The Importance of the Impossible: A conversation about the Archives of the Impossible
Friday, August 22, 2025 | 5-6:15pm PDT
Online via Zoom
Free event | Click here to register
The concept of scientific materialism asserts that matter is the fundamental substance of nature, and that all phenomena—including consciousness—can be explained by physical processes and interactions. While contemporary scientific discourse still offers only a relatively narrow space to engage with topics like psychic phenomena or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, a growing body of evidence continues to document their existence.
The Archives of the Impossible at Rice University in Houston—created by Professor Jeffrey Kripal—house collections of materials that explore phenomena considered “impossible” within a strictly materialist framework.
Join us for a virtual panel discussion featuring Prof. Jeffrey Kripal, Peter Skafish of the Sol Foundation, and Rice PhD candidate Amanda Nedham, in a conversation facilitated by David A.M. Goldberg. This event is hosted in conjunction with Lagrange Point, an exhibition curated by Ninth Planet at Slash that explores “alien life” and non-human intelligence.
David A. M. Goldberg is a Black San Franciscan who came of age in the era of the Commodore 64, 1200 baud online culture, and the birth of Hip Hop. His writing and research maps intersections of art, race, technology, and history with a focus on generative AI, collective intelligence, and digital epistemologies. Professionally, he is a lead product designer and strategist of interactive content that is grounded in the authentic experiences and desires of underrepresented folks. He holds degrees in Computer Systems Engineering (Howard University), Visual Criticism (California College of the Arts), and a PhD in American Studies (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa).
Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he co-hosts the Archives of the Impossible collection and conference series. He also co-directs the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Kripal is the author of numerous books, most recently How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (Chicago, 2024). He is presently working on a three-volume collectively entitled The Super Story: Science (Fiction) and Some Emergent Mythologies. His full body of work can be seen at http://jeffreyjkripal.com. He thinks he may be Spider-Man.
Amanda Nedham is an artist, educator, and curator currently working on her PhD in the Department of Religion at Rice University with a focus on the intersection between drawing and belief. Her studio practice is interdisciplinary with an emphasis on drawing and installation, and is focused on communion with the dead. Needham co-founded Below Grand Gallery located in the Lower East Side, has taught Experimental Drawing at RISD and at the New York City Crit Club, and has published one book, My Boyfriend is a Peacekeeper. She completed her BFA at OCAD University in Printmaking and her MFA at RISD in Painting.
Peter Skafish is a sociocultural anthropologist who works between his discipline and philosophy on how ideas, cosmologies, and translation shape the diversity of human thought and experience. He has been the recipient of funding from such organizations as the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Humanities, and the Fondation Fyssen. Skafish is the author of the book Rough Metaphysics: The Speculative Thought and Mediumship of Jane Roberts. He has a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and has held faculty and research positions in the US, France, Canada, and Germany.