Dear ISSR Member,

I hope you had a lovely weekend (and for some a long weekend) and are staying safe. Here in Toronto, COVID numbers have become increasingly worrying, and with warmer weather and longer days ahead I can only hope that we will see safe and cautious practices take place. Wherever you are reading this, I do hope that you and yours are staying well in both body and mind.

Here is this month’s newsletter:

John C Polkinghorne

 

 

  • Alister McGrath joined the Unbelievable? YouTube channel to discuss the life and impact of John. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/2-wy3VQ0szI

 

  • Lastly, Closer To Truth is creating a TV special about John. They are asking for any members who have photos of John’s earliest days and early career to please share them to be sent for the show. If you could please send any photos or information on who to contact by email to me no later than 15 April it would be greatly appreciated by both ISSR and CTT.

Conferences and Lectures

  • The 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion is scheduled for 20-23 November in San Antonio Texas.  Ever since 2013, ISSR has offered a series of events to supplement the regular programming. All members of ISSR are invited to share ideas for sessions for the 2021 conference.  New books, theme issues of journals, findings from major research projects, or panels organized around a shared theme might be featured. Please contact Ron Cole-Turner (coleturn@pts.edu) with suggestions or for more information.

 

  • IRAS, the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, expects to have its conference in person again, June 27 – July 3, 2021, on Naturalism – as Religion, within Religions, without Religion. The conference will be on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, Star Island, near Portsmouth NH. Speakers will be Owen Flanagan, Ursula Goodenough, Sarah Lane Ritchie, James Ungureanu, Carol Wayne White, and Willem B. Drees. For more information and registration, see www.iras.org for more information.

 

  • Science and Religion Forum’s upcoming conference “Science, Religion and Human Identity” has an open call for abstracts dealing with the conference theme. Speakers include: Susanna Cornwall with Rachal Mann responding; Mark Harris; Joanna Collicut McGrath; Miguel Farias; Tasia Scrutton; and Sarah Lane Ritchie. For more information and how to submit, please visit: https://www.srforum.org/2021-online-conference

 

  • Rice University’s Department of Sociology is hosting a lecture this May that will highlight core findings from the largest and most comprehensive international study of scientists’ attitudes toward religion, gender, and ethics ever undertaken, including a survey of 20,000 scientists and in-depth interviews with over 600 of them. This lecture is based in part on the book that resulted from the study, Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think About Religion. In this lecture, Elaine Howard Ecklund, Brandon Vaidyanathan and David R. Johnson will explore the nuances of what scientists think about ethics, religion, spirituality and gender, opportunities for scientific and religious communities to better understand and appreciate each other, and the uniqueness of the science and religion interface in India. The lecture will begin with opening remarks from Prof. Arup Kumar Raychaudhuri, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and J. C. Bose Fellow at S.N. Bose National Center for Basic Sciences, and will also include an opportunity for speakers to answer questions submitted by attendees. The lecture will take place virtually on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. EST / 1:00-2:00 p.m. GMT / 6:30-7:30 pm IST. For more details and registration information please visit: http://bit.ly/science-religion-india.

 

  • The Firth Lectures this year will be on 08 and 09 April 2021 hosted by the University of Nottingham’s Theology and Religious Studies Department. The Firth Lectures are delivered biennially to the public on some aspect of the Christian faith in relation to contemporary problems. Past lecturers have included The Most Reverend Rowan Williams, Professor Charles Taylor and Professor Terry Eagleton. It is with great honour that we welcome Prof Celia Deane-Drummond (Oxford) to be this year’s Firth Lecturer. Her lectures will be on the topic of ‘Humans and Animals: Boundary Questions and Why They are Significant for Theology and Ethics’. These lectures have been pre-recorded and are available to view on the Firth Lecture website. We will be holding live Q&A sessions via MS Teams on both of her lectures at the following times:
  1. Live Q&A for Lecture 1 ‘Theology and the Evolution of Violence: Are we Wired for War or Peace?’: Thursday 8th April 6pm-6.30pm. To join the Q&A get your ticket on Eventbrite by following this link.
  2. Live Q&A for Lecture 2 ‘Humans are Animals but Are Animals Persons? Implications for Theological Ethics.’: Friday 9th April 6pm-6.30pm.  To join the Q&A get your ticket on Eventbrite by following this link.

Publications

If there is anything you come across that would be of benefit to our international community, please share it with me at admin@issr.org.uk. I would also especially welcome receiving news from our members from non-English-speaking countries. This is a great tool for sharing important work on science and religion from different perspectives and different traditions. Also, please remember that our blog is put out around the 15th of each month and is written by our Fellows. If you have a blog idea (about a new book, research, reflections, etc.) you may contact me for that as well.

As always, if you have any questions or anything to share for next month’s newsletter you may send it to me at admin@issr.org.uk.

All best and stay well,

Anthony K Nairn
www.anthonynairn.com
ISSR Administrator
www.issr.org.uk