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Yale Divinity School's Initiative in Religion, Science & Technology (IRST) focuses on the ways religion and spirituality encounter and interact with science and technology. Offering a series of lectures, symposia, conferences, and working groups, IRST provides a variety of ways to participate in this vital encounter.
Upcoming Events
Religon and science related classes offered in the Fall 2008 semester have been added to the Related Yale Resources page. Check them out!
September 25, 2008 - Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Fellowship in Faith and Science
The Saint Thomas More Center hosts Prof. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, O'Neill Family Professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Most of Shrader-Frechette's research analyzes mathematical, biological, or ethical problems in risk assessment, public health,
or environmental justice – especially those related to radiological, ecological, and energy-related risks. Check back for more details on her visit.
Ongoing Working Groups
Religion & Science in Dialogue Working Group
A Metanexus Local Society
A weekly dialogue group that focuses on the relationship between scientific findings and the religious quest. More information.
Recent Events
April 16, 2008
Nobel Laureate Charles Townes: Faith in Science, Experiment in Religion
Charles Townes, Winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics
Professor Townes addressed a packed lecture hall at Yale Divinity School, presenting his thoughts on the numerous yet oft-forgotten parallels between science and religion. Townes suggested that a greater dose of humility was necessary all around: scientists ought to admit their assumptions and limited knowledge, and religious believers ought to have a more flexible understanding regarding the natural world. Finally, Townes reiterated the importance that ethical thought, both religious and otherwise, must play in understanding how to use the incredible power that the advances of science and technology have brought us.
Charles Townes was born in 1915, and received his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1939. After working as a researcher for Bell Labs, he was appointed a faculty member at Columbia University, served as Vice President for the Institute for Defense Analyses, and was appointed Provost of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1964, Townes received a Nobel Prize for research that led to the development of the laser. In 2005, Townes received the Templeton Prize for contributions to the dialogue between religion and science. Professor Townes currently serves as University Professor at the University of California, where he is engaged in ongoing research.
March 19-23, 2008
Annual Conference of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness
Nearly eighty scholars from the U.S. and abroad assembled for the annual meeting of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness, a section of the American Anthropological Association. Hosted by IRST, the conference featured 46 plenary presentations, including several by IRST participants, on topics such as shamanism, consciousness theory, altered states, mediumship, and the meaning of spirit in various cultures. Additionally, spiritual anthropology was introduced as one of anthropology’s diverse specializations.
February 28, 2008
Graduate and Faculty Forum: Challenges of Technology for a Sustainable Future
Gabriel Michael
James Clement van Pelt
As the first event of Yale Divinity School's "Renewing Hope: Pathways of Religious Environmentalism" conference, Divinity School graduate student Gabriel Michael gives a presentation entitled "Genetic Modification and Bodily Sovereignty: Beyond John Stuart Mill," which examines some of the ethical issues surrounding the genetic modification of humans that we may face in the future.
IRST Program Director James Clement van Pelt presents "Green Eschatology: Facing the Culmination of Technological Civilization," a sweeping look at the ultimate narrative of humanity. In the face of our astounding achievements, we still must constantly ask: where are we headed?
January 28, 2008
Animals as Experimental Subjects at Yale: Spiritual, Ethical and Scientific Ramifications
Aysha Akhtar, MD, MPH
Dr. Akhtar explores the ethical and scientific issues raised by the use of animals in scientific experiments. Are animal experiments usefully predictive of human outcomes, and if so, to what extent?
Click for a complete list of past events
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