine the humanities as the superhumanities? The humanities are already the superhumanities. That is, so many of our revered authors, artists and activists were drawing quite explicitly on these altered states and their gifts. What it would take to transform the present humanities into the superhumanities is a new way of remembering and focusing on those states and then cultivating them in the present and future. Why did the humanities come to exclude the study of “impossible” experiences? I think the humanities came to exclude these things for many reasons, some of them good. The 20th century, for example, saw a fairly dramatic turn to social, political and moral concerns, all of which are perfectly just and important. One underlying assumption has been that the vertical or “super” dimensions of human experience must be excluded or ignored to focus on these immediate concerns. I just think that is wrong.

FACULTY BOOKS

Now Reading The Superhumanities Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities Jeffrey J. Kripal University of Chicago Press, 2022

JEFFREY J. KRIPAL is convinced we’ve all had surreal, otherworldly experiences in our lives, but many of us are too embarrassed to talk about them. Academics, in particular, go out of their way to ignore the uncanny. Kripal, a professor of religion at Rice who has written extensively about such subjects, understands why. He knows firsthand that the social stigma is real. But he believes that humanities scholars are doing themselves — and all of us — a disservice by neglecting this immense part of what it means to be human. In his latest book, “The Superhumanities,” Kripal makes a case for bringing the fantastic back to academia. We spoke to him about what that would entail.

28

RICE MAGA ZINE

SUMMER 202 3

You argue that “there is something cosmic or superhuman smoldering in the human.” What do you mean by that? By the “superhuman,” I mean that human beings, and especially wildly creative intellectuals and writers, often experience altered states of consciousness and embodiment, which then result in new ideas and intellectual movements. These altered states are literally “super” in the sense that they transcend or go beyond our ordinary day-to-day thinking and functioning and are not arrived at only through logic or reason: They suddenly appear, and they appear as given. People who are more porous or “on the margins” are generally more in

The New York Times called you “a renegade advocate for including the paranormal in religious studies,” and you acknowledge in the book that you are an outlier. Fair assessment? Yeah, I feel like an outlier often, but I doubt I really am. I always get the question, “How do you deal with the pushback?”, to which I always reply, “What pushback?” I think intellectuals and scientists are often in the closet on this one. That is, they know perfectly well that these extraordinary things happen. They just do not want to sound like the tabloids. And young people, especially young intellectuals, are very interested in exactly this material. The human has always been, and will always be, the superhuman. That’s my deeper point. — JENNIFER LATSON

PHOTO BY JEFF FITLOW


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Envisioning New Paths to Progress

0
page 51

Now Reading

4min
pages 48-50

Fusion Futures

3min
pages 46-47

Better Diagnostics

2min
pages 45-46

Environmental Awakening

8min
pages 41-45

Two Steps Ahead

1min
pages 39-40

A Remedy for Fall Risk

1min
page 38

At a Touch

1min
page 37

A Cargo-Carrying Catamaran

0
page 36

Pectus Reparatum!

1min
page 35

Inventive Minds

0
page 34

EARLY CAREER AWARDS Awards in the Humanities

0
page 33

Federal Funders

0
page 32

Sources of Research Funding 8

0
page 31

THE YEAR IN RESEARCH

1min
pages 30-31

Now Reading

4min
pages 28-29

Bite This!

1min
page 27

MARTIN TO LEAD NEW INSTITUTE

1min
pages 26-27

One Wild World BIOSCIENCES

0
page 26

The Clean Room

1min
pages 24-25

COVID-19, Compounded

1min
page 23

The Strategist

4min
pages 21-23

Fossil Fishing

2min
pages 20-21

The Explainer

2min
page 19

Hands for Houston

7min
pages 14-18

High Maintenance

1min
pages 13-14

The New Environmentalists

1min
pages 12-13

Across, Down and Forward

2min
pages 11-12

BIOSCIENCES In Hot Water

1min
pages 9-10

HERE’S TO “FORMALIZED CURIOSITY”

2min
page 8

PROTOTYPE NO. 2

1min
pages 7-8

Envisioning New Paths to Progress

0
page 51

Now Reading

4min
pages 48-50

Fusion Futures

3min
pages 46-47

Better Diagnostics

2min
pages 45-46

Environmental Awakening

8min
pages 41-45

Two Steps Ahead

1min
pages 39-40

A Remedy for Fall Risk

1min
page 38

At a Touch

1min
page 37

A Cargo-Carrying Catamaran

0
page 36

Pectus Reparatum!

1min
page 35

Inventive Minds

0
page 34

EARLY CAREER AWARDS Awards in the Humanities

0
page 33

Federal Funders

0
page 32

Sources of Research Funding 8

0
page 31

THE YEAR IN RESEARCH

1min
pages 30-31

Now Reading

4min
pages 28-29

Bite This!

1min
page 27

MARTIN TO LEAD NEW INSTITUTE

1min
pages 26-27

One Wild World BIOSCIENCES

0
page 26

The Clean Room

1min
pages 24-25

COVID-19, Compounded

1min
page 23

The Strategist

4min
pages 21-23

Fossil Fishing

2min
pages 20-21

The Explainer

2min
page 19

Hands for Houston

7min
pages 14-18

High Maintenance

1min
pages 13-14

The New Environmentalists

1min
pages 12-13

Across, Down and Forward

2min
pages 11-12

BIOSCIENCES In Hot Water

1min
pages 9-10

HERE’S TO “FORMALIZED CURIOSITY”

2min
page 8

PROTOTYPE NO. 2

1min
pages 7-8

Envisioning New Paths to Progress

0
page 51

Now Reading

4min
pages 48-50

Fusion Futures

3min
pages 46-47

Better Diagnostics

2min
pages 45-46

Environmental Awakening

8min
pages 41-45

Two Steps Ahead

1min
pages 39-40

A Remedy for Fall Risk

1min
page 38

At a Touch

1min
page 37

A Cargo-Carrying Catamaran

0
page 36

Pectus Reparatum!

1min
page 35

Inventive Minds

0
page 34

EARLY CAREER AWARDS Awards in the Humanities

0
page 33

Federal Funders

0
page 32

Sources of Research Funding 8

0
page 31

THE YEAR IN RESEARCH

1min
pages 30-31

Now Reading

4min
pages 28-29

Bite This!

1min
page 27

MARTIN TO LEAD NEW INSTITUTE

1min
pages 26-27

One Wild World BIOSCIENCES

0
page 26

The Clean Room

1min
pages 24-25

COVID-19, Compounded

1min
page 23

The Strategist

4min
pages 21-23

Fossil Fishing

2min
pages 20-21

The Explainer

2min
page 19

Hands for Houston

7min
pages 14-18

High Maintenance

1min
pages 13-14

The New Environmentalists

1min
pages 12-13

Across, Down and Forward

2min
pages 11-12

BIOSCIENCES In Hot Water

1min
pages 9-10

HERE’S TO “FORMALIZED CURIOSITY”

2min
page 8

PROTOTYPE NO. 2

1min
pages 7-8
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.