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advancing the study of unidentified anomalous phenomena through interdisciplinary dialogue
UAP STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES
·
FALL 2026
Foundations of
a New Field
Following its spring launch and summer pause, the UAP Studies Seminar Series returns this fall with a new slate of scholars advancing rigorous, interdisciplinary inquiry into UAP.
View the fall lineup
.
Returning September 10 · Free on YouTube
Every two weeks - 2 PM ET
Hosted by Maya Cowan, PhD
About
01
THE SERIES
Serious questions deserve a serious forum.
Where intellectual openness meets scientific rigor.
Launched in February 2026, the series has convened researchers across science, philosophy, anthropology, and public scholarship. This fall, that work continues with a renewed program designed to strengthen the evidence-driven foundations of UAP studies.
01
Theoretical Foundations
02
Culture and anthropology
03
Scientific methodology
04
Evidence standards
05
Politics of knowledge
06
Academic frameworks
Upcoming Seminars
02
FALL 2026
UPCOMING SEMINARS
Two disciplines.
One emerging field.
FREE PUBLIC SEMINAR - YOUTUBE
SEP 10
Thursday - 2 PM ET
UAP in a SETI Context: Constructing Astrobiologically Plausible Origin Scenarios for ET Visitation
Benji Laszlo Fields
Post-baccalaureate Researcher · NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Fields places UAP origin scenarios within SETI and astrobiology, comparing local and interstellar hypotheses through their observable predictions and outlining a research program for testing them
His work spans optical SETI, astrobiology, and technosignatures. A SETI Institute Forward Award recipient and former Visiting Scholar with Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, he serves on the steering committee of NASA’s Technosignature Study Analysis Group.
FREE PUBLIC SEMINAR - YOUTUBE
SEP 24
Thursday - 2 PM ET
At the Threshold of Vision: Photography, Evidence, and the Problem of Perception in UAP Studies
Madalyn K. Shaw
PhD Candidate · Department of Art History, University of Toronto
Drawing on art history, visual culture, and the history of photography, Shaw examines how UFO photographs complicate perception and evidence—and how they can be studied beyond simple categories of proof, fraud, or aesthetic curiosity.
Shaw studies twentieth-century visual and material culture at the intersection of science, technology, and collective imagination. Her dissertation examines photography as evidence in the UFO movement.
03
EARLIER IN 2026
THE SPRING SERIES
Six conversations that established the breadth of the field.
Before the summer pause, scholars explored UAP through sociology, instrumented research, astrophysics, anthropology, philosophy, and epistemology.
19 February 2026
Steve Fuller
Why UAPs Are Intrinsically Good to Think About and With, Regardless of Their Ultimate Reality
5 March 2026
Rich Hoffman
Toward a Coordinated/Cooperative Global Instrumented Study of UAP
.avif)
19 March 2026
Massimo Teodorani
Instrumented Physical Investigation of UAP: Methodologies for Discriminating Between Engineered Craft and Plasma Phenomena
2 April 2026
Maya Cowan
Observing the Unknown: The Emerging Scientific Study of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
16 April 2026
Mike Cifone
Skepticism and the New Science of UAP
30 April 2026
Kimberly Engels
Resisting Narrative Flattening: Epistemic Justice for Experiencer Testimony
Host
04
YOUR HOST
Anthropology · Science studies
Maya Cowan, PhD
Cowan studies the emergence of UAP studies as a formal academic discipline, with a focus on stigma, skepticism, and how evidence is defined and gathered.
"UAP studies sit at the intersection of science, culture, and curiosity, and that makes it a rich space for academic exploration."
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