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Summer Seminar
23 June - 18 July, 2008
A four-week faculty development seminar
for Chinese professors and postgraduate
students will be held at Calvin College in the summer of 2008. The seminar will be directed by Del Ratzsch of Calvin College and Michael Murray of Franklin & Marshall College.
While popular disputes concerning the relationship between science
and religion have been most visible in the United States, the
underlying issues are relevant to scholars in science, religion, and
the humanities globally. Scholars from all three areas are in
substantial disagreement about whether or not their disciplines can
and do overlap and, if so, how. All of this highlights the need for
careful reflection by scholars in these areas on the nature of
scientific inquiry, its deliverances, and its potential to displace
religious and philosophical conceptions of the world. This four week
seminar will focus on these and related issues. In particular, we
will focus attention on historical and contemporary philosophical
conceptions of science, the role of philosophy and theology in the
rise of modern science, and historical and contemporary approaches to
science/religion relationships.Instruction will be in
English.
The seminar will feature a different distinguished visiting lecturer
each week representing both the sciences and the humanities. The
confirmed lecturers are Alvin Plantinga (Notre Dame, Philosophy),
Owen Gingerich (Harvard, Astronomy), Richard Swinburne (Oxford,
Philosophy), and John Polkinghorne (Cambridge, Physics). Following is the dates and times of each weekly public lecture:
Sir John Polkinghorne
Cambridge University
7:30 p.m. Thursday June 26
“Can a Scientist Believe in a
Destiny Beyond Death?”
Calvin Theological
Seminary Chapel
Dr. Alvin Plantinga
University of Notre Dame
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 2
“Science and Religion:
Why Does the Debate Continue?”
Calvin Theological
Seminary Chapel
Owen Gingerich
Harvard University
7:30 p.m Wednesday July 9
“The Divine Handiwork:
Evolution and the Wonder of Life”
Gezon Auditorium
Richard Swinburne
Oxford University
7:30 p.m. Wednesday July 16
“God and Morality”
Gezon Auditorium
MP3 Downloads of the lectures »
The seminar is specifically designed for faculty and graduate
students in related disciplines from universities in mainland China.
Participants will be expected to begin or continue work on a research
project related to the theme of the seminar. Please check range of topics that might be considered for one's research project. Completed projects will
be presented at a follow-up conference to be held in Beijing in the
spring of 2009.
The program will cover all travel and seminar expenses, and provide books and gifts for all participants.
Participants: Sixteen Chinese professors plus six Chinese graduate
students with relevant interests. Interested professors should email
an application by January 1, 2008.
The seminar
will involve the following distingished scholars:
Dr. Alvin Plantinga
 Alvin Plantinga (University
of Notre Dame), is a contemporary American philosopher known for his work in epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion. His current position is John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He gave the 2004–5 Gifford Lectures at St. Andrews University, titled Science and Religion: Conflict or Concord? (forthcoming).
John Polkinghorne
John Polkinghorne (Cambridge University), former president of Queens College, Cambridge, worked as a theoretical elementary particle physicist
and then a mathematical physics professor at Cambridge University. He was awarded the 2002 Templeton Prize for progress in religion. He is the author of The Faith of the
Physicist, Belief in God in an Age of Science, and Faith, Science and Understanding.
Owen Gingerich
Owen Gingerich (Harvard University) is senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory and Research Professor of Astronomy and History of Science at Harvard University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical
Society. His books include The Great Copernicus Chase: And Other Adventures in Astronomical History and The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler.
Richard
Swinburne
Richard Swinburne (Oxford University), is Nolloth
Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, Emeritus, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. He is also a Fellow of the British Academy. Swinburne is the author of fifteen books including Space and Time, Epistemic Justification, An Introduction to Confirmation Theory, and The Existence of God.
 Summer Seminar Brochure
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