Who We Are
Our Mission:
The Institute for Religion and Science is committed to nurturing the constructive engagement of Religion/Spirituality and Science/Technology, and to promoting a dialogue that is both interfaith and multi-science. It aims to stimulate interdisciplinary thinking and discussion in contemporary society and to foster encounters between Religion and Science by means of lectures, conferences, workshops, and dialogue groups, as well as activities that support a more integrated approach to the teaching of Religion and Science.
Our History:
May 2011 saw the establishment of the Institute for Religion and Science, an exciting new venture hosted at Chestnut Hill College, that emphasizes an interfaith approach and the “constructive engagement” of Religion and Science.
With generous institutional support from Chestnut Hill College and a substantial donation from the Metanexus Institute, the Institute for Religion and Science has, since its inception in 2011, offered 60 lectures and/or workshops on topics of Religion and Science with opportunities for attendees and students to interact with the speakers.
Before 2020, most lectures were held at the SugarLoaf campus of Chestnut Hill College. However, to encourage an interfaith approach to this interdisciplinary endeavor, some lectures were held at diverse religious and educational institutions in the Philadelphia area: Cabrini College, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill, Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Pendle Hill, St. Joseph’s University, Villanova University, and Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Since then, our events are usually on Zoom or hybrid which means we can encourage people from all of the world to join us. Invited speakers include: Philip Clayton, John Grim, John Haught, Philip Hefner, Noreen Herzfeld, Ursula King, Paul Knitter, Andrew Newberg, Christopher Pramuk, Louis Savary, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Donald Viney. In collaboration with the Omega Center, a weekend conference, “Love at the Heart of the Cosmos,” drew about 150 persons for lectures and workshops.
Reading Circles, designed to encourage more engaged study of the issues involved in the Religion and Science dialogue, meet monthly. The groups have read books by Joseph Bracken, Douglas Christie SJ, Ilia Delio, Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, David Gelernter, John Haught, Noreen Herzfeld, Christopher Pramuk, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, Margaret Wertheim, as well as a volume of essays about the life and work of Teilhard.
Resources
Lecture Videos:
Check out the Institute’s Youtube Channel for videos of past lectures and events!
Resources for Further Reading:
Chestnut Hill College’s Logue Library is host to approximately 200 titles on Religion and Science donated by the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) and over 100 titles donated by the Metanexus Institute. We invite those who would like to read more on Religion and Science to peruse the list. Books are available from the Logue Library through interlibrary loan. For more information, contact us at Institute4RS@chc.edu.
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