The School of Humanities occupies a distinctive place at Rice University. Our prize-winning faculty and students are globally minded. Our research and teaching span millennia, reaching from ancient times to the future. We encourage and offer our students opportunities for civic engagement and experiential learning.
Niche.com, in its “2022 Best Colleges in America” report, ranks our academic studies in art and religious studies the fourth best in America. Niche, which relies on U.S. Department of Education data and analysis of more than 1,000 universities and is considered the Yelp in undergraduate college rankings by students, parents and alumni — ranks our philosophy program No. 13 nationwide and our programs in history and English eighth and nineth (and both rank first among Texas universities).
Colm A. Kelleher, program manager of the Advanced Aerospace System Weapons Application Program (AAWSAP) and a contractor at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), presented a talk titled "UFOs and Psi Phenomena: Lessons Learned from the Pentagon’s AAWSAP UFO Investigations" as part of "Archives of the Impossible: Transnationalism, Transdisciplinarity, Transcendence." The May 11-13, 2023 international conference at Rice University featured speakers and panelists who set out to demystify the paranormal through their research and experiences regarding metaphysics, UFOs and much more.
Between 1991-1996, Kelleher was an immunology research scientist at the National Jewish Center in Denver, Colorado. From 1996-2004, he led the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) team on Skinwalker Ranch as well as multiple other NIDS projects. From 2004-2008, he served as laboratory director at San Francisco biotechnology company Prosetta where he led teams of scientists in executing Department of Defense (DoD) contracts to discover drugs against Ebola virus and other viruses of interest to DoD.
In 2008, Kelleher became deputy administrator of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) where he led the day-to day operations in executing the AAWSAP contract with Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). From 2012-2020, he led the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Department at Bigelow Aerospace where he managed projects that cumulatively resulted in the building of life support systems for expandable spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Kelleher co-authored "Hunt for the Skinwalker" in 2005 with journalist George Knapp and "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" in 2021 with James Lacatski and George Knapp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD0ZVbtbnfILearn more about the Archives of the Impossible:
https://impossiblearchives.rice.edu
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