If you can't view this HTML newsletter in your e-mail client, click here to view through your web browser or
copy and paste this URL into your web browser:
www.ctns.org/enews_fa2007f/
You may unsubscribe at the bottom of this e-news.
Greetings To All CTNS Friends
Contents
- Chair Campaign Announced to Public
- STARS Program Update
- New Book by CTNS Founder & Director
- Bob Russell to lecture at Carmelite Community
- New Book by Ted Peters
- CTNS Associate Receives Award
- Public Forum, October 30
- Science and Religion Reception Nov.17 at AAR/SBL
- Conferences coming up soon: December 8, 2007 and March 15, 2008
Journal News (Theology and Science)
Ian G. Barbour Chair Campaign Announced to Public
We are thrilled to publicly announce The Campaign for the Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science! If you haven't yet received the beautiful campaign brochure, we're confident you soon will.
To see the brochure on line as a PDF file, click here.
To request a brochure, please email your name and address to CTNS Membership Coordinator, Melissa Moritz <melissam@ctns.org> .The CTNS Board's vision is to endow this Professorship as a lasting academic legacy for bridging faith and science at the Graduate Theological Union.
our goal!We invite you to read about this exciting endeavor on the CTNS website (www.ctns.org/chair/campaign.html) which reveals both a brief picture of the inspiration for and vision of the Chair, as well as the impact CTNS-sponsored graduate education has had on many students at the GTU over the past twenty-six years of CTNS teaching. The Barbour Chair will ensure that future generations of faculty and students may enter into the constructive dialogue between faith and science and be empowered for research, teaching and ministry.
Twenty six years ago when Dr. Robert John Russell founded CTNS, it was only the second center for theology and science in the world. His impact on both graduate students here and on this interdisciplinary field world-wide has been exceptional.
In recognition of his achievements in the field, Dr. Russell has beennamed the first holder of the Chair. Once endowed, the Barbour Chair will be the only endowed chair in theology and science in the Western United States and one of only a handful of other such chairs in the world.
The Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science at the GTU will indeed be "where religion meets science."
For more information or to help support the Barbour Chair Campaign, visit the Chair Campaign website. www.ctns.org/chair/
STARS Program to Announce Research Grant Recipients
The CTNS Science and Transcendence Advanced Research Series (STARS) program is now accepting applications for $100,000 Research Grants, due November 1, 2007. The five research teams selected to receive the Research Grants will be announced on December 15 and will be featured in upcoming issues of the CTNS E-News.
For more information about the STARS Program, visit www.ctnsstars.org/.
The STARS program is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
New Book by CTNS Founder & Director
Cosmology—from Alpha to Omega: The Creative Mutual Interaction of Theology and Science
(Selected Essays, 1982-2007) by Robert John Russell will be available in January 2008 (Fortress Press).
Cosmology—from Alpha to Omega
Topics covered include the contingency of creation, The Anthropic Principle, Infinity, Creation and the Big Bang, Divine Action, Theistic Evolution, Entropy and Evil, Theodicy and Resurrection.
Robert John Russell is Founder and Director of The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and Professor of Theology and Science in-Residence at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He is a leading researcher and spokesperson for the growing international body of theologians and scientists committed to a positive dialogue and creative mutual interaction between these fields.Amazon.com is accepting discounted pre-orders now. Type in the book title to search or click here.
Robert Russell to Lecture at Carmelite Community
Robert Russell will speak on “Humanity and the Cosmos: Companions in the New Creation” on November 9 at 7:30 pm at the Carmelite Monastery, 1318 Dulaney Valley Rd, Towson, MD.
This lecture is a part of EarthPrayer II: Our Place in the Cosmos, organized by The Carmelite Monastery and co-sponsored by The Murphy Initiative for Justice and Peace. Free admission. For more information, call 410-823-7415.
New Book by Ted Peters Published
The Science and Ethics of Stem Cell Use
The worldwide debate about stem cells involves religion, ethics, politics, and medicine. It calls for people of faith to learn deeply, think carefully, and contribute fully. In the newly released The Stem Cell Debate from the Facets series from Fortress Press, "Ted Peters brings a lucid and penetrating message that reliably and accessibly relates the science of stem cells and regenerative medicine in lay terms."
The Stem Cell Debate also traces the strongly divided ethical debate to three very different moral frameworks and shows the deepest and legitimate concerns of each, alongside the secular ethical framework employed in most medical ethics.
Ted Peters is Professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, serves on the GTU Core Doctoral Faculty; Editor, Dialog; Co-Editor, Theology and Science; Director, Institute for Theology and Ethics and serves on the CTNS Board of Directors.
Visit the Augsburg-Fortress website for more information: http://www.augsburgfortress.org/
CTNS Associate Receives Award
On September 27, 2007 Ted Peters received "The Joseph A. Sittler Award for Theological Leadership" at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio "In Recognition of Exceptional Theological Leadership to the Church." "The Joseph A. Sittler Award is presented to persons who have given unusual stimulus and theological leadership to the church in the important task of thinking through the Christian faith." It is named for Joseph A. Sittler, the late Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School, who also happens to be a former professor of Ted Peters.
Congratulations Ted!
Events
Public Forum on Free Will October 30
CTNS held a Public Forum on October 30, 2007 on “Challenging Free Will: Emergentism as a Viable Metaphysics”
with speaker, Dr. James Haag of CTNS with respondent, Dr. Terrence Deacon of the University of California, Berkeley.
Location: Richard S. Dinner Board Room, Graduate Theological Union Library, 2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California.
Free and open to the public.This lecture presented material completed for Dr. Haag’s recent dissertation. Two theses in the dissertation were elaborated: 1) Emergentism, by occupying the gap between Reductive Physicalism and Substance Dualism, provides for a viable metaphysics, 2) Emergentism, by expanding our notions of causation, provides a space for free will to be both experientially balanced and evidentially accurate. More information can be found on the CTNS website, news section.
Science and Religion Reception at Annual Conference
You are invited to the jointly-hosted science and religion reception at AAR/SBL in San Diego on Saturday, November 17 from 7:00 pm-9:30 pm, in the Conference Center, Room 30A.
This annual event is hosted by three science and religion centers,*IRAS, ZCRS & CTNS. Presentations will be given at 8:00 pm.
*The Institute for Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) has summer conferences at Star Island, NH ( 2008 Topic: Autonomous Individuality: Myth or Reality?) IRAS co-publishes Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science.The Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS), a partnership of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and CASIRAS, brings together scientists and theologians to research crucial issues of human concern. ZCRS supports masters and doctoral students through LSTC and shares quarters with Zygon.
CTNS Conference to Discuss Dr. Russell’s Publications
You are invited to " God’s Action in Nature’s World: Creative Mutual Interaction from Alpha to Omega," a conference sponsored by the Graduate Theological Union and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
December 8, 2007 from 1:00 – 5:00 pm, Berkeley.
Location: Graduate Theological Union, Richard S. Dinner Board Room, GTU Library,
2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California.
Registration: $15.00 per person
No charge for CTNS members*, but RSVP is requested. Email: Melissam@ctns.org or
call 510-848-8152 by November 29. Membership* Information is below.
For more than twenty-five years, Robert John Russell has been engaged in research and teaching focused on the creative mutual interaction between theology and the natural sciences. To celebrate the forthcoming publication of his new book, Cosmology—from Alpha to Omega: the Creative Mutual Interaction of Theology and Science (Selected Essays 1982-2007) (Fortress Press), and to celebrate the public phase of the campaign to fund the Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science, this special event will assess Russell’s contributions in the areas of methodology in theology and science, divine action, creation and Big Bang / inflationary cosmology, natural evil, eschatology and the future of the universe, and cosmology. Speakers also will discuss the recent Festschrift in Russell’s honor, God’s Action in Nature’s World, edited by Ted Peters and Nathan Hallanger.
Speakers are Ian G. Barbour, Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and Society, Carleton College, Nancey Murphy, Fuller Theological Seminary, William Stoeger, SJ, Vatican Observatory, Nancy Wiens, Ph.D. (GTU, 2007) and Spiritual Director, Michael Dodds, Dominican School of Philosophical Theology, Ted Peters, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union and Robert John Russell, Professor of Theology and Science in-Residence at the GTU and Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.Make your check payable to CTNS, earmarked "conference registration" or call CTNS to register using your Visa or Mastercard.
Please register by November 29.
More Conference information can be found at: www.ctns.org/news_102907.html*Information on CTNS membership is below.
Save the Dates for the 2008 J. K. Russell Fellowship
Save the dates of March 14 - 20, 2008 for the annual J. K. Russell Research Fellowship with Dr. George Coyne, S. J., former Director of the Vatican Observatory.
The Fellowship Conference is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 with the topic “John Paul II on Science and Religion: Reflections on a New View From Rome” (working title). The Fellowship Forum lecture is scheduled for March 18 where Dr. Coyne will speak on “The Dance of the Fertile Universe”.The fellowship events will be held in Berkeley, California. More information will be coming soon.
Theology and Science News for 2008
The editorial staff is excited to announce that Theology and Science will be going to four issues per year effective 2008. In November, CTNS members and friends will receive 2008 renewal information. (2008 fees are listed below.)
Volume 5, Number 3 to be Mailed Soon
The final 2007 issue of Theology and Science is due out before the end of the year. For a sneak preview, the contents are listed below.
Volume 5, Number 3 / November 2007
Editorials
Lawrence W. Fagg, “Evil Revisited: a Physicist’s Perspective”Articles
Noreen Herzfeld, “A New Member of the Family?: The Continuum of Being, Artificial Intelligence, and the Image of God”
Ilia Delio, O. S. F., “Christ and Extraterrestrial Life”
Gennaro Auletta, “Science, Philosophy, and Religion Today: Some Reflections”
Gloria L. Schaab, “The Creative Suffering of the Triune God: An Evolutionary Panentheistic Paradigm”
Charles M. Vaughn, “Bridging Math and Theology: Constructing a Set Theoretic Model of the Processions and Relations in the Trinity”Book Reviews
James Haag: Re-emergence of Emergence edited by Philip Clayton and Paul Davies
James Marcum: Mind and Emergence by Philip Clayton
Josh Reeves: God in the Machine by Anne FoerstCTNS members should be receiving their copy of Theology and Science, Volume 5, Number 3 before the end of the year.
For instructions on CTNS members' on-line access to the Theology and Science journal articles see “Member News” below.
Scholars wishing to submit articles for consideration to Theology and Science may contact the Managing Editor, James Haag by emailing theology-science@ctns.org or by writing to Theology and Science, CTNS, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
If you are interested in writing a book review, contact Nathan Hallanger, Book Review Editor, via email: bookreviews@ctns.org or call 510-649-2481 Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm PDT.
Please send editorial comments or suggestions to: theology-science@ctns.org. Information for authors or reviewers may be found at www.ctns.org/theology_science.html or call the CTNS Publications office at 510-848-8152 between the hours of 9:30 am to 1:00 pm PDT, Monday-Thursday.
MEMBER BENEFITS
All CTNS members receive the following benefits:
- A one-year subscription (three issues in 2007; 4 issues beginning 2008) to the peer-reviewed journal Theology and Science, including on-line access.
- On-line access to fifty-two issues of The CTNS Bulletin (Vols. 10-22), the predecessor to Theology and Science journal.
- A subscription to CTNS E-News Members version
- Discounts on CTNS conferences and audio tapes, CDs or DVD from lectures.
- Timely updates on CTNS programs, events, and conferences.
CTNS 2007 Membership Fee includes 3 issues of Theology and Science, Volume 5 (Cut off on November 14, 2007):
$55 Regular Membership
$31 Seniors (62 & over ) & full-time Student MembershipCTNS 2008 Membership Fee includes 4 issues of Theology and Science, Volume 6 (On-line membership registration will be available on November 15, 2007):
$67 Regular Membership
$40 Seniors (62 & over ) & Full-time Student MembershipNote: Memberships received on or after November 15, 2007 will count towards a 2008 membership. Mail a check payable to CTNS earmarked "membership" or visit the CTNS on-line membership page where you may sign up using you Visa or Mastercard.
CTNS Members May Access Theology and Science On-Line
On-line access to Theology & Science
Current membersof the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences are entitled to access the on-line version of Theology and Science free of charge. If you'd like to view a sample journal through our partner, Taylor and Francis (Informaworld) , click this link and follow the instructions.
Theology and Science on-line is hosted by InformaWorld (www.informaworld.com), “a one-stop site hosting journals, eBooks, abstract databases and reference works published by Taylor & Francis, Routledge.”
New CTNS Program Director Announced
CTNS is pleased to announce Nathan J. Hallanger as the new CTNS Program Director, effective September 1, 2007. Nathan is completing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in systematic and philosophical theology at the Graduate Theological Union. He came to the GTU with a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Augustana College, South Dakota, and an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. Since entering the GTU he has had numerous teaching and lecturing opportunities and has published in the Encyclopedia of Religion and the CTNS journal, Theology and Science. He received a Charles H. Townes Graduate Student Fellowship award in 2004 and has been serving as Program Coordinator for STARS and as the Book Review Editor for Theology and Science.
As CTNS Program Director, Nate is responsible for program development and administration.
Whitney Bauman and James Haag Complete Ph.D. Degrees
Former CTNS employee Whitney Bauman and current employee, James Haag recently defended their dissertations to complete their Ph.D. degrees in systematic and philosophical theology at the Graduate Theological Union.
In May, Whitney Bauman successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, titled, “From Creation Ex Nihilo to Terra Nullius: The Colonial Mind and the Colonization of Creation.” Whitney argues that the doctrine of creation ex nihilo can function in legitimating colonization of the land. It wrongly leads us to treat the earth as terra nullius, “no man's land” and thus serves to authorize us to claim it for our own, resulting in violence toward humans and non-humans alike. His hope is that colonialism such as this can be mitigated through a reformulation of the Christian symbol of creation which is attentive to both its location in discourse, and its discursive effects, and which recognizes the agency, prior presence and the truth claims of the “other.”
James Haag's dissertation research focuses on emergence theory in science and the topic of freedom as a prime example of the interaction between theology and science, all with the hope of building a robust understanding of human agency and responsibility in which the human person as an embodied agent is both constrained and enabled for freedom. James is currently a CTNS post-doctoral visiting scholar at the GTU and serves as Managing Editor of Theology and Science.
Congratulations, Whitney and Jamie!
Funding Opportunity
The Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi, at http://fqxi.org), announces a 2007 funding opportunity. This is an international grants competition totaling approximately US $2.5M, supporting rigorous research on foundational questions in physics and cosmology.
FQXi is an independent, philanthropically-funded, non-profit grant-awarding organization. The mission is to catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology -- particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.
The deadline for brief Initial Proposals is December 15, 2007. For information, visit http://fqxi.org/grants.html. For other questions regarding FQXi, contact Kirsten A. Hubbard, at hubbard@fqxi.org.These announcements are provided as a courtesy to those initiating these notices, published as we receive them.
If you would no longer like to receive this quarterly E-News, unsubscribe at: www.ctns.org/involve_unsubscribe.html
Feedback
We'd like to hear from You.
We would appreciate your comments about this E-News via email or via written letter.
Bonnie Johnston, Editor
CTNS
2400 Ridge Rd.
Berkeley, CA 94709 USA
Email: bonniej@ctns.org
510-848-8152
fax. 510-848-2535
www.ctns.org
