Excited to launch the next season of #Cosmoimaginaries. Tomorrow we begin with a presentation from Gabriela Radulescu:
Earthly and extraterrestrial connections: CETI/SETI in Armenia and Czechoslovakia (Spojeni s mimozemskymi intelligencemi / the search for extraterrestrial intelligence)
Thurs, Mar 20 4pm EST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET
Friday, 21 March 9am NZDT/7am AEDT
All welcome.
Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/JL-yhGskSLi74izOB6CoSw
ZoomWelcome! You are invited to join a meeting: 📡 "Earthly and extraterrestrial connections: CETI/SETI in Armenia and Czechoslovakia" | Gabriela Radulescu | Cosmoimaginaries Season 2. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.This March, we have a conversation between Gabriela Radulescu and Nina Czegledy.
Gabriela (https://somatosphere.net/authors/gabriela-radulescu) will share the talk:
"Earthly and extraterrestrial connections: CETI/SETI in Armenia and Czechoslovakia"
Gabriela Radulescu’s research situates the history of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) within a broader international context, focusing on Armenia and the former Czechoslovakia. Through ethnographic work at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) in Armenia, she carefully uncovers the imaginaries that shaped ideas in the golden age of radio astronomy (1956-1976) and the study of extraterrestrial communication during the “CETI” period, before the field was renamed SETI. Through archives and interviews, Gabriela traces how the story of SETI rooted in Armenia during the Soviet era with the 1964 USSR Conference on Extraterrestrial Civilisations at BOA and the Observatory’s First Soviet-American Conference on Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CETI) in 1971. As Soviet radio astronomers sought to establish a scientific framework for communicating with extraterrestrial civilizations, their Armenian counterparts brought a distinct imaginary: one that linked cosmic contact to Armenia’s ancient astronomical heritage.
Gabriela presents CETI as a relational and interdisciplinary endeavour, entangled in Soviet science-based imaginaries, the history of the space race and the international astronautical community, and political upheavals through the Prague Spring. This blending of scientific and historical imaginaries, combining the emerging field of radio astronomy with millennia-old traditions of celestial observation, reinforced national and collective identity, positioning Armenia as an astronomical civilization with deep temporal roots. These powerful imaginaries continue to shape contemporary perspectives on the earthly and extraterrestrial today.
More Info: https://cosmoimaginaries.com