“Teaching Science, Philosophy and Belief”
27 June - 22 July, 2011
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan USA
Directed by Edward Davis and Robin Collins of Messiah College
Summary
A four-week faculty development seminar for mainland Chinese professors. The seminar is restricted to professors (and their universities) who agree to add a course in science and belief to their curriculum (or to improve an existing course). The program will cover all travel and seminar expenses, and provide books for all participants.
Course Description
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of some basic historical and philosophical issues in science and belief. After considering models of how science and religion interact (such as the conflict model), they will then discuss key historical and philosophical issues. At each turn, they will consider various pedagogical options. Particular attention will be given to popular myths regarding the history of science and the question of whether science refutes (or supports) religious belief. At the end of the seminar, each participant will be expected to have developed a preliminary syllabus that would be suitable for a science and religion course in China. Instruction will be in English.
Course Topics
The topics to be covered fall into two major categories—historical issues and philosophical issues.
Areas in the History of Science:
The “warfare” thesis and its fatal problems
The interplay of science and belief down to 1700, including the “Scientific Revolution”; some attention will be given to why it happened where it did (in Northern & Western Europe, during the 16th and 17th Centuries)
Darwin, evolution, and religious belief
The religious beliefs of modern Western scientists
Areas in Philosophy:
Belief and reason
The Anthropic Principle
Mind and body
The big bang and the origin of the universe
Evolution and Religion
Visiting Lecturers
The seminar will feature a different distinguished visiting lecturer each week representing both the sciences and the humanities. Two confirmed lecturers are John Polkinghorne and Robert John Russell.
Application Materials
Fifteen Chinese faculty and students will participate. Interested professors should e-mail the following materials, in English, as one complete document to Nellie Kooistra (nmk5@calvin.edu):
1) List of details: family name, given name, position or title, name of university or institution, mailing address, discipline or area of study, and type of visa (if you have one).
2) One paragraph biography of yourself.
3) One current photograph of yourself (a headshot).
4) One essay in English. This can be published or unpublished.
5) One letter of support from your Dean, indicating support for adding a “Science, Philosophy and Belief” course to their curriculum.
6) One letter of recommendation from your department chair, indicating his or her permission for you to spend part of the summer at Calvin College, should you receive acceptance.
Application Deadline: January 21, 2011. Successful applicants will be notified by February 21, 2011.
Directors
Edward B. Davis, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College, teaches courses on historical and contemporary aspects of science and religion. Davis did his doctoral work in History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, where his mentor was the late Richard S. Westfall, author of the definitive biography of Isaac Newton. Davis is best known for studies of the English chemist Robert Boyle. With Michael Hunter, Davis edited The Works of Robert Boyle, 14 vols. (Pickering & Chatto, 1999-2000), and a separate edition of Boyle’s influential book, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 1996). He has also written numerous articles about the interplay of theology and science during the scientific revolution. His current research, supported by the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, examines the religious lives and beliefs of prominent American scientists from the early Twentieth Century. An article about this project was published by American Scientist in May-June 2005; several other articles have also come out of this project, including studies of Nobel laureates Robert Millikan and Arthur Holly Compton. Davis has lectured at many foreign universities, including Wuhan University and Fudan University.
Robin Collins, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Messiah College,earned his Ph. D. at the University of Notre Dame. Besides his training in philosophy, he has two years of graduate level training in theoretical physics and has written over twenty-six articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics at the intersection between philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, and philosophy of religion. These include such topics as philosophical issues in quantum physics, evolution and divine action, mind and body, and the fine-tuning of the cosmos. Some of his most recent articles are “Philosophy of Science and Religion” in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, “The Multiverse Hypothesis: A Theistic Perspective,” in Universe or Multiverse? (Cambridge University Press), “Divine Action and Evolution” in TheOxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology, “Modern Physics and the Energy-Conservation Objection to Mind-Body Dualism,” in the American Philosophical Quarterly, and “The Teleological Argument: An Exploration of the Fine-Tuning of the Universe,” in The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology. Robin has spoken on these topics to both philosophers and scientists throughout the world, including at Stanford University, Yale University, the University of Milan, and most recently Oxford University. Further, his work on fine-tuning appears in most current Philosophy of Religion texts that are used in undergraduate philosophy classes throughout the United States; and in popular venues such as an episode of Robert Kuhn’s “Closer to the Truth,” which aired on the Public Broadcasting Network (PBS) in the fall of 2008. His work has also been translated into Spanish (as part of a book on cosmic fine-tuning), Russian (for the Russian Academy of Science), and Chinese (as part of the most used textbook on Philosophy of Religion in China). With grant support from the John Templeton Foundation, he is completing a book on God and cosmic fine-tuning tentatively entitled The Well-Tempered Universe: God, Cosmic Fine-tuning, and the Laws of Nature.
This seminar is organized by the Society of Christian Philosophers and Calvin College’s Nagel Institute with funds generously granted by the John Templeton Foundation.
Edward B. Davis, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College, teaches courses on historical and contemporary aspects of science and religion. Davis did his doctoral work in History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, where his mentor was the late Richard S. Westfall, author of the definitive biography of Isaac Newton. Davis is best known for studies of the English chemist Robert Boyle. With Michael Hunter, Davis edited The Works of Robert Boyle, 14 vols. (Pickering & Chatto, 1999-2000), and a separate edition of Boyle’s influential book, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature (Cambridge University Press, 1996). He has also written numerous articles about the interplay of theology and science during the scientific revolution. His current research, supported by the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, examines the religious lives and beliefs of prominent American scientists from the early Twentieth Century. An article about this project was published by American Scientist in May-June 2005; several other articles have also come out of this project, including studies of Nobel laureates Robert Millikan and Arthur Holly Compton. Davis has lectured at many foreign universities, including Wuhan University and Fudan University. 
Besides his training in philosophy, he has two years of graduate level training in theoretical physics and has written over twenty-six articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics at the intersection between philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, and philosophy of religion. These include such topics as philosophical issues in quantum physics, evolution and divine action, mind and body, and the fine-tuning of the cosmos. Some of his most recent articles are “Philosophy of Science and Religion” in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, “The Multiverse Hypothesis: A Theistic Perspective,” in Universe or Multiverse? (Cambridge University Press), “Divine Action and Evolution” in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology, “Modern Physics and the Energy-Conservation Objection to Mind-Body Dualism,” in the American Philosophical Quarterly, and “The Teleological Argument: An Exploration of the Fine-Tuning of the Universe,” in The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology. Robin has spoken on these topics to both philosophers and scientists throughout the world, including at Stanford University, Yale University, the University of Milan, and most recently Oxford University. Further, his work on fine-tuning appears in most current Philosophy of Religion texts that are used in undergraduate philosophy classes throughout the United States; and in popular venues such as an episode of Robert Kuhn’s “Closer to the Truth,” which aired on the Public Broadcasting Network (PBS) in the fall of 2008. His work has also been translated into Spanish (as part of a book on cosmic fine-tuning), Russian (for the Russian Academy of Science), and Chinese (as part of the most used textbook on Philosophy of Religion in China). With grant support from the John Templeton Foundation, he is completing a book on God and cosmic fine-tuning tentatively entitled The Well-Tempered Universe: God, Cosmic Fine-tuning, and the Laws of Nature.