Science and Religion in the Western Tradition
	Spring 2004
Course Section, Meeting Location
Instructor:		Keenan Dungey
Office:		HSB 312
Office Hours:
Phone:		206-7345
Email:		dungey.keenan@uis.edu
Fax:

Course Description

An interdisciplinary course studying the interaction between science and religion. Topics include the history and philosophy of science and current issues such as origins and bioethics. Classical philosophy and Christianity, Islam, and Judaism will be discussed.

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes

1. To learn more about the methods of science and religion and their complex interactions in historical and current issues

2. To learn to appreciate both the differences and similarities between religious and scientific approaches to the human condition

3. To improve research skills and both oral and written communications skills

Expectations or Teaching Philosophy

The philosophy of this course is that students benefit most from educational experiences in which they are actively engaged. The instructor provides an outline for the course and leads the initial discussions. Then students are encouraged to facilitate the direction of the class. Students choose supplementary materials to write and report on so that they relate to their own particular interests within the broad parameters covered by the course; they make suggestions to their peers regarding revisions to writing assignments; and they form teams to work on special projects. Finally, students assess the course and the instructor and make suggestions that can be incorporated into future versions of the course.

Required Texts

Ian Barbour, Religion in an Age of Science (San Francisco, Harper San Francisco, 1997)

Plato, Timaeus

Course Requirements and Grading

Discussion Participation and Attendance (20%)

Colloquia depend on the contributions of all members for their success. If you are not prepared or not present, you cannot enrich the experience of others in the class. Grading on this portion of the class will be based on the instructor’s evaluation of participation and in-class assignments. If you are gone from a meeting for a legitimate reason let the instructor know.

Reading Journal (15%)

Students will keep a journal as they read the required and additional texts for the course. For each reading assignment, students write one to two pages. This response should either list the most important thing you learned from the reading and the most important question it left you with, or it should disagree with some point made in the reading with an indication of the grounds for your disagreement. These journals will be checked by the instructor periodically throughout the semester.

Biography Paper (5%)

As we explore the history and case studies of the interaction between science and religion, we will read about several key figures. Each student will pick a person to obtain further information on and write a two to three page paper. The paper will address the biography of the person and how their views fit into the course material.

Additional Perspectives Paper and Presentation (15%)

Several sessions will be built at least in part around presentations based on supplemental readings aimed at deepening our understanding, or offering alternative perspectives, which are not represented in required texts. (These readings are referred to below as “Sources of Additional Perspectives.”) Each student should sign up for one special reading and should prepare a 4-5 page review based on that reading. A draft of the paper will be peer edited on Week 4 and a revised version will be due, along with the peer editing sheet, on Week 5. Ten to fifteen minute oral presentations based on the perspective paper will be spaced throughout the semester.

Essay Review (10%)

Each student will write a 4-5 page essay review on two sources (NOT the required texts) which cover the same topic. This is an opportunity to think about what you might be interested in doing your research project on and to get a start on reading; or you might link it to your Additional Perspectives paper. This paper will be peer edited on Week 8 and will be due on Week 9.

Research Project (35%)

Each student will be part of a group of between 3 and 5 members that prepares a substantial research presentation on some topic (details to be worked out in class). All members of the group will receive a common grade on the proposal and annotated bibliography (10%) and the oral presentation (20%). An additional 5% of the grade will be based on teamwork, taking into account peer assessments of the relative contributions of group members.

THERE WILL BE NO FINAL EXAM.

Course Calendar or Schedule

Week	Topic	Assignment
1	Introduction to the Course Interdisciplinary Studies	in-class position essay choose Additional Perspective topic
2	Scientific methods Religious methodology	Biography due
3	Modes of Interaction
4	Pre-Christian Interactions	Additional Perspective paper due
5	Rise of Modern Science	revised Additional Perspective paper due
6	Galileo Case Study
7	Origins—Big Bang
8	Origins--Evolution	Essay Review due
9	Origins—Evolution, cont	revised Essay Review due
10	Human Nature	Research Project proposal due
11	Miracles
12	Current Topics: Quantum Physics	Research Project bibliography due
13	Current Topics: Biotechnology
14	Projects
15	Projects Summary	revisit in-class position essay
16	NO FINAL

Sources of Additional Perspectives

Topic	Texts
Interdisciplinary Studies	Benson and Newell in Interdisciplinarity: Essays from the Literature, William H. Newell, Ed. (New York: College entrance Examination board, 1998)
Science and Religion	Richard H. Bube, Putting It All Together: Seven Patterns for Relating Science and the Christian Faith (Lanham, MD, 1995) Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Religion & the Order of Nature (New York : Oxford University Press, 1996) Ninian Smart, Reasons and Faiths (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958)
Pre-Christian Interactions	Tamsyn Barton, Ancient Astrology (London & New York, 1994). G. E. R. Lloyd, Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the Origin and Developments of Greek Science (Cambridge, 1979).
Rise of Modern Science	John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge, 1991) Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs, The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy: or, "The Hunting of the Greene Lyon" (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1975) Reijer Hooykaas, Religion and the Rise of Modern Science (Grand Rapids, Scottish Academic Press, 1972) Rose-Mary Sargent, The Diffident Naturalist: Robert Boyle and the Philosophy of Experiment (Chicago, 1995)
Galileo	Charles E. Hummel, The Galileo Connection, (IV Press, 1986) Dava Sobel, Galileo’s Daughter: a historical memoir of science, faith, and love (New York, Walker & Co., 1999) Maurice Finochiarro, The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History (Berkeley, U. of California Press, 1991)
Origins—Big Bang	Daniel C. Matt, God and the Big Bang (Woodstock, 1996) Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (New York: Warner Books, 1978) Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time (New York: Bantam, 1988)
Origins—Evolution	Philip E. Johnson, Darwin on Trial (Downers Grove, IL, IV Press, 1991) William A. Dembski, No Free Lunch : Why Specified Complexity Cannot be Purchased Without Intelligence (Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, 2002) Daniel C. Dennett, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea. Evolution and the Meaning of Life (New York, 1995) Inherit the Wind [video] John C. Whitcomb, Jr., and Henry Morris, The Genesis Flood (Philadelphia, 1961) Ronald Numbers, The Creationists (New York, 1992) James R. Moore, The Post-Darwinian Controversies (Cambridge University Press, 1979) Stephen Jay Gould, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life (New York: Ballantine, 1999)
Human Nature	Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1978) Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenonmenon of Man (New York, 1959) Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (New York, 1929) Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind (New York, Oxford U. Press, 1989) Martin Buber, Between Man and Man (London: Macmillan, 1947)
Miracles	John Polkinghorne, Science and Providence: God's Interaction with the World, (New Science Library, Shambhala, 1989) Arthur Peacocke, Intimations of Reality (Univ. Notre Dame Press, 1984) David Hume, The Natural History of Religion (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press [1957])
Quantum Physics	Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters (New York, Bantam, 1979) Paul Davies, God and the New Physics (New York, 1983) John Polkinghorn, The Faith of a Physicist (Princeton, 1994)
Biotechnology	Ted Howard and Jeremy Rifkin, Who Should Play God? : The Artificial Creation of Life and What It Means for the Future of the Human Race (New York: Delacorte Press, 1977) Gilbert C. Meilaender, Body, Soul, and Bioethics (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995)