Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science

Chaired by Philip Hefner and Gayle Woloschak

Monday Evenings 7:00 PM — 10:00 PM, February 2 through May 4, 2009

Common Room 350, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615

"Religion and Science through the Pages of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science"—this is the theme for the 2009 Advanced Seminar in Religion and Science.  Established in 1965, Zygon is now in its forty-fourth year of publication as a premier international academic journal.  The entire corpus of articles is now available online, and it will serve as a resource for our seminar.  Attention will be devoted to the origins of the journal, its aims and guiding perspectives, and representative articles that have appeared over the years.  Each seminar session will be led by an author of the articles under consideration or by commentators who have specific competence in the area.  The life and thought of the founding editor, Ralph Wendell Burhoe, will receive special attention, along with that of his original colleagues in the venture.  Themes distinctive of Zygon's emphasis will also be included: cultural evolution, bioethics, neurotheology, sociobiology, quantum mechanics, and the use of metaphor.

Offered by the Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS), the Advanced Seminar in Religion and Science is designed as a research seminar for faculty and graduate students.  Course credit is available via registration through the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) or cross-registration through member schools of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS); the course number is LSTC T-672.  All participants, whether taking the seminar for credit or not, are asked to pre-register with the seminar chairs by contacting ZCRS at [email protected] or 773-256-0670.  For more information about ZCRS, please visit www.zygoncenter.org.  For more information about Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, visit www.zygonjournal.org.

February 2 (7:00 PM)      Ralph Wendell Burhoe, The Founding Thinker

                                    Philip Hefner, theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (emeritus), and ZCRS

February 9 (7:00 PM)      The Founding Vision

                                    Karl Peters, theology, Rollins College (emeritus)

February 16 (7:00 PM)    Religion and Science: Categories of the Relationship

                                    Barbara Strassberg, sociology, Aurora University

                                    Lea Schweitz, theology and science, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and ZCRS

February 23 (7:00 PM)    Cultural Evolution

                                    Peter Richerson, cultural evolution, University of California, Davis

                                    William Irons, anthropology, Northwestern University

                                    Robert Glassman, psychology, Lake Forest College

March 2                        Reading Week: No Lectures

March 9 (7:00 PM)         Medicine and Bio-Ethics

                                    Stephen Modell, genetics policy and public health, University of Michigan

                                    Gayle Woloschak, molecular biology, Northwestern University, and ZCRS

March 16 (7:00 PM)       A Biologist's Search for Religious Depth in Nature

                                    Ursula Goodenough, cell biology, Washington University in St. Louis

March 23 (7:00 PM)       Feminism and the Religion and Science Dialogue

                                    Ann Pederson, religious studies, Augustana College (Sioux Falls)

March 30 (7:00 PM)       James Ashbrook, Pioneer in Neurotheology

                                    Carol Albright, religion and science, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

                                    David Hogue, pastoral theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

April 6                          Holy Week: No Lectures

April 13 (7:00 PM)         Quantum Mechanics and Transcendence

                                    Lothar Schäfer, physical chemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

                                    Stanley Klein, physics, University of California, Berkeley

April 20 (7:00 PM)         Metaphor and Conjecture

                                    Mary Gerhart, religious studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (emerita)

                                    Allan Russell, physics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (emeritus)

April 27 (7:00 PM)         Locating Humans and Their Religion "The Sociobiological Breakthrough

                                    Mladen Turk, theology, Elmhurst College

About the Advanced Seminar

Since 1965, an advanced seminar on religion in the context of the sciences has been offered for faculty, students, and professionals in the Chicago area. The seminar was founded by Ralph Wendell Burhoe under the auspices of the Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) and Meadville/Lombard Theological School. CASIRAS traces its origins to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which Burhoe was Executive Officer. In 1970, CASIRAS affiliated with the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS). In the 1970s, Philip Hefner, Professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), joined Burhoe in directing the seminar. In 1988, the Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS) was founded by LSTC and CASIRAS and began sponsoring the Advanced Seminar. From this tradition, the Advanced Seminar takes its shape as a multidisciplinary network of persons seeking to understand how the sciences and the religions engage each other and to interpret the fundamental issues that are posed in this engagement. The goal is to gain insight into the import of the sciences for the critical function of religion in its role as a cultural vehicle of ultimate values and concerns.

Course Credit and Registration

The Advanced Seminar is designed as a research seminar for faculty and graduate students. Course credit is available via registration through the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago or cross-registration through member schools of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools; the course number is LSTC T-672. All participants, whether taking the seminar for credit or not, are asked to pre-register by contacting ZCRS at [email protected] or 773-256-0670.