Science, Religion & Society: An Online Series
Inaugural Sessions that started during summer of 2020
For 65 years, The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) has held summer Conferences on Star Island, off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone our 2020 Star Island conference until the summer of 2021. In order to continue to engage with IRAS themes and the IRAS community, with Star Island’s generous support, we launched a live webinar series: Science, Religion, & Society. Below are the collected session videos.
Past Sessions: Video Library
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Selling the Congo River Basin and Imperiling the World: Preventing Climate Change Disaster by Prioritizing Equity and Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and COP Climate Meetings
with Frances Flannery and Rodrigue Makelele |
Selling the Congo River Basin and Imperiling the World: Preventing Climate Change Disaster by Prioritizing Equity and Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and COP Climate Meetings
Presented September 5, 2024 About the September 5, 2024 presenters
Frances Flannery, Ph.D. and Rodrigue Makelele, M.A. are, along with Liz Blackman, M.A., Co-Founders of BioEarth, home of the One Billion for Peace Pledge (www.bioearth.org). Frances is an avid researcher, teacher, and climate activist who lends her expertise as an interdisciplinary scholar of religion and ecology, peacebuilding, and terrorism studies. Rodrigue is a peacebuilder with expertise in conflict transformation and long-time human-rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, now serving as a powerful advocate for immigration rights in Virginia and climate justice around the world. In addition to his leadership in BioEarth, Rodrigue is also Founder of Vijana Africa, a youth empowerment organization with active projects in DRC and Malawi. Both Frances and Rodrigue currently live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with their families, where they are working along with a team of others to found Peace Village, a biovillage that will be a nexus of social and ecological healing. |
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Will Modern Civilization be the Death
of Us? Have Humans Become Obsolete? with William Rees |
Will Modern Civilization be the Death
of Us? Have Humans Become Obsolete? Presented August 13, 2024 About the August 13, 2024 presenter
Dr. William Rees is an ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. He researches global ecological trends with special interests in cities as vulnerable components of the human ecosystem and in psycho-cognitive barriers to societal change. Prof Rees is the originator and co-developer (with his graduate students) of ‘ecological footprint analysis’ (EFA). He has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed and popular articles on EFA and the above topics. A Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, Prof Rees is also a founding member and former President of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics, a founding Director of the One Earth Living Initiative and a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute. Internationally recognized, Prof Rees is a recipient of a Trudeau Foundation Fellowship and both the international Boulding Prize in Ecological Economics and a Blue Planet Prize (jointly with Dr Mathis Wackernagel). He also received the 2015 Herman Daly award from the US Society for Ecological Economics and, in 2016, a Dean’s Medal of Distinction from UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science. Prof Rees was a full member of the Club of Rome from 2014–2019. |
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Will Modern Civilization be the Death
of Us? Reflections on the Earth's Future with Ruben Nelson |
Will Modern Civilization be the Death
of Us? Reflections on the Earth's Future Presented July 23, 2024 About the July 23, 2024 presenter
Ruben Nelson is one of a handful of Canadians who, in the 1960s and ‘70s, pioneered serious futures thinking and its application in the practice is Strategic Foresight. Ruben’s research has led him to the view that, if we are to sustain success in the unique conditions of the 21st Century, we must develop new mental maps of where we are in history and how we got ourselves here. Ruben was born and raised in Calgary, educated at Queen's University, Kingston, Queen's Theological College, Kingston, and United Theological College, Bengaluru, India. Today, Ruben is Executive Director of Foresight Canada. He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and the World Business Academy. He and Heather, his wife of 63 years, and their two cats live in Lac Des Arcs in the Alberta Rockies. They have two, now adult, children. |
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Imagination and Prediction in an Age of Science
with David Brin |
Imagination and Prediction in an Age of Science
Presented June 12, 2024 About the June 12, 2024 presenter
David Brin is best-known for shining light — plausibly and entertainingly — on technology, society, and countless challenges confronting our rambunctious civilization. His best-selling novels include The Postman (filmed in 1997) plus explorations of our near-future in Earth and Existence. Other novels are translated into 25+ languages. His short stories explore vividly speculative ideas.Brin's nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the American Library Association’s Freedom of Speech Award for exploring 21st Century concerns about security, secrecy, accountability and privacy. As a scientist, tech-consultant and world-known author, he speaks, advises, and writes widely on topics from national defense and homeland security to astronomy and space exploration, SETI and nanotechnology, future/prediction, creativity, and philanthropy. Urban Developer Magazine named him one of four World’s Best Futurists, and he was appraised as “#1 influencer” in Onalytica’s Top 100 report of Artificial Intelligence influencers, brands & publications. |
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Can An Astrobiologist Use The Word "God" Meaningfully?
with Dr. John McCarthy |
Can An Astrobiologist Use The Word "God" Meaningfully?
Presented May 22, 2024 About the May 22, 2024 presenter
Dr. John McCarthy, Professor Emeritus, Theology, Loyola University Chicago (Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1986); retired 2020; McCord Fellow at the Center for Theology Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey. Member of the 2016-2017 CTI Inquiry on “The Social Impact of Astrobiology” sponsored by NASA and Templeton Foundation. Chair, Theology Department, Loyola University Chicago, 1994-2003. Currently writing on public theology in the context of astrobiology and space sciences. Continuing research interests: philosophy of religion, philosophy of science; mathematics; physical cosmology; phenomenology; hermeneutics; philosophical theology. Recent publication of interest to IRAS: “Sόnar Calling GJ273B: The Argumentative Issue of METI”, Theology and Science (17/1, 2019): pp. 59-68; (editor) Where Have All the Heavens Gone: Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (Eugene, Oregon; Wipf & Stock, 2017). |
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Astrobiology of Pluto
with Dr. Michael E. Summers |
Astrobiology of Pluto
Presented April 25, 2024 About the April 25, 2024 presenter
Dr. Michael E. Summers is Prof. of Planetary Science and Astronomy at George Mason University. He obtained a B.S. in Physics, Mathematics, and Russian Language from Murray State University, a M.S. in Space Physics from U.T. Dallas, and. Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of Technology. His research deals with the atmospheric composition on planets and exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) and in elucidating the roles that physics, chemistry, and biology play in the evolution of planetary life. He is a science team co-investigator on the NASA/New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. |
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The Artifice of Intelligence:
Relationships with and through AI with Dr. Noreen Herzfeld |
The Artifice of Intelligence:
Relationships with and through AI Presented March 13, 2024 About the March 13, 2024 presenter
Dr. Noreen Herzfeld received her BA from St. Olaf College and master’s degrees in mathematics and computer Science from Penn State. Dr. Herzfeld began teaching Computer Science at The College of St. Benedict in 1982 and St. John’s University in 1985 and was instrumental in initiating a Computer Science major for two schools. In 1994, Dr. Herzfeld received an MA in Spirituality from St. John’s and went on to pursue a doctorate in Theology, which she received in 2000 from The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA. She returned to St. John’s as the Reuter Professor of Science and Religion and continues to teach in both Computer Science and St. John’s Graduate School of Theology. Dr. Herzfeld has also taught at the University of Sarajevo and the Franciscan Theological Seminary of Sarajevo as a Fulbright Scholar. She has continued her connection with southern Europe as a senior research fellow at the Science and Research Center (ZRS) of Koper, Slovenia. Dr. Herzfeld is the author of The Artifice of Intelligence: Divine and Human Relationship in a Robotic Age (Fortress, 2023), In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit (Fortress, 2002), Technology and Religion: Remaining Human in a Co-Created World (Templeton, 2009), and The Limits of Perfection in Technology, Religion, and Science (Pandora, 2010). She is the editor of Religion and the New Technologies (MDPI, 2017) and co-editor of Religious and Cultural Implications of Technology-Mediated Relationships in a Post-Pandemic World (Lexington, 2023). She has published more than 50 scholarly articles and is a frequent speaker on a wide range of topics, including digital ethics, artificial intelligence, the future of technology, computers and climate change, and religious conflict and identity. |
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Worried about climate change and our future?
Take action! with Dr. Sara Via |
Worried about climate change and our future?
Take action! Presented February 22, 2024 About the February 22, 2024 presenter
Dr. Sara Via held faculty positions at University of Iowa and Cornell University before moving to the University of Maryland in 1987. Until 2014, she studied the ecological and genetic mechanisms that allow crop pests to evolve specialized host plant use, resulting in many impactful publications. After becoming alarmed about climate change, Sara gave up her research and began to teach adults about climate change impacts & solutions. Now, she speaks to community groups, writes a periodic newsletter about recent climate news and holds a summer webinar series on timely issues in climate change (see webinar videos from 2020-2023 on her website, www.climatecorner.org). Combining her interests in agriculture and climate solutions, Sara recently published a report on carbon sequestration in agriculture. |
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A “Middle-Out” Approach to Achieving Peace: Avoiding WWIII and Climate Disaster
with Frances Flannery |
A “Middle-Out” Approach to Achieving Peace: Avoiding WWIII and Climate Disaster
Presented January 18, 2024 About the January 18, 2024 presenter
Dr. Flannery teaches courses in religion and ecology, religion and culture, and is an innovative researcher with many publications, including Understanding Apocalyptic Terrorism (2016), The Bible and Political Debate, and Biblical Wisdom Then and Now (2021). Most notably, she is Co-Founder of BioEarth, a nonprofit organization that fosters societal and ecological resiliency in the face of climate crisis, with active projects from Washington State to Democratic Republic of Congo. As part of BioEarth’s One Billion for Peace pledge world tour, Dr. Flannery is frequently in demand as an advocate for climate solutions, religious leadership and peace actions. In recent months she presented at the Irish Schools of Ecumenics, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, at the American Academy of Religion in Denver. Recent invitations have taken her to the Korea DMZ, the University of Lisbon, and the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC. She has taught undergraduates for sixteen years at JMU in Harrisonburg, VA. |
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Friends Or Enemies? Science And Judaism as Partners In Wonder
with Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson |
Friends Or Enemies? Science And Judaism as Partners In Wonder
Presented December 14, 2023 About the December 14, 2023 presenter
Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Rabbi Artson has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for GLBT marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East. A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He mentors Camp Ramah in California in Ojai and Ramah of Northern California in the Bay Area. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe. A frequent contributor for the Huffington Post, the Times of Israel, and a Contributing Writer for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, he has a public figure Facebook page with about 80,000 likes. Rabbi Artson is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles, most recently Renewing the Process of Creation: A Jewish Integration of Science and Spirit. Married to Elana Artson, they are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Shira. |
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The Loneliness Tsunami: A Second Look at the Sexual Revolution
with Frank Schaeffer |
The Loneliness Tsunami: A Second Look at the Sexual Revolution
Presented November 9, 2023 About the November 9, 2023 presenter
Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, a Religious Reform Activist and regular guest commentator on The ReidOut on MSNBC with Joy Reid, and is a frequent guest of Rachel Maddow. His latest book, Fall In Love, Have Children, Stay Put, Save The Planet, Be Happy, emphasizes the importance of quality human relationships for a joy-filled life, and the science that backs that up. His podcasts and video blog (In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer; Love in Common; and It Has to Be Said, respectively), have garnered millions of streams (and counting), from over 260K followers on various Social Media platforms and beyond. Visit his website at: www.lovechildrenplanet.com |
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Taking Nature to Heart:
The Religious Naturalist Orientation with Ursula Goodenough |
Taking Nature to Heart:
The Religious Naturalist Orientation Presented September 7, 2023 About the September 7, 2023 presenter
Ursula Goodenough is Professor of Biology Emerita at Washington University who retired to Martha’s Vineyard in 2017. She taught cell biology and evolution and engaged in research that focused on the sexual cycle of the green soil alga Chlamydomonas, on ciliary motility, and on algal biofuel precursors. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Microbiology Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and served as president of the American Society for Cell Biology. She and many others are developing what is called a religious naturalist orientation https://religious-naturalist-association.org and a new edition of her book, The Sacred Depths of Nature: How Life Emerged and Evolved (Oxford University Press) http://sacreddepthsofnature.com, describes her understandings of this orientation. She has five children and nine grandchildren. |
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The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole
with Tom Atlee |
The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole
Presented August 9, 2023 About the August 9, 2023 presenter
Rabbi Igael “Iggy” Gurin-Malous is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of T’Shuvah Center, in New York, NY. He is a Talmud teacher, spiritual counselor, artist, and educator. He specializes in subjects ranging from Talmud, Jewish text, spirituality, addiction, recovery, fatherhood and LGBTQI+ issues. Through practical spirituality and his unique approach, he offers modes of healing that look at an individual’s actions, beliefs and values. His aim in providing spiritual counseling is to guide individuals in developing a life of meaning, joy and purpose, powered by spiritual practices and wisdom. He has devoted his life to helping people whom others have neglected, with guidance and any resources that could help them and their loved ones. It is his goal to continue to offer not just direct resources and services but hope and a community of understanding for all who need them. Previously, Rabbi Iggy was the Director of Spiritual Counseling at Beit T’Shuvah in Los Angeles, CA. |
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The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole
with Tom Atlee |
The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole
Presented July 11, 2023 About the July 11, 2023 presenter
Tom Atlee is a former peace activist (and Vietnam era draft resister) and founder (in 1996) of the nonprofit Co-Intelligence Institute. CII explores what intelligence looks like when it takes wholeness, interconnectedness and co-creativity seriously. Given his activist orientation, Tom feels the philosophical co-intelligence worldview (which was born on the LA-DC Great Peace March in 1986) has its most important application in what he calls “wise democracy” where “wisdom” involves attending to what serves longterm broad benefit. He has written four books — including The Tao of Democracy and Reflections on Evolutional Activism: Essays, Poems and Prayers from an Emerging Field of Sacred Social Change) — as well as hundreds of articles (including dozens in alternative journals) and blog posts and an encyclopedic “wise democracy pattern language”. He lives a simple life in a Eugene Oregon co-op, is concerned about existential risks, and gifts almost all his work, supported by CII. |
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Overshoot: The World beyond 1.5°C
with Wake Smith |
Overshoot: The World beyond 1.5°C
Presented June 28, 2023 About the June 28, 2023 presenter
Wake Smith is a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a Lecturer at Yale, where he teaches a course on climate engineering. That course material was published in book form in March 2022 by the Cambridge University Press under the title Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention. He has published papers on the aeronautics, costs, and governance of solar geoengineering and developed preliminary designs for high altitude research aircraft. He finished his business career in private equity with New York based New State Capital, and previously served as: Chairman and President of Pemco World Air Services; Chief Operating Officer of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings; and President of the flight training division of The Boeing Company. He holds a BA in History from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. |
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Evolution, Morality and Law: Why We Need More Than ‘Love Your Neighbor As Yourself’
with Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman |
Evolution, Morality and Law: Why We Need More Than ‘Love Your Neighbor As Yourself’
Presented May 9, 2023 About the May 9, 2023 presenter
Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman is the Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses, an organization that bridges the scientific and religious worlds, incubated at The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. His work has been supported by the John Templeton Foundation, Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies, and the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. His writings about the intersection of religion and science have been published in the books Seven Days, Many Voices; A Life of Meaning and These Truths We Hold, as well as in The Huffington Post, Nautilus, Orbiter, Science and Religion Today, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and My Jewish Learning. He has been an adjunct professor at both the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and the Academy for Jewish Religion, and is an internationally sought-out teacher, presenter, and scholar-in-residence. Respondent: Dr. Chatlos is Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA as a child & adolescent and addiction psychiatrist where he does research and incorporates spiritual experience in recovery from addiction and trauma. He is a member of the Society for Ethical Culture, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County (UUCMC) and a Council member of IRAS. He is developer of the “Human Faith Project” focused on the role of self-worth and dignity in opening a universal core of religious/spiritual experience and its empowerment of creativity. He lives in New Jersey with his two children Taylor and Liviya. |
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The Big Picture:
A Path Beyond Hope and Fear with Rev. Michael Dowd |
The Big Picture:
A Path Beyond Hope and Fear Presented April 6, 2023 About the April 6, 2023 presenter
Rev. Michael Dowd is a bestselling TEDx speaker, eco-theologian, and pro-science advocate whose book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. Michael and his science writer, evolutionary educator, and fellow climate activist wife, Connie Barlow, have spoken to some some 3,000 religious and secular groups across North America since 2002. Their work was featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, Discover, on television throughout the U.S. and Canada, and on the cover of the UU WORLD twice, in 1997 and again in 2006. Michael has delivered two TEDx talks and a program at the United Nations. He also conducted three online conversation series: “The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity” (AUDIOS) in 2011, “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness" (AUDIOS) in 2015, and "Post Doom, No Gloom Conversations” (AUDIOS) from 2019 to the present. In 2016, Michael and Connie were honored as “UU Religious Humanists of the Year”. Michael’s passion is sharing the inspiring side of science in ways that offer both practical tools for living in chaotic times and inspiration for engaging in the vital work of courageous love-in-action. |
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Apprehending the Sacred Quality of Nature in
an Age of Scientific Materialism with Dr. Gregory Derry Respondent: Frank Schaeffer |
Apprehending the Sacred Quality of Nature in an Age of Scientific Materialism
Presented March 14, 2023 About the March 14, 2023 presenter
Gregory Derry is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Loyola University Maryland. He holds a B.S. from Union College and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, both in physics. His research specialties have included experimental ultrahigh vacuum surface physics, nonlinear dynamical studies of physiological systems, and epistemological issues in the science/religion relationship. He has also had a strong interest in improving the science education of students not majoring in the sciences. He has published 33 peer-reviewed articles and two books: What Science Is and How It Works (Princeton Univ. Press, 1999) and The Only Sacred Ground—Scientific Materialism and a Sacred View of Nature Within the Framework of Complementarity (Apprentice House, 2014). Respondent: Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, a Religious Reform Activist and regular guest commentator on The ReidOut on MSNBC with Joy Reid, and is a frequent guest of Rachel Maddow. His latest book, Fall In Love, Have Children, Stay Put, Save The Planet, Be Happy, emphasizes the importance of quality human relationships for a joy-filled life, and the science that backs that up. His podcasts and video blog (In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer; Love in Common; and It Has to Be Said, respectively), have garnered millions of streams (and counting), from over 260K followers on various Social Media platforms and beyond. Visit his website at: www.lovechildrenplanet.com. |
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Weaving a Web of Meaning: How Recognizing Our Deep Interrelatedness Lays a Path to Sustainable Flourishing
with Jeremy Lent |
Weaving a Web of Meaning: How Recognizing Our Deep Interrelatedness Lays a Path to Sustainable Flourishing
Presented February 9, 2023 About the FEBRUARY 9, 2023 presenter
Jeremy Lent, described by Guardian journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning books, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, and The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, trace the historical underpinnings and flaws of the dominant worldview, and offer a foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a flourishing future. He has written extensively about the vision of, and pathways toward, an ecological civilization and is founder of the Deep Transformation Network. Respondent: Rev. “Twinkle” Marie Manning is the senior minister for The Church of Kineo in Rockwood and the contract minister for the Universalist Church of Waterville, Maine. She is an interfaith minister, poet, author, artist and an award-winning television producer. She is the creator and executive producer of TV for Your Soul and leads the Empowering Women TV Project. She curates the Women of Spirit and Reflection & Blessing Books series by Matrika Press. Her first poetry book, Accompanied, was published in 2021. Twinkle leads retreats and workshops, and is in demand as a speaker for groups, organizations and churches. Her personal theology, motto and mantra is Living Life as a Prayer. Twinkle resides with her family on majestic Moosehead Lake in Maine. |
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Question Reality!
The Limits of Science and the Quest for Knowledge with Dr. Marcelo Gleiser |
Question Reality!
The Limits of Science and the Quest for Knowledge Presented January 18, 2023 About the JANUARY 18, 2023 presenter
Marcelo Gleiser is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. He obtained his Ph.D. from King’s College London and received the 1994 Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate, an honor he shares with Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and scientists Freeman Dyson and Martin Rees. His books have been published in 15 languages, including The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and The Search for Meaning, A Tear at the Edge of Creation, and The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected. A world-renowned theoretical physicist interested in cosmology and astrobiology, he has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and more than a thousand essays and op-eds and frequently participates in TV documentaries and radio shows in the U.S. and abroad. He co-founded the NPR blog on science and culture, 13.7. He currently directs the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College and writes weekly for Orbiter Magazine. |
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Nothing at the Cosmic Beginning?
with Dr. Paul H. Carr |
Nothing at the Cosmic Beginning?
Presented December 7, 2022 About the December 7, 2022 presenter
Dr. Paul H. Carr, IRAS and IEEE Fellow, U Mass Lowell Philosophy Professor & AF Research Lab Branch Chief Emeritus Overview: Theologian Thomas Oord, in his recent IRAS webinar “Science and the Ever Creator” showed that the idea of God creating something from “nothing” (creatio ex nihilo) is not scriptural. What was that something in “the beginning”? Using Einstein’s new general relativity theory, priest George Lemaitre was the first to propose that the universe expanded from a hot big bang. When MIT Professor Alan Guth was recently asked what was there at “the beginning,” he replied, “the laws of physics existed before any universe.” This is reminiscent of John 1:1, “In the beginning was the word,” or logos in the original Greek. Logos is a logical structure, cosmic blueprint, or, equivalently, the laws of physics. This contrasts with atheist Professor Laurence Krauss, author of the best-selling book “A Universe from Nothing.” |
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Why is Cross-Cultural Conversation (CCC)
Crucial in Our Time: A New Way of Learning with Dr. Anindita N. Balslev |
Why is Cross-Cultural Conversation (CCC)
Crucial in Our Time: A New Way of Learning Presented November 30, 2022 About the November 30, 2022 presenter
Dr. Balslev is engaged in research in consciousness studies and is the founder of the Forum on CCC. She directs the CCC program that focuses on the dialogue between science and religion, the meeting of cultures, and encounters between world religions. The international conference on CCC that Dr. Balslev has organized in association with national institutes in India has generated significant institutional impacts. Dr. Balslev works with academic departments at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University and is the recipient of fellowships from the French and Danish governments, the Danish Council on the Humanities, the Freja Project, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Foundation. She is a founding member of ISSR. Her publications include articles on Indian consciousness, a Study of Time in Indian Philosophy, and cross-cultural self-image. She was a featured presenter at the 2015 Parliament of World Religions. |
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Spiritual Experience:
For REAL — For YOU — For the FUTURE with Dr. Calvin Chatlos |
Spiritual Experience:
For REAL — For YOU — For the FUTURE Presented November 14, 2022 About the November 14, 2022 presenter
Dr. Chatlos is a Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, Board Certified in Child & Adolescent and Addiction Psychiatry, where he incorporates spiritual principles in recovery from addiction and trauma. He graduated from Washington University, St. Louis, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He received specialty training at Montefiore Hospital, New York University-Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He is a graduate of the Humanist Institute, NYC, a long-time member of the Society for Ethical Culture, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County (UUCMC), and a board member of the United Religions Initiative (URI) Cooperation Circle of the Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought (MCWRET), and a Council member of IRAS. He is the developer of the “Human Faith Project,” focused on the role of self-worth and dignity in opening a universal core of religious/spiritual experience and its empowerment of creativity. He is now engaged explicitly in research exploring the nature of spiritual experience and lives in New Jersey with his two children, Taylor and Liviya. |
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Reclaiming the comparative perspective:
the fecund ironies of perspectivalism with Dr. Tinu Ruparell |
Reclaiming the comparative perspective:
the fecund ironies of perspectivalismPresented October 12, 2022 About the October 12, 2022 presenter
Dr. Tinu Ruparell is an associate professor in the comparative philosophy of religion at the University of Calgary. After his first degree in microbiology and graduate research in physiology, he moved to philosophy, eventually earning his doctorate in cross-cultural hermeneutics. Philosophising across boundaries remains a focus of his research, be that boundaries between scientific and religious cultures, or between European and Indian traditions. Before coming to the University of Calgary, he taught at Liverpool Hope University, where he was inaugural co-chair of their Centre for the Study of Science and Religion, and the University of Cambridge. He publishes in the areas of comparative and interreligious philosophy, Indian philosophy, and medical humanities |
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Universality in a Multi-Ethnic World
with Dr. Varadaraja V. Raman |
Universality in a Multi-Ethnic World
Presented September 7, 2022 About the September 7, 2022 presenter
Dr. Varadaraja V. Raman holds his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Paris, has authored numerous books and articles, and is considered an expert in Hindu religion and its relationship to modern science. Professor of Physics for over three decades, Raman obtained his doctorate in theoretical physics at the Sorbonne under the tutelage of Nobel laureate Louis de Broglie, and maintains linguistic facility in French, German, Spanish and classic Sanskrit, reciting Vedic hymns and the Pater Noster in Latin. He returned to India for research at the Saha Institute of Nuclear of Physics and later received a post with UNESCO. He was elected Senior Fellow at the Metanexus Institute, received the Raja Rao award for contributions to the literature of the South Asia Diaspora, serves on the Board of the Hickey Center for InterFaith Studies, and the editorial Boards of Zygon and the Science and Theology Journal. His books include Indic Visions in an Age of Science; Truth and Tension and Science and Religion; Variety in Religion and Science; Ubiquitous God; and Variety of Humans |
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Nature’s Scripture:
Cultural Insights from Natural Reality with JD Stillwater |
Nature’s Scripture:
Cultural Insights from Natural Reality Presented August 4, 2022 About the August 4, 2022 presenter
A graduate of Cornell University, JD Stillwater is a Science Educator and founder of the Seven Candles: Science and Spirituality project. In 1986, JD and 350 of his closest friends walked from Los Angeles to Washington DC on The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. After the March, he worked as an activist, musician, stay-at-home father, house-builder, and camp director. When his children reached school age, JD returned to the classroom, too, teaching high school physics, biology, and earth/space science. By invitation, he then joined the faculty of a democratic K-12 school, teaching the sciences plus creativity, first aid/CPR, music, integrity, poetry, math, carpentry, mediation, backpacking, anti-racism, and leadership. An active member of the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, PA, JD is a past president, musician, and frequent lay speaker. In 2012, he launched Seven Candles as a part-time mission to share the beauty and mystery of science with adult audiences, work that this year became a full-time endeavor. After 24 years in K-12 classrooms, his target audience now includes everyone. |
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Identity and the Brain:
The Biological Basis of Our Self with Dr. Andrew Newberg |
Identity and the Brain:
The Biological Basis of Our Self Presented June 28, 2022 About the June 28, 2022 presenter
Andrew B. Newberg, M. D. is currently the Research Director at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia. He is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Newberg has been mainly involved in studying mystical and religious experiences, a field referred to as “neurotheology.” He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and chapters on brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and mystical experiences. He has published 12 books translated into 17 different languages, including the national best-sellers “How God Changes Your Brain” and “Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.” He was listed as one of the 30 Most Influential Neuroscientists Alive Today by the Online Psychology Degree Guide. |
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Evolutionary Consequences of the
Atlantic Slave Trade: Epi-genetic, Cultural, Medical and Spiritual with Dr. Fatimah Collier Jackson, Ph.D |
Evolutionary Consequences of the
Atlantic Slave Trade: Epi-genetic, Cultural, Medical and Spiritual Presented May 12, 2022 About the May 12, 2022 presenter
Dr. Fatimah Collier Jackson, Ph.D. is currently Professor of Biology at Howard University and Director of the W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory where she oversees research on the Cobb Collection and the New York African Burial Ground Collection. Prior to that, Dr. Jackson was a Professor at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC, and Professor Emerita, at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Jackson received her BA, MA, and Ph.D. from Cornell. |
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The James Webb Space Telescope:
What Discoveries Await Us? with Dr. Michael Summers |
The James Webb Space Telescope:
What Discoveries Await Us? Presented April 14, 2022 About the april 14, 2022 presenter
Michael Summers is Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy at George Mason University. He studies planetary atmospheres - specifically how physics, chemistry, and sometimes biology, together control the characteristics and evolution of atmospheres on worlds in our solar system and beyond (e.g., exoplanets). His research has contributed to understanding how global change is modifying Earth’s upper atmospheric clouds, stratospheric ozone, and greenhouse gasses, the evolution of the atmospheres of Mars and Pluto, as well as atmospheres of the moons Io, Titan, and Triton. His most recent work concerns planetary habitability and how to identify signatures of biology on exoplanets. Michael has worked with over a dozen NASA rocket, satellite, space shuttle, and deep space planetary missions, and is a member of the Science Team on the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. He is the co-author (with Jim Trefil) of “Exoplanets” and “Imagined Life”, both published by The Smithsonian Press. Michael teaches astronomy, planetary sciences, and astrobiology at GMU |
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Arctic Sea Ice and Indigenous Peoples
with Dr. Henry Huntington |
Arctic Sea Ice and Indigenous Peoples
Presented March 23, 2022 About the March 23, 2022 presenter
Dr. Henry Huntington is the Arctic Science Director at Ocean Conservancy, and also the lead author of the Alaska chapter of the next National Climate Assessment. He has over 30 years’ experience in Arctic research and conservation. |
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Science and the Ever Creator
with Dr. Thomas J. Oord |
Science and the Ever Creator
Presented February 15, 2022 About the February 15, 2022 presenter
Thomas Jay Oord, Ph.D., is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Oord directs the Center for Open and Relational Theology and doctoral students at Northwind Theological Seminary. He is an award-winning author and has written or edited more than twenty-five books. A gifted speaker, Oord lectures at universities, conferences, churches, and institutions. He is known for his contributions to research on love, science and religion, open and relational theology, the problem of suffering, and the implications of freedom for transformational relationships. Website: thomasjayoord.com |
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Religions and Ecology:
Restoring the Earth Community with Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker and Dr. John Grim |
Religions and Ecology:
Restoring the Earth Community Presented January 20, 2022 About the January 20, 2022 presenters
Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker and Dr. John Grim teach at Yale University. They hold joint appointments at Yale School of the Environment and Yale Divinity School where they have been developing the field of religion and ecology for over 25 years with many other partners. Grim and Tucker have written and co-edited a number of books which are foundational texts for these online courses. They include the Harvard Press series on Religions of the World and Ecology, Ecology and Religion, Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology, and the Orbis Books series on Ecology and Justice. They are also using Faith for Earth, a book created by the Parliament of World Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme. Tucker and Grim have previously launched another set of online courses with Yale named “Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times.” Those courses provide access to the Emmy Award-winning Journey of the Universe film, book, and conversations on the epic story of cosmic evolution and explore the influence of Thomas Berry, the cultural historian who inspired the field of Religion and Ecology and the Journey of the Universe project. |
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The Need to Conserve is Not Working:
What Can IRAS Scholars Add? with Dr. Philip Clayton |
The Need to Conserve is Not Working:
What Can IRAS Scholars Add? Presented December 14, 2021 About the December 14, 2021 presenter
Dr. Catherine Keller: As the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University, Catherine Keller teaches courses in process, political, and ecological theology. Within and beyond Christian conversation, she has all along mobilized the trans-disciplinary potential of feminist, philosophical, and pluralist intersections with religion. Her most recent books invite at once contemplative and social critique of our entangled existence: Facing Apocalypse (2021); Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public (2018); Intercarnations: On the Possibility of Theology (2017); and Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement (2014). Keller’s other books include On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process (2008); God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys (2005); Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (2003); Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (1996); and From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self (1986). |
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Facing Apocalypse: Climate,
Democracy, and Other Last Chances with Dr. Catherine Keller |
Facing Apocalypse: Climate,
Democracy, and Other Last Chances Presented November 11, 2021 About the November 11, 2021 presenter
Dr. Catherine Keller: As the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University, Catherine Keller teaches courses in process, political, and ecological theology. Within and beyond Christian conversation, she has all along mobilized the trans-disciplinary potential of feminist, philosophical, and pluralist intersections with religion. Her most recent books invite at once contemplative and social critique of our entangled existence: Facing Apocalypse (2021); Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public (2018); Intercarnations: On the Possibility of Theology (2017); and Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement (2014). Keller’s other books include On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process (2008); God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys (2005); Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (2003); Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (1996); and From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self (1986). |
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Why Do We Hate? Understanding the
Origins of Human Conflict with Dr. Michael Ruse |
Why Do We Hate? Understanding the
Origins of Human Conflict Presented October 12, 2021 About the October 12, 2021 presenter
Dr. Michael Ruse, born (in 1940) in England, taught philosophy for 35 years at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, and then for 20 years at Florida State University. He is an expert on the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology and has written or edited over sixty books. He is particularly interested in the relationship between science and religion and was a witness for the ACLU in 1981 in its successful attempt to overturn a law mandating the compulsory teaching of Creationism in Arkansas. He has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship (USA) and a Killam fellowship (Canada). A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he has been a Gifford Lecturer and is the recipient of four honorary degrees. He is known for his modesty. For Adam Chin’s biosketch, see the Memorial Scholarship description on pg. 13. |
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A Universe Leading to Life:
Awe, Inspiration, and Purpose with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman |
A Universe Leading to Life:
Awe, Inspiration, and Purpose Presented September 29, 2021 About the September 29, 2021 presenter
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman is an astrophysicist, author, and speaker. She studies the process of star and planet formation in our galaxy using radio, optical, and infrared telescopes. She is also interested in national science policy and public science engagement, and directs Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Wiseman studied physics at MIT, co-discovering comet Wiseman-Skiff in 1987, and continued in astronomy with her doctoral research at Harvard. She has worked with several international observatories and is currently a senior astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Wiseman is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, a network of Christians in Science. She frequently gives public talks on the excitement of scientific discovery and appears in many venues including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NOVA, and National Public Radio. |
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Life as Advent: Rethinking God,
Rethinking the Human with Dr. C. J. Love |
Life as Advent: Rethinking God,
Rethinking the Human Presented August 18, 2021 About the August 18, 2021 presenter
Dr. C. J. Love is currently co-editing a book that examines how philosophical, theological, and social scientific principles can be applied to our social institutions such as education, social welfare, criminal justice, government, and the economy. She has also published “God, Genetics and Event Phenomenology: Rethinking Common Human Experience of Temporality in Theology, and Its Usefulness in Science, Theology, and Contemporary Culture,” ISSN 2300-6579. C.J. is actively involved in IRAS as the Vise President of Summer Conferences, webinar technician, and is co-chairing the 2022 IRAS summer conference “We” and “They”: Cross Cultural Conversations on Identity. Her interest in science and theology arose after “retiring” from a career in clinical human genetics to full-time parent her three children who are now in their twenties. C.J. developed an interest in theology after taking a moral theology class for fun. She earned her Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago while raising her three children and defended her dissertation with distinction. |
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A Christian Naturalist Theology:
Living Faithfully in This World Only with Dr. Karl E. Peters |
A Christian Naturalist Theology:
Living Faithfully in This World Only Presented July 28, 2021 About the July 28, 2021 presenter
Dr. Karl E. Peters (Ph.D.) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religion, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, where he taught world religions, environmental ethics, and religion and science. He has been editor and co-editor of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science and is past Co-chair of the journal’s Joint Publication Board. He also is a Past President and Vice-President for Conferences of IRAS. Peters is the author of Dancing with the Sacred: Evolution, Ecology, and God and Spiritual Transformations: Science, Religion, and Human Becoming, as well as many essays in science and religion. This seminar is the result of recent creative thought on developing a Christian Naturalist Theology. He lives on Granby, CT, USA. His website is www.karlpeters.net |