Rice University’s Jeffrey Kripal to deliver annual Witherspoon Lecture

Jeffrey Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, will deliver the 32nd annual Loy Witherspoon Lecture at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 29, in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall. His talk will address “Biological Gods: Science (Fiction) and Some Emergent Mythologies.”

Kripal is the author of numerous books, including his most recent “The Super Natural,” with Whitley Strieber. He specializes in the comparative study and analysis of extreme religious states from the ancient world to today. Among his other works are “Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics and the Paranormal” and “Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred.”

Called a “renegade advocate for including the paranormal in religious studies,” Kripal has stated his current areas of writing and research include “the articulation of a ‘New Comparativism’ within the study of religion that will put ‘the impossible’ back on the table again, a robust and even conversation between the sciences and the humanities and the mapping of an emergent mythology or ‘Super Story’ within paranormal communities and individual visionaries.”

The Witherspoon Lecture in Religious Studies is the oldest and most prestigious endowed lecture series at UNC Charlotte; it was established in 1984 to honor the distinguished career and service of its namesake. Witherspoon was the first chair of the University’s Department of Religious Studies, and currently, he is professor emeritus of philosophy and religion.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. RSVP to Jenna Baker at 704-687-5187 or email JennaCBaker@uncc.edu. A reception will follow the presentation.