A symposium exploring the theme "The ,Religion and Science Debate: Why Does It Continue?" has been organized to celebrate the centennial of the Dwight H. Terry Lectures, which will take place Thursday and Friday, Sept. 14 and 15.
The event will feature individual presentations and an interdisciplinary panel moderated by Margaret Warner, senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and a member of the Yale Corporation.
"Contemporary public debates about 'intelligent design' and the teaching of evolution suggest that the relationship between the two spheres remains contentious," says Harold W. Attridge, dean of the Divinity School and chair of the Terry Committee. "The contention is as much a cultural and social phenomenon as it is a theoretical problem. The participants will therefore bring insights from history and the social sciences as well as scientific and philosophical perspectives."
All sessions will take place in the auditorium of the Whitney Humanities Center, and are free and open to the public. The schedule follows.
Thursday, Sept. 14:
2 p.m. -- Robert Wuthnow, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and director of its Center for the Study of American Religion, will discuss "No Contradictions Here: Science, Religion and the Culture of All Reasonable Possibilities." Wuthnow has conducted pathbreaking research on diverse facets of American religion, including economics, politics, arts and psychology.
4 p.m. -- Lawrence M. Krauss, the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University, will speak on the topic "Religion vs. Science? From the White House to Classroom." Krauss, an internationally renowned theoretical physicist and former Yale faculty member, has studied the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, as well as the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity and neutrino astrophysics. He is the author of several bestselling books, including "The Physics of Star Trek."
Friday, Sept. 15:
9 a.m. -- Alvin Plantinga, the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, will discuss "Science and Religion: Why Does the Debate Continue?" Plantinga is renowned for his work in epistemology, metaphysics and the philosophy of religion.
11 a.m. -- Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology at Brown University, will address "Darwin, God and Dover: What the Collapse of 'Intelligent Design' Means for Science and for Faith in America." Through his work, Miller attempts to reconcile evolutionary theory with Christianity. He was an expert witness in the 2005 Dover, Pennsylvania, lawsuit challenging a school board mandate to incorporate intelligent design into the curriculum.
2 p.m. -- Ronald L. Numbers, the Hilldale and William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak on "Aggressors, Victims and Peacemakers: Historical Actors in the Drama of Science and Religion." Numbers has written or edited more than two dozen books, including "The Creationists," "Darwinism Comes to America" and "Disseminating Darwinism: The Role of Place, Race, Religion and Gender."
4 p.m. -- All of the featured speakers will take part in a panel discussion moderated by Warner. A career journalist who spent 10 years at Newsweek magazine before joining "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" in 1993, Warner was a member of the first Yale College class that included women. She was recently elected an alumni fellow of the Yale Corporation, beginning her term in July. (See "While You Were Away ...")
The Terry Lectures were established in 1905 through a gift from Bridgeport, Connecticut businessman Dwight Harrington Terry. The lectureship brings scholars of religion, the sciences and philosophy to campus to address issues concerning the ways in which science and philosophy inform religion, and the application of religion to human welfare.
Proceedings of the Terry Lectures will be published as a book by the Yale University Press, with an introduction by science writer Carl Zimmer.
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