Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies

“The Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies was founded in the Spring of 1975 as a focal point for the collection and dissemination of information relevant to the work of Dr Immanuel Velikovsky. An affiliate of the Department of History at Glassboro State College now Rowan University and an integral component of the College, the Center encourages and contributes to the investigation of the validity of Dr Velikovsky’s theories and stands in defense of the right of new ideas to receive a fair and open consideration by the scientific community. To this end the Center works in close collaboration with the independent quarterly Kronos, a Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies (published at Glassboro State College, Glassboro, N.J. 08028, now starting in its third year) with the purpose of bringing the ideas of Dr Velikovsky to a broader range of scholarly attention and to the academic community at large.

“The Center currently occupies offices of both the Departments of History and Philosophy and maintains a growing archive on Dr Velikovsky’s work which in time will be open to qualified researchers.”[1]Dr Robert H. Hewson, “Preface by the Director of the Centre”, in Alice Miller, Index to the Works of Immanuel Velikovsky, Vol. I., publ. 1977, Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies, Glassboro State College

The Center’s Director, Dr Robert H. Hewsen also noted:

“It was on the return trip from participation at this Forum that myself and Professor Warner B. Sizemore, both of Glassboro State College, New Jersey, and Professor Lewis M. Greenberg of the Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, agreed that the time was ripe for the establishment in the eastern United States of a centrally located organisation for the purpose of a sound academic evaluation of Velikovsky’s work”[2]”Focus” SIS Review, Vol 1 No 3 (Summer 1976)

It is reported that:

“The Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies was established to fill these needs in March, 1975, and affiliated to the Department of History at Glassboro. The central location of the College benefits the Center to the extent of giving it access to the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library and the Philadelphia Free Library, as well as those of a large number of other Universities; it can also call on “the largest pool of academic resources in the entire country – the scholars of the eastern seaboard of the United States.”

“Though concentrating at present on Velikovsky’s theories, the Center takes up no set position as regards their validity, seeing its role as that of “a clearinghouse for information” and “an initiator of interdisciplinarystudies in general”. The goals pursued are: ARCHIVAL, in maintaining a complete file of books, tapes, articles and reviews by, in support of or against Velikovsky; BIBLIOGRAPHICAL; INFORMATIONAL, as above, EDUCATIONAL, in stimulating the establishment of appropriate academic courses; DISSEMINATIONAL, via conferences, lectures, etc. and the media; encouragement of interdisciplinary SCHOLARSHIP; and the publication of a quarterly BULLETIN, envisaged as developing into the official journal of the Center.

“In pursuing these goals, a report presented to the Center’s Executive Board in the first year of its existence outlined the following achievements:

  1. “The Center sponsored its first lecture at Glassboro State College and four more were scheduled for the Spring Semester 1976;”
  2. “The Center compiled a collection of every major review of Velikovsky’s books and ideas published between 1946 and 1969 and began the collection of materials which have appeared since the latter date;”
  3. After only ten months of publication, with the fourth issue in press, KRONOS (edited by Lewis Greenberg, Chairman of the Executive Board) has received subscriptions from ten countries;
  4. “An anthology** of 22 Velikovskian essays was completed and was presented to Dr Velikovsky at a testimonial dinner in Princeton on December 5, 1975”;
  5. “The Center and KRONOS together have published an academic work, “The Morality of Nuclear Planning?” by Dr H.C. Dudley, Professor of Radiation Physics at the University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago”;
  6. “The Center is presently negotiating with a house for the publication of the Velikovsky anthology”;
  7. In March and June 1975, members of the Center and the KRONOS staff appeared on “Psychic World”, a radio programme networked from Philadelphia, to discuss Velikovsky’s work.

“While the validity of Immanuel Velikovsky’s hypotheses remains to be determined, “Dr Hewsen concludes, “enough work has already been done to make it clear that his interdisciplinary challenge is a real one and that his work will remain the centre of controversy for at least the foreseeable future.”

“*”Velikovsky: A New Focal Point”, copyright 1976 by Dr R. H. Hewsen.

“** The anthology, originally planned as a Festschrift, contains honorific essays by F. B. Jueneman, R. F. Haines, E.R. Milton, C.J. Ransom, S. K. Vsekhsvyatskii, L.E. Rose, R.E. Juergens, C. S. Sherrerd, R. W. Bass, A. B. Feldman, Irving Wolfe, A.M. Paterson, J.V. Myers, A. de Grazia, Eva Danelius, M.A. Luckerman, Dwardu Cardona, A. Isenberg, R H. Hewsen, Lewis M. Greenberg, Warner B. Sizemore, H. C. Dudley and Zvi Rix (listed in order of appearance). A number of these essays will be given advance publication in either KRONOS or this Review.”[3]Ibid. sis

Anthology

Kronos Vol. I No. 4 (Winter 1976) reports:

On December 5, 1975, at the Nassau Inn in Princeton, N.J., Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky was honored at a formal dinner commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Worlds in Collision. Though the actual initial appearance of Worlds in Collision occurred on April 3, 1950, the official tribute was deliberately postponed in order to allow willing contributors the time to complete a series of honorific essays for the occasion.

The result has been a unique Anthology of twenty-two essays devoted to the person and theories of Immanuel Velikovsky. The entire project, which was supervised under the editorial auspices of Prof. Robert H. Hewsen with the assistance of Professors Lewis M. Greenberg and Warner B. Sizemore, was sponsored by the Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey.

It is the eventual hope of the Center to be able to publish the Anthology in part or in toto so as to make it available to the general and scholarly public. In the meantime, we list the contents of the Anthology, parts of which will appear in future issues of Kronos. The presentation banquet was videotaped through the courtesy of Glassboro State College.[4]”Noices”, Kronos Vol. I No. 4 (Winter 1976)

Anthology Contents

Foreward
1. Velikovsky: A Personal View Frederic B. Jueneman
2. The Great Plain Richard F. Haines
3. As Worlds Collide Earl R. Milton
4. Right Answers Don’t Count C. J. Ransom
5. Indications of the Eruptive Evolution of Planetary Bodies S. K. Vsekhsviatsky
6. Rotational Resonances of Mercury and Venus Lynn E. Rose
7. The Bulk Chemistries of Venus and Jupiter Ralph E. Juergens
8. Basic Aspects of Electromagnetic Effects in Planetary Dynamics C. S. Sherrerd
9. The Celestial Mechanics of Worlds in Collision Robert W. Bass
10. Freud and Velikovsky A. Bronson Feldman
11. Shakespeare and Velikovsky: Catastrophic Theory and the Springs of Art Irving Wolfe
12. Conditioning, Coping and Concepts A. Mann Paterson
13. Sin and the Control System John V. Myers
14. Ancient Knowledge of Jupiter’s Bands and Saturn’s Rings Alfred de Grazia
15. Did Thutmose III Despoil the Temple in Jerusalem?:

A Critical Commentary to Immanuel Velikovsky: Ages in Chaos

Eva Danelius
16. A Different View on the Chronology of Hazor Marvin A. Luckerman
17. Cows, Caste and Comets Dwardu Cardona
18. Dating the Great Mahabharsta War-A Previously Neglected Clue Artur Isenberg
19. The Birth of Vahagn: An Armenian Vision of Celestial Catastrophe? Robert H. Hewsen
20. Jerusalem: City of Venus Lewis M. Greenberg and Warner B. Sizemore
21. The Third Option H. C. Dudley
22. The Message of Velikovsky Zvi Rix

References   [ + ]

1. Dr Robert H. Hewson, “Preface by the Director of the Centre”, in Alice Miller, Index to the Works of Immanuel Velikovsky, Vol. I., publ. 1977, Center for Velikovskian and Interdisciplinary Studies, Glassboro State College
2. ”Focus” SIS Review, Vol 1 No 3 (Summer 1976)
3. Ibid. sis
4. ”Noices”, Kronos Vol. I No. 4 (Winter 1976)