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.

Next Session:

Deo et Patriae: Why a religious and political motto for a scholarly society?
Dr. Willem B Drees
November 19, 2025, at
5:00 PM Eastern Time
4:00 PM Central Time
1:00 PM Pacific Time
10:00 PM England, UK
​
This IRAS webinars are FREE but
​registration is required.
​Please register using the link below.
If you have questions, contact
JD  Stillwater: [email protected]
About the November 19, 2025 webinar: 
Deo et Patriae: Why a religious and political
motto for a scholarly society?

Presentation Overview:  
Deo et Patriae: The Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (the Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities) was founded in 1752, nine years after the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Its motto was and is Deo et Patriae, for God and country. Why did this scholarly society in the Dutch Enlightenment choose a religious and political motto? How was this motto reflected in its membership and activities? What does this reveal about the way science, society and religion were envisaged in the 18 th century? The society is alive and well today, now as the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW). In the current pluralist and secularized society, the motto is still ours. A dangerous relic of the past? Or is it still appropriate as a motto for a scientific academy?

Presenter’s background:
Dr. Willem B Drees is the academic secretary for the social sciences and humanities of the KHMW, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. He is professor emeritus of philosophy of religion at Leiden University and of philosophy of the humanities at Tilburg University. He has served as president of ESSSAT, the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology and as editor of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. Among his publications are What Are the Humanities For? (Cambridge UP, 2021), Religion and Science in Context: A Guide to the Debates (Routledge, 2010), Creation: From Nothing until Now (Routledge, 2002), Religion, Science and Naturalism (Cambridge UP, 1996) and Beyond the Big Bang: Quantum Cosmologies and God (Open Court, 1990).

Find past sessions in the Webinar Archive