Zygon Center for Religion and Science/
Hyde Park Religion and Science Society
Student Symposium on Science and Spirituality
May 1, 2009
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 E. 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615
Symposium Schedule
9:00 – 9:30 – Registration, coffee, tea, rolls (3rd floor hallway)
9:30 – 9:40 – Welcome and instructions for the day (Room 350)
9:45 – 11:45 – Paper Session 1
1A, "Metaphysics and Poetics" (Room 350):
Chair:
Lucy Pick, Lecturer in the History of Christianity in the Divinity School and Associate Faculty in the Department of History, University of Chicago
- Joseph Ballan, University of Chicago Divinity School, Abraham, Philosopher: Maimonides on the Emergence of Monotheism and the Legitimacy of Speculation
- George Tsakiridis, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Knowing God through the Patristic Fathers: Basil and Ambrose on the Hexameron
- Silas Morgan, Duke University Divinity School, Lacan, Language and the Self: A Postmodern Vision of Spirituality
- David Webb, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Basho's Haiku and a Deeper Relationship with God Through Creation
1B, "Knowing God: Methodological Considerations" (Room 302A):
Chair:
David Hogue, Professor of Pastoral Theology and Counseling, Garrett-Evangelical
Theological Seminary
- Daniel Deen, Florida State University, Why Science and Spirituality Need Each Other: Toward A Theory of Dialogue
- Brian Majerus, Bethel Seminary, Toward an Authentic Knowing of God: Use of the Differentiation-of-Self Construct in Relational Spirituality
- Arvin Gouw, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, How Do We Know God? Theological Epistemology in Light of Mind-Brain Perspectives
- Nicholas DiDonato, Princeton Theological Seminary, The (Pancritically) Rational Theist: Oxymoron or Option?
1C, "Contemplative Pathways" (Room 308):
Chair:
Mary Frolich, Associate Professor of Spirituality, Catholic Theological Union
- Zvi Bellin, Loyola College in Maryland, Searching for Meaning: An Encounter with the Sacred in Our World
- Daniel Durbin, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Intercessory Prayer in a post-Newtonian World: An Evaluation of Medical Studies Concerning Intercessory Prayer
- Greg Douras, University of Chicago Divinity School, 'Naturally': Knowing God in the Yoga Sûtra attributed to Patañjali
11:45 – 1:00 – Lunch Session: "Interfaith Action for the Environment:
A Panel Discussion with the Oikos Initiative" (Room 350)
- Scott Rudolph, Oikos Student Coordinator (2008-2009), Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary
- Kyohei Mikawa, Oikos Networking Coordinator, Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary
- Ashley Horan, Oikos Student Coordinator (2009-2010), Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary
- Simon Leverett, Oikos Energy Analyst, Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary Facilities Manager
1:00 – 2:45 – Paper Session 2
2A, "Economies of Spirituality" (Room 350):
Co-Chairs:
Barbara Strassberg, Professor of Sociology, Aurora University
Jennifer Ayers, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics, McCormick Theological Seminary
- Stephen E. McMillin, University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, Spiritual Capital: A Useful Scientific Framework for Describing How We Experience the Sacred
- Paul Voelker, Loyola University Chicago, Materialist Spirituality?
2B, "Images of God: Cosmic Christ, Imago Dei, Divine Sophia" (Room 302A):
Chair:
Philip Hefner, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
- Joshua Herzfeldt-Kamprath, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Cosmic Christ, Cosmic Trinity: Imago Dei and Cosmic Reality
- George Simon Robert Watson, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto, From Saint Augustine to Charles Darwin: Re-Imagining the imago Dei in Light of Evolution
- Natalia Li, McCormick Theological Seminary, Ecumenical Mysticism of Divine Sophia in the Work of Russian Orthodox Theologian Vladimir Soloviev
2C, "Chaos and Emergence," (Room 308):
Chair:
Grace Wolf-Chase, Research Astronomer, Adler Planetarium
- Michelle Olsen, Luther Seminary, Order, Chaos, and Scandal: A Survey of the Interactions between Pure Mathematics and the Divine
- Bradford McCall, Regent University, Kenosis and Emergence: A Fruitful Exchange
- Michael Ross, University of St. Michael's College/University of Toronto, Scared Sacred: Discovering the Divine in Chaos, Breakdown and Hope
2:45 – 3:00 – Break (Coffee, tea, snacks in 3rd floor hallway)
3:00 – 4:45 – Paper Session 3
3A, "Interdisciplinarity, Plurality, Ambiguity" (Room 350):
Chair:
Michael Hogue, Assistant Professor of Theology, Meadville Lombard Theological School
- Kenneth Reynhout, Princeton Theological Seminary, Ambiguous Others: Theology and Science in the Work of David Tracy
- William Myatt, Loyola University Chicago, From Method to Form: David Tracy as a Model for Doing Theology in a Pluralistic Context
- Andrea Hollingsworth, Loyola University Chicago, The Ambiguity of Transdisciplinarity: Negation, Ecstasy, and the Disciplinary Other
3B, "Minding God" (Room 302A):
Chair:
William Schmidt, Associate Professor of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University
- Sung-Sup Kim, Princeton Theological Seminary, How Does God Know Us? The Problem of God's Knowledge in Thomas Aquinas
- Chris Dowdeswell, Toronto School of Theology, Towards a "Cognitive Theology": A Theological Examination of the Cognitive Science of Religion
3C, "Suffering and Liberation" (Room 308):
Chair:
Sharon Welch, Provost, Meadville Lombard Theological School
- Augustine Duru, Catholic Theological Union, The Cross and the Lynching Tree: Union of Symbol and Meaning in James Cone's Soteriology of the Cross
- Kevin Considine, Loyola University Chicago, Creating a "Political Mysticism": Knowing God through Others' Suffering in the Theology of Johann Baptist Metz
- Cynthia R. Wallace, Loyola University Chicago, "Spanning the Gap": Annie Dillard as Ricoeur's Suffering Creator
4:45 – 5:00 – Break
5:00 – 6:30 – Plenary address (Room 350):
Dr. James W. Jones
A Pragmatic Ecstasy: Practicing Religion and Science