Recent News
On India: Self-Image and Counter-Image
This Cross Cultural Conversation International Conference was initiated & organized by Anindita N. Balslev (in collaboration with
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts &
Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and took place in December, 2010 forming part of an ongoing program entitled 'Cross Cultural Conversation'
Call for Papers
Student Symposium on Science and Spirituality (put on by the Zygon Center for Religion and Science). The symposium is a great opportunity for students to present their research and to engage with others who are thinking about the many connecting points between religion and science. For further information visit http://www.zygoncenter.org/studentsymposium/
ISSR Member Ted Peters named Alumnus of the Year
The Board of Trustees of the Baptist Theological Union has named Theodore F. Peters the University of Chicago Divinity School's Alumnus of the Year for 2010.
Francisco Ayala wins 2009 Templeton Prize
ISSR member Francisco Ayala has won the 2009 Templeton Prize.For further details see http://www.templetonprize.org/
European Prize for Research on Cognitive Theories of Religion
The European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, ESSSAT, in 2010 has awarded its biannual ESSSAT Prize for Research to Dr. Aku Visala for his philosophical analysis of cognitive theories of religion.
ESSSAT is a scholarly society of scientists, theologians, philosophers and scholars in religious studies. The ESSSAT Research Prize will be presented at the thirteenth European Conference on Science and Theology, which will be held in Edinburgh on April 7-11, 2010.
The prize has been awarded to Dr. Aku Visala for his study Religion Explained? A Philosophical Analysis of the Cognitive Science of Religion, which he recently defended as his doctoral thesis at the University of Helsinki. Cognitive theories of religion draw on the analysis of our evolved cognitive faculties in order to understand religion. The jury found that Visala deals with a major current development of substantial complexity. His writing displays a strong grasp of relevant literature, also from neighboring fields. The work engages the issues in a mature way, coming up with well considered criticisms of others and an analysis of his own. Last but not least, the work is well written and focused.
Aku Visala is currently visiting fellow with the Center for Anthropology and Mind, Oxford University, UK. Though the evaluation of the various works submitted was on the basis of their merits by themselves, it is a happy coincidence that the theme of the upcoming conference in Edinburgh, Is Religion Natural?, aligns very well with the topic of the thesis of Aku Visala.
Additional info
On ESSSAT and the conference: www.ESSSAT.org
Contact e-mail for Aku Visala: aku.visala@anthro.ox.ac.uk
Request for Proposals
International Society for Science and Religion - Library Project
The International Society for Science and Religion requests proposals from institutions of higher learning to receive complete Libraries of major works in the field of science and the human spirit. These books will collectively provide for a comprehensive foundation for study, teaching and research in science and religion and related fields. Winnowed from thousands of books currently in print in this area, these titles are representative of the most important authors and treat the vast range of interdisciplinary subject matter at the highest level of quality and scholarship. Selected through rigorous peer review, these titles reflect no ideological or religious bias and are drawn from many faith traditions as well as authors with vigorously naturalistic perspectives.
The ISSR will select up to 150 institutions on a competitive basis to receive libraries consisting of approximately 200 matching hardbound volumes accompanied by a comprehensive Companion edition written by Society members that summarizes and critiques each volume.
Applications are especially encouraged from universities with active research and teaching in related fields which can take advantage of the ISSR Library to substantially enhance the quality and impact of their work.
Eligibility
Institutions of higher learning with permanent circulating libraries are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to those with active teaching and research but whose institutional resources for book acquisition are limited. Application should be made by members of the faculty or administration and must be accompanied by letters of interest from supervisory personnel with responsibility for library holdings and management.
Selection Criteria
Institutions will be selected in a competitive process based on their present capacity, commitment to research and study in science and religion, institutional support for related projects and original and promising plans for scholarly activity related to the Library.
Applications
Applications must be submitted online by faculty members or administrators.Accompanying materials must include a signed statement of interest from the supervisor of the institution’s circulating library indicating a commitment to receive, display and circulate the Library.
For further information visit: http://www.issrlibrary.org/request-proposals.asp or contact: Sharon Mellul,
Library Program Assistant,
The International Society for Science and Religion, Bene’t House, St. Edmunds College, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge, CB3 OBN, UK, Tel: +0044 (0) 1223 740724, Email: admin@issrlibrary.org
Establishment of the Warren and Janet Brown Scholarship
Fuller Theological Seminary and the School of Psychology announce the establishment of the Warren and Janet Brown Scholarship in honor of Dr. Warren S. Brown and his wife, Janet. As director of the Lee Edward Travis Research Institute (TRI), Warren Brown has made a tremendous contribution to the understanding of the corpus callosum and its role in a variety of cognitive and emotional processes. As a caring professor and beloved mentor, Warren has ignited and supported in his students a love for research and a deep curiosity about the place in the brain where the spiritual and emotional life intersect. Warren’s work at the boundary of theology and neuroscience exemplifies psychology and theology integration at its best. For more information, please visit the TRI website.
ISSR at the Parliament of the World's Religions
ISSR was well represented at the Parliament of the World's Religions at its meeting in Melbourne this December. All of the proposals submitted on behalf of the ISSR were accepted for the major program. There were four sessions at the Parliament with ISSR members strongly represented; also, at least six ISSR members were on the program as well.
Of 1450 proposals submitted by various bodies and individuals, only about 450 were accepted, the vast majority of which were heavily focused on interreligious dialogue from within religion. The ISSR sessions, by contrast, were influenced by a science-and-religion approach that each session chair had to remold to fit with the character of the Parliament.
LeRon Shults organized two sessions on “Transforming Compassion in Science and Religion,” which were intended to contribute to the growing interest in integrating inter-religious dialogue with inter-disciplinary dialogue. Compassion is a value that is central to many of the world’s religions and a phenomenon that can be studied from a variety of scientific perspectives. Our strategy is to provide a context within which different voices can come together around the shared concern to understand and facilitate empathy and altruism across religious and other significant boundaries. The word “transforming” in the title indicates that we are interested both in transforming the way we think about compassion through listening to one another as well as in facilitating compassion that is actually transformative of the human condition. The first session began with a panel of three scientists (biologist, psychologist and economist), briefly answering: "how does your discipline help us understand and foster compassion?" The second session had a panel of representatives from different religious backgrounds (Muslim, Hindu, Christian), offering reflections on how our traditions help us understand and foster compassion. In each case, the panels were followed by small group exercises (e.g., fishbowl, brainstorming, interactive case studies) in which audience members discussed initial reactions and implications. The session concluded with broader interaction among the panel participants (scientists and religionists) as we explored practical ways to further the conversation and promote compassion.
Philip Clayton also organized three sessions on behalf of the ISSR and for which the Society was listed as the official sponsor. These sessions had three goals: to introduce people to science-religion dialogue across the world's religious traditions; to show how this dialogue could actually help to reduce interreligious tensions rather than increasing them; and to demonstrate why the global environmental crisis requires close partnerships between scientific knowledge and the motivating power of the world's religious traditions.
The organizers arranged these three ISSR sessions as a special block program on the first full day of the Parliament, December 5th. The ISSR representatives were joined at the first session by Dr Peter Doherty (Nobel Prize for Medicine), who presented data on global climate change. At the final session they dialogued with religious activists in the environmental movement, hoping to show how partnerships with scientists are crucial to the success of the movement.
ISSR member Sol Katz, who played a central role in coordinating between the Society and the Parliament's leaders, spoke of the challenges, but also of the importance of ISSR involvement in the world's largest gathering of religious leaders. He wrote, "In the end I think we will make a significant contribution to this auspicious event."
Test of Faith
The documentary has won a 2009 Redemptive Storyteller Award (http://www.redemptivefilms.com), and was Highly Commended in the Feature Film category of the 2009 IVCA Clarion Awards (http://www.ivca.org/award-schemes/clarion-awards.html).
The Test of Faith schools pack was launched in September. It includes a teacher's book with lesson plans for UK GCSE and A-Level Religious Education lessons, and a special edition of the Test of Faith DVD. It will be available from the Faraday online shop www.faraday-institute.org, with an introductory price of £12.
Francis Collins new head of NIH
A member of ISSR, Francis Collins, has just been nominated to head the National Institutes of Health in the US. For further information on the announcement go to the following link:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMNQC_ZdT1n4Ow_Xnuu3yXrC-DYgD99AFVOO2
Princeton Theological Seminary Awarded “Science for Ministry” Grant from Templeton Foundation
Princeton Theological Seminary has been awarded a $346,988 grant over three years as part of the John Templeton Foundation’s inaugural “Science for Ministry” Initiative. This purpose of this broader program is to “support effective science education programs and resources for people active in ministry.”
Dr. J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, the James I. McCord Professor of Theology and Science at Princeton Theological Seminary, will serve as a co-director of the initiative, with Kenneth Reynhout, a Ph.D. candidate in theology and science at the Seminary. The initiative is part of the Seminary’s Continuing Education program.
“This program,” says van Huyssteen “is intended to address a common experience of ministers and scientists of faith who struggle to develop a constructive dialogue around issues of theology and science in their ministry contexts. We are seeking to equip leaders in ministry with the knowledge and tools to confidently respond to these fundamental challenges, and to do so in ways that encourage a transformational impact on their church communities.”
Princeton Seminary’s program is designed for 144 participants from 72 Christian faith communities. Each community will send a scientist and a theologian to participate in a five-day introductory program that focuses on the two essential questions shared by theology and science: questions of origins and questions of human nature. Participants will then choose from a series of three-day and one-day programs that focus on different facets of these questions, including topics like evolution in both cosmology and biology, and cognitive science, neuroscience, and the human person. Each pair of scientist and theologian will return to their community equipped to further the dialogue between science and theology.
“Princeton Seminary’s service to the church does not end with graduation. The twofold focus of our continuing education efforts is on the continuing formation of pastors and on the lives of congregations. Intentionally bringing congregational partners in ministry and science is an example of our service to the church” says the Reverend Raymond Bonwell, director of programs for the Erdman Center of Continuing Education, who will administer the initiative.
The grant will be used to subsidize the majority of the costs for the participants and to create content for the program. The first program will be November 2–6, 2009, on the Princeton Seminary campus. Additional information, including applications, is available on the Seminary’s Continuing Education web site,www.ptsem.edu/ce, or by telephone at 609.497.7990.
Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian seminary in the country, with more than 600 students in six graduate degree programs.
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity.
Biologos
Dr. Francis Collins recently established The BioLogos Foundation to address the escalating culture war between science and faith
in the United States. Funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation(http://www.templeton.org), their website http://biologos.org is a source of scholarly thought on contemporary issues in science and faith that highlights the compatibility of modern science with traditional Christian beliefs.
Former Vatican Observatory Director Honored
Father George Coyne, an astronomer, Jesuit priest, and former director of the Vatican Observatory, has won the American Astronomical Society's George Van Biesbroeck Prize for 2009, awarded every two years for "long-term extraordinary or unselfish service to astronomy." The prize, says the AAS, recognizes "the diversity and scientific richness he has brought to the astronomical community through his visionary leadership of the Vatican Observatory Summer School and its long-term mentoring program, and for the unique role he has played at the juncture of science and religion."
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