Additional readings and assignments may be announced. We do not anticipate that these additional assignments will substantially change the workload for the course. In addition, the specific dates on which particular topics will be covered may change, although we anticipate that the date of the hour exam will remain where it is.
| Day : | Topic |
Readings |
Assignments/Exams |
| Driving Question 1 | Does our current picture of Big Bang Cosmology allow for - or even require - a Creator? (HS) | ||
| Sept 5 | Introduction: the Big Bang Universe | Coles, "The Big Bang" (e-reserve); http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/html/cbr.html" (NASA web page on confirmation of the Big Bang), Rod Davies, "The Alpha and Omega of Space and Time, in Stannard, God for the 21st Century (hereafter God 21), pp. 6-9; Guiderdoni, "An Icon for the New Millennium," God21 pp. 22-25. . | |
| Sept 10 | Age of the Universe; common issues for western religions and Big Bang cosmology | Haught, Science and Religion (hereafter Haught), chapter 5; Paul Davies, "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" God21, pp. 10-12. | Weekly paper 1 due (mini-paper) |
| Sept 12 | Is the Universe "fine tuned" for life? | Haught chapter 6, Gingerich, "Ingredients for Life," in God21, pp. 18-21; Van Till, "Why does the Universe Work?" in God21, pp. 26-28. | |
| Sept 17 | Interpretations of Fine Tuning; Jigsaw work in groups | Different people will read different authors, depending on the jigsaw assignment. A complete list of the assignments is given below. | Weekly paper 2 due |
| Sept 19 | Hume's Critique of the Design Argument | Davis, "The Design Argument," e-reserve | |
| Sept 24 | Hume's Critique and Fine Tuning | Dyson, "The Argument from Design," e-reserve | Weekly paper 3 due |
| Sept 26 | What is science? What is religion? | Haught chapter 1, Golshani, "Theistic Science," (God21, pp. 192-194); Jigsaw Assignment #2 | Mini-weekly paper 4 |
| Driving Question 2 | Can a rational person give credibility to miracle reports? (JJ) | ||
| Oct 1-8 | Definition of miracle; Hume's argument, Davis's Response | David Hume, "Enquiry," e-reserve; Stephen Davis, Risen Indeed, e-reserve | |
| Driving Question 3 | Naturalistic Explanations and Religious Belief(JJ) | ||
| Oct 10-12 | The Nature of Explanation, the Undercutting Argument, the Ubiquity Response | Mark Salzman, Lying Awake (book to buy) | |
| Oct 17 | HOUR EXAMINATION IN CLASS | ||
| Driving Question 4 | How does the scientific image of humankind impact on religion? (JJ; 1-2 classes by HS) | ||
| Oct 22 - Nov 14 | Strong AI; The Chinese Room Argument; Free Will; Scienticism; The Problem of Altruism; Medicine and Faith | Extracts from Ratey, A User's Guide to the Brain, and Clark, Being There (e-reserve); Searle, Minds, Brains, and Science (book to buy); Peter Van Inwagen, "The Traditional Problem, Bertrand Russell, "A Free Man's Worship"; George Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality; " Russell, "Demonology & Medicine; " Patrick Bouldin "Child Abuse" E). | |
| Driving Question 5 | Can a rational person believe in God and Evolution at the same time? | This part of the course will be taught exclusively in a PBL format, modifying the classic 3M (medical school model) for a larger class. | |
| Nov 19 - December 5 | Evolution: the Biology Teachers' Problem | see core list below. Individual groups will develop their own resource lists in response to the problem. | Weekly papers and Group products, leading up to a group presentation on December 5 |
| Dec 10 | Wrap-up | Weekly paper 14 (Mini) |
John F. Haught, Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversation, (New Yorl: Paulist Press). (Identified as "Haught" in the list above.)
Mark Salzman, Lying Awake, New York: Vintage Books. ("Salzman")
John Searle, Minds, Brains, and Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984. ("Searle")
Russell Stannard, ed., God for the 21st Century, a collection of 50 very short essays. Philadelphia,PA: Templeton Foundation Press. ("God21")
John Polkinghorne, "A Potent Universe," (e-reserve)
Owen Gingerich, "Let There Be Light: Modern Cosmology and Biblical Creation" (e-reserve)
Freeman Dyson, "The Argument from Design"
Note: Any individual is responsible for only one of these readings. To see how a jigsaw exercise works, see http://www.jigsaw.org/overview.htm .
All students are responsible for being familiar with the following articles. They are not listed against a particular date because the nature of this part of the class means that class content will be responsive to learning issues raised by the groups and lecturettes that are given in response to group work. :
Francisco Ayala, "Biological Evolution: an Introduction," from James B. Miller, ed., An Evolving Dialogue: Scientific, Historical, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives on Evolution, Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science. (This is the only one of these readings which is really long. Focus on the evidence for evolution.)
Sam Berry, "Did Darwin Kill God?" God21, pp. 39-42.
Ursula Goodenough, "The Evolution of Biodiversity," from Goodenough, The Sacred Depths of Nature, Oxford University Press, 1998.
John Haught, "Does Evolution Rule Out God's Existence?" in Haught, chapter 3.
Arthur Peacocke, "The Disguised Friend: Darwinism and Divinity," from God21, pp. 43-46.
Eugenie Scott, "The Creation/Evolution Continuum," Figure 1 from Scott, "Science, Religion, and Evolution," on the National Center for Science Education web page at http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/8219_science_religion_and_evoluti_6_19_2001.asp
Scott's whole article describes her perspective on many of the issues raised in this course, and while you are welcome to read it, the really important new idea is embodied in Figure 1 and the text which goes with it.
Barbara Smith-Moran, "The Evolutionary Past and Future of God," in God21, pp. 51-53.