We will discuss what scientists think about religion and whether they perceive any possible areas of overlap with science. In particular we will uncover the surprising reasons scientists believe and the surprising reasons scientists do not believe.
Elaine Howard Ecklund is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rice University, where she also serves as a Rice Scholar of the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Director of the Program on Religion and Public Life at the Institute for Urban Research.
Dr. Ecklund will speak with about her recent research on the religious beliefs of scientists, now published as Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think, and also about the relationship between her scholarly work and her faith. Her first book Korean American Evangelicals: New Models for Civic Life was published by Oxford University Press.
Friday Conversations is a relaxed venue to watch films on various topics, hear professors reflect on their vocation, and discuss the implications of Christian faith for all aspects of life and learning.
We will examine whether there are places in the university where science and religion might fruitfully connect and models scientists with faith have for participating in religious communities.
Elaine Howard Ecklund is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rice University, where she also serves as a Rice Scholar of the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Director of the Program on Religion and Public Life at the Institute for Urban Research.
Robert & Mabel Beggs Lecture on Science, Spirituality and Society
**Dr. Ecklund will be interviewed on All Things Equal, a Cornell-sponsored radio talk show Tuesday October 26. You can listen live by tuning in to WHCU, 870 AM, at 8:30 AM, or listen to the podcast, which will be posted later that day, on the All Things Equal website.**
Ever since Cornell University co-founder and first president Andrew Dickson White published hisHistory of Warfare Between Science and Theology in Christendom, "warfare" has been employed as a metapher to describe the relationship of science and religion. In recent years, however, historians among others have questioned whether the warfare metaphor was ever really an accurate descriptor.
Robert C. Fay has been a visiting professor at Harvard University and the University of Bologna, an NSF Science Faculty Fellow at the University of East Anglia and the University of Sussex, and a NATO/Heineman Senior Fellow at Oxford University. His interests include the history of Christianity and its connections to science. See his article, Science and Christian Faith: Conflict or Cooperation?
Event Location:
Robert Purcell Community Center, Wendy Purcell Lounge
