Particle Episode 31: Roger F. Malina

Join us for a pop-up lecture by Roger F. Malina, an astrophysicist and Distinguished Professor of Art and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas, internationally recognized for his transdisciplinary work connecting the sciences with the arts. He has served as Executive Editor of Leonardo, the journal founded by his father, Frank Malina, and has held leadership roles with NASA and the Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence (CNRS). He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has received numerous honors for his contributions to art-science collaboration and cultural innovation.

At 75, having completed work with NASA, Leonardo/ISAST, CNRS, and other organizations, Malina has chosen to reorient his research focus. He has signed a contract to continue running his laboratory through 2030/31. With the belief that the ArtSci movement has now become foundational, Malina and his collaborators are launching a new initiative: the Off-Center for Emergence Studies. This observatory is dedicated to identifying and exploring phenomena—social, physical, and otherwise—that are emerging, submerging, or exhibiting surprising constancy in the world around us.

One such project, Silver Ingenuity, addresses the growing population of mid-career and senior university students and faculty over the age of 70. It proposes a reimagining of academic institutions through the lens of Transition Design, as developed by Terri Irwin.

Among other efforts, the team has also developed Fred the Heretic, an AI program that draws from a database of every published work by cultural historian Fred Turner. When prompted, the software responds using only words and metaphors that Turner himself has used at least once in his life.

Malina also continues his involvement in Space Art and SETI, advocating for the emerging perspective that humanity’s engagement with outer space should serve as a pathway to learning how to live more sustainably and harmoniously on Earth.