CIH Team Presents Mythologies of Outer Space at Jasper Dark Sky Festival

Director Jim Ellis, Associate Director Noreen Humble, and contributors Keith Sidwell and Kyle Flemmer attended the Jasper Dark Sky Festival (October 17 to 26) to discuss the Calgary Institute for the Humanities’ (CIH) recent publication, Mythologies of Outer Space.

Published in January 2025 by Calgary University Press, this illustrated collection is based on conversations sparked by the CIH’s 41^st Annual Community Forum, held in 2022. The book brings together academics and artists—including astronaut Robert Thirsk, Mi'kmaw astronomer Hilding Neilson, outer space archaeologist Alice Gorman, and artists David Hoffos and Dianne Bos—to explore humanity’s changing understanding of outer space and to address urgent questions about space exploration, colonization, and celestial rights.

The event at Jasper Dark Sky Festival featured readings, discussion, and a screening of Afronauts (2014), an award-winning short film by Ghanaian filmmaker Nuotama Frances Bodomo. Set in July 1969, Afronauts follows the Zambia Space Academy's attempt to beat America to the Moon. Alongside this film, contributors shared myths about moon voyages, star-inspired poetry, and one of the earliest fictional lunar tales.

To purchase your own copy of Mythologies of Outer Space, please click here.