The Emerging Scholars Blog

In addition to the presentation on "Seeking Other Earths: Exoplanets and the Significance of Life," conference participants had the opportunity to visit the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. The above photo is of "a small portion of one of the largest-seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula." It was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (developed and serviced by NASA-Goddard), http://hubble.nasa.gov/.

The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) has just begun to post audio podcasts of the talks from their 65th Annual Meeting:  Science, Faith, and Public Policy (Catholic University in America, Washington, D.C.).  I’d encourage you to check out their library.

Three presentations which I found of particular value and commend to you are …

• Experiences of a Scientist-Christian in the Washington Fishbowl
• An Introduction to a Systematic Theology of Medicine
• Seeking Other Earths: Exoplanets and the Significance of Life

If you have comments on any of these presentations, please post them here.  If you’d prefer a private on-line discussion group on one of these presentations, let me know.

Note 1: Files of many of the presentation slides will also be posted on the ASA site. We’ll keep you up-to-date.  In addition, interviews of several ASA presenters are in process for posting on the ESN blog.  As you may remember, we already have posted

• Interview: Ted Davis, the Story of a Historian of Science (21.208) and History of Science Recommendations from Ted Davis
• Interview: Jimmy Lin, Medical and Scientific Doxologist

Note 2:  If you’re a student in the sciences (or interested in the sciences), don’t miss the ASA’s special student rate of $20 a year. To learn more about the benefits of membership click here.  Might make a good item to request as a birthday or Christmas gift. Just an idea ;-)

Note 3:  ESN’s looking forward to more conversations on the relationship of science-faith on the blog AND at next year’s ASA mtgs, which will be hosted by North Central College, in the Chicago area, July 29 – Aug 1, 2011. Mark your calendars!

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1.  How hard can an adjunct push? Would reading a piece such as Six Ways to Make Adjuncting More Effective and Fulfilling (Brian Croxall. Chronicle of Higher Education. 7/15/2010) been helpful for Kenneth Howell, who up until recently had an adjunct position at U. of Illinois where he was teaching about his Roman Catholic faith?  Check out how Teaching or Preaching (Scott Jaschik. Inside Higher Ed. 7/15/2010) and The Politics Of The Classroom: Is It Homophobic To Teach About The Scriptural Basis For Homophobia? (Tenured Radical.  7/13/2010), discuss Howell’s firing.   While reading, don’t miss how our guest blogger Janine Giordano Drake (advanced graduate student in the University of Illinois Department of History) enters the conversation with the Tenured Radical.  Note:  the Alliance Defense Fund has picked up Howell’s cause.

2. The Real Challenge for Higher Education. Do you think higher education receives significant challenge from the wider American culture.  If so, Why?  How would you (do you) seek to address concerns and implement change in your context?

To better understand America’s lack of a pervasive education culture, consider the fact that as a nation we generally don’t greatly value educated people and don’t seem to believe that being educated contributes to quality of life beyond that offered by greater economic success. — Garrison Walters. The Real Challenge for Higher Education. Inside Higher Ed. 7/15/2010.

3.  How Diversity Punishes Asians, Poor Whites and Lots of Others (Russell K. Nieli. Minding the Campus: Reforming the Universities. 7/12/2010). HT:  David.  He comments, “Later down in the particle they talk about how universities actually count points against students who come from farming (i.e. poor white) backgrounds, taking off points for 4H, FFA, etc.”

4. More on Miracles: Over at Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog, regular blogger and university scientist RJS picks up on the same BioLogos’ series on miracles that Tom wrote about.

If miracles are arbitrary acts of imaginative supernatural showmanship the incredulity of Martin is understandable. But they are not.  And this connects with the essay by Pete Enns, looking at the incidents in the ministry of Jesus where he rebuked or calmed the sea. These were not arbitrary acts, magic tricks, or acts of convenience to make life easier. These were miracles with a purpose – where the impact could not be missed.

5. Improv for Change: Evangelical Christians have tried every other strategy for changing culture, so why not improvisational comedy? In the WSJ, Penn law professor David Skeel writes about an unusual training session – Veritas Riff – organized by some pretty big names in the next generation of evangelical leaders: Curtis Chang, Andy Crouch, Michael Lindsey, and Dan Cho of the Veritas Forum, who sponsored the event. Last month in Cambridge, MA, a small group of “evangelical thought-leaders” were trained in media relations, interviewing, and, yes, improv:

Then came our theatrical training, led by Marianne Savell, the director of Actors Co-op Theatre Company in Hollywood. It started tamely enough, with a game called zip-zap-zop. (One fellow pointed to another and said “zip,” the other pointed to a third and said “zap;” those who spoke before pointing or said the wrong word were ousted from the circle).

Sounds like fun! This being the 21st century, you can see a Flickr collection of photos from the Veritas Riff mini-conference.

How do you define science?  What are its boundaries?  Does the scientific mind have any space for miracles?

Came across a BioLogos Forum series on Miracles and Science by the physicist Ard Louis.*  Below’s a quote on defining science, from the end of Miracles and Science, Part 1.

The problem of deciding where to draw the lines around science has vexed generations of philosophers. Like many unsolved issues, it has been given its own name — “the demarcation problem.” Although one can determine with some degree of consensus what the extremes of the science/non-science continuum are, exactly where the boundary lies is fuzzy. This doesn’t mean, however, that we cannot recognize science when we see it, but rather that a watertight definition is difficult to create. The old fashioned idea (still taught in many schools) that scientific practice follows a well-defined linear process — first make an observation, then state a hypothesis, and then test that hypothesis — is certainly far too simple –  Miracles and Science, Part 1 (Ard Louis. BioLogos Forum. 06/25/2010).

In the Miracles and Science Part 2 (7/3/2010), Louis weaves together the tapestry of science (experimental results, interpretations, explanations, etc.) and points out some of the limits of science.  At least one more post in the series, but you can jump directly to more of the material as it’s drawn from a recently-posted scholarly essay.**

So how do you define science?  What are its boundaries?  Does the practice of science (or a scientifically informed perspective) have any space for miracles? Do you frame these questions along similar lines to Louis?  If  you’re uncomfortable with Louis’ perspective, do you have an alternative to offer?

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What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1.  What is conversation like in your department? Do you have ‘unruly’ colleagues and not know how to respond (or wonder what to suggest when you have the opportunity), then check out To Rein In Unruly Faculty Members, Chairs Suggest a Department ‘Covenant’ (Sophia Li. Chronicle of Higher Education. 6/30/2010.) and the Sample Code of Conduct (From Department of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies: Beliefs at Washington State University).  Comment from Tom:  Also, don’t forget to prayerfully seek to live Christ-like lives which overflow with the fruit of the Spirit, courage/boldness of Daniel and friends (who are an amazing example of salt and light), and humility (Note: In this context, Matthew 7:1-5 first came to mind).

2.  Review of Harvard Scholar’s Arrest Cites Failure to Communicate (Kelly Truong. Chronicle of Higher Education. 6/30/2010.) brings to mind the public image of the interaction between African Americans (not to mention cutting edge African American academics such as Henry Louis Gates Jr., a professor of Black Studies at Harvard University) and white policemen?  What does it mean to have our ideas heard through words and actions?  How do those with power in different contexts address fear and cross cultures/cultural understandings when interacting in the gritty moments of real life?  Who in the end had more power … the one who knows the President of the United States?

In many instances, the new report reads like a therapy manual, calling the case a “textbook example” of a police officer and community member failing to cooperate “toward the common goal of a positive encounter.” The review committee suggests that the event escalated when the two men, who both later said they were afraid at the time, were unable to articulate their positions. — Kelly Truong. Review of Harvard Scholar’s Arrest Cites Failure to Communicate. Chronicle of Higher Education. 6/30/2010.

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The 65^th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation:  Science, Faith, & Public Policy is just over a month away (July 30 – August 2, Washington D.C.) and I hope that Emerging Scholars in the sciences will give participation serious consideration.*  I’ll be there to

• connect with ESN members (such as seminar leader Jimmy Lin, see Interview: Jimmy Lin, Medical and Scientific Doxologist)
• enjoy amazing opportunities, such as touring the NASA: Goddard Space Flight Center with Jennifer Wiseman, Chief of the Laboratory for Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics
• interview plenary speakers (hope Francis Collins, Geneticist and Author of Language of God: : A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, and others have a few minutes to spare in a packed schedule)
• invite participants to become involved with InterVarsity’s various ministries through a display table and a Graduate & Faculty Ministry Reception (Sunday, August 1, 8:30 PM, Atrium) with my colleagues Terry Morrison and Dwight Schwartz
• wrestle with how ESN might host/contribute to discussions on Science, Faith, & Public Policy.

Ted Davis

Here’s what my friend Edward B. (“Ted”) Davis, Distinguished Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and president of the ASA has to say with regard to the benefits members of ESN will receive not only from participation in the 65^th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, but more broadly by becoming a member of ASA.**  Note:  If you’ve never explored History of Science, I’d highly recommend you check out his webpage and take in some of his sessions at the ASA Mtgs.

The American Scientific Affiliation (www.asa3.org) is the premier science/faith organization in the Western Hemisphere.  We publish a refereed quarterly journal, “Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith,” a bi-monthly newsletter, and host a blog only for members.  I joined the ASA more than 30 years ago, and it has proved to be the most important professional decision I ever made.  Through the ASA (including the years when I was a student) I have met dozens of world-class scientists and scholars who share my Christian faith; through the ASA I learned about most of the best books and article on science & Christianity; and in the ASA I have found wonderful fellowship with believers who understand and appreciate all of the main fields of pure and applied science.  The annual meeting is always stimulating, well organized, and just plain fun to attend.  Students are especially urged to come, at least to visit for a day, to get a sense of who we are and what we do.  If you are a Christian in one of the sciences, this is an organization you want to be part of.

*Registration:  $75 student rate, $30 for 1 day student rate; plus room & board.  Be sure to visit the on-line registration page before June 30.

**Student member and student associate dues are $20/year. Full membership for others is half-off until June 30, i.e., only $35. Wow! To learn more about joining ASA registration click here.

Wouldn't Kuyper have dressed like this for the World Cup?

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1. Christian Philosophy, Anyone?

I spent a week in May with about fifteen other people, reading and discussing key sections of a four-volume tome with the forbidding title A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. Most of those present confessed that they had great difficulty understanding the assigned passages, yet everyone agreed at the end that the week was a great success, and perhaps worth doing again. … What kind of philosophy could attract the interest of such a varied collection of intellectuals [? The answer is that it was the philosophy of the Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977), whose disciplinary specialty was actually not philosophy at all, but jurisprudence. He taught for many years at the Free University of Amsterdam, the Christian university founded by Abraham Kuyper, the leader of the great revival of culturally engaged Calvinism known as neocalvinism. … — Christian Philosophy, Anyone? (Al Wolters. Comment. 6/11/2010)

2.  Free speech in a public, academic forum.  What can we learn from the on-going discussion at UC-Irvine with regard to how voices are to be heard and how they are to interact?  Any suggestions with regard to how such situations are to be addressed, in advance, during, afterward?  Comment from Tom:  The international world is on many U.S. campuses and most campuses lack the framework to engage in real, gritty cross-cultural conversation, let alone reshape perspective  on the issues, the idealism is fading.  Will shouting replace it on campus (including the administration/faculty) and the responses to incidents such as UC-Irvine?

The University of California at Irvine has suspended the campus’s Muslim Student Union for one year and placed the group on disciplinary probation after members of the group repeatedly interrupted a campus speech in February by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, according to a letter released on Monday.

The hecklers shouted down the ambassador, Michael Oren, at times calling him a “killer” and scuttling parts of the speech. Video of the event drew international attention and sparked a debate about the tactics of the protesters, who said they were angry about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. — UC-Irvine Suspends Muslim Student Group for Disrupting Speech (Josh Keller.  Chronicle of Higher Education. 14/2010)

Read the rest of this entry »

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1. More on Waltke: Christianity Today has published a summary of the story of Bruce Waltke’s resignation and reactions to it. If you remember, ESN posted a long summary of the situation with many links.

2. Putting Abortion on the Curriculum: In the Chronicle, Teresa J. Hornsby (a Biblical studies professor at Drury U.) writes about her experience leading an interdisciplinary working group exploring ways to deal with abortion in the classroom – not just as part of a planned curriculum, but also when it might arise unexpectedly because of the personal lives of students. As you might expect, the “culture gap” between academia and conservative Christians enters the conversation:

We tried to discuss our project with representatives of local and national pro-life organizations, which proved difficult. I wanted to gather as much information as possible, to hear all points of view, and, perhaps, identify some local representatives who could come into the classroom. But they were, in general, reluctant to speak to us; I suspect they mistrusted academics.

The article has some interesting suggestions on how to discuss controversial topics in a civil manner: finding language that everyone is comfortable with, using stories of real people, starting with more “distant” examples from other cultures or time periods before moving to contemporary issues. As a counter-example of how not to discuss abortion in the classroom, consider this 2006 incident, in which a Northern Kentucky U. faculty member used a British Lit class to encourage vandalism against an on-campus anti-abortion display.

3.  What is your identity and how do you share who you are on-line?  Is on-line reputation a greater concern for those in a public vocation such as higher education?

Reputation management has now become a defining feature of online life for many internet users, especially the young. While some internet users are careful to project themselves online in a way that suits specific audiences, other internet users embrace an open approach to sharing information about themselves and do not take steps to restrict what they share. Search engines and social media sites play a central role in building one’s reputation online, and many users are learning and refining their approach as they go — changing privacy settings on profiles, customizing who can see certain updates and deleting unwanted information about them that appears online. — Managing Your Online Profile:  How People Monitor Their Internet Identity and Search for Others Online (Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and Aaron Smith, Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 5/26/2010).

4.  Transitions for tenure track professors.  What would you add to, clarify, or desire to learn about on these lists of recommendations (as a follower of Christ and/or academic)?

• Open Letter to 2010-11′s Newly-Tenured Professors (Nels P. Highberg, Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/27/2010)
  • In a nutshell, I’d like to offer this final thought from a ProfHacker reader: “Remember how lucky we are, and be nice to the department’s secretary.” Good advice, indeed.
• Open Letter to 2010-11′s First-Time Tenure-Track Professors (Billie Hara, Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/20/2010)
  • If you could offer one piece of advice to an incoming faculty member, what would it be?

Lamppost at dawn, Kings College, Cambridge (Photo: Nigel Cooke via Flickr)

5.  “What place is there for religion within the University? Is there a place for God on the Quad or should we have no God on the Quad? … What is the connection between religion, intellectual diversity, and scholarship?” — If you haven’t already done such, swing by God on the Quad? (RJS) – Jesus Creed for conversation on the typologies of interaction of faith and science from Elaine Ecklund’s new book Science vs Religion: What Scientists Really Think.  Note to faculty: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s quarterly faculty newsletter The Lamp Post provides articles of theological reflection audio downloads of speakers like Dallas Willard and Cal DeWitt, practical resources for faculty communities, updates on events (local, regional, and national), and much, much more.  You can download a sampler of The Lamp Post by clicking here.

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1.  Simon Critchley (chair of philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, and part-time professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands) kicks off The Stone, a NY Times forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless with the question, What Is a Philosopher? How would you answer this question?

2.  Scientists Fault U.S. Response in Assessing Gulf Oil Spill (Justin Gillis, NY Times, 5/19/2010).  “‘Our intention is to deploy every single thing we’ve got,’ Dr. Lubchenco [administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] said. ‘If it’s not in the region, we’re bringing it there.’”  But it has been difficult to access research material in order to develop an “understanding where the oil is and what its impact might be” and discern/model “what is happening in deeper water.”  Any suggestions regarding how business, environmental recovery, government, and scientific response can partner?  Sharing their gifts and resources to address the oil spill?  Or are we actually doing well, but have a blame game?

Note:  Scientists have long theorized that a shallow spill and a spill in the deep ocean — this one is a mile down — would behave quite differently. A 2003 report by the National Research Council predicted that the oil could break into fine droplets, forming plumes of oil mixed with water that would not quickly rise to the surface — Scientists Fault U.S. Response in Assessing Gulf Oil Spill (Justin Gillis, NY Times, 5/19/2010).

3. The King James Bible and Its Cultural Afterlife – Ohio State is hosting this conference in May 2011, focusing on the cultural and literary heritage of the King James Version of the Bible. Presenters already on the schedule already include Leland Ryken of Wheaton and Paul Gutjahr of Indiana U. If you are interested in presenting, statements of interest are due July 1. (HT: John Acker, who is also serving as research assistance for the conference)

4. ProfHacker’s Open Letter to New Tenure-Track Faculty – There’s some good stuff here. Just a taste:

Don’t be afraid to say no to service, even when you think you should take on the task. Pick your service load limit (using male colleagues as your standard, since they do less service and get more credit), and stick to that limit.

Make everything into research.

Get in the habit of writing regularly.

5. InterVarsity has a long history of culture making – including its own record label. The vinyl record blog recordo obscura picked up a 1969 InterVarsity record featuring Christian coffee house band Jonathan & Charles at a Cincinnati thrift store. It’s pretty groovy – if nothing else, take a few minutes to listen to “Jesus Was a Pretty Good Guy.”

After a bit of a delay, we are continuing our series of interviews from Jubilee with a conversation with Jimmy Lin, an MD/PhD student at Johns Hopkins. Jimmy describes himself as “medical and scientific doxologist” — in fact, even his Twitter handle is @doxologist. At Jubilee, Jimmy presented several seminars about being a Christian in the sciences and medicine. I had met Jimmy online through ESN, so I was very happy to have the chance to meet him and his wife in person. Be sure to check out our previous interviews with Derek Melleby and David Naugle.

Jimmy Lin, medical and scientific doxologist

Micheal Hickerson: You are doing a lot of different degrees. You are in an MD program, a PhD program, and you mentioned you are in seminary…

Jimmy Lin: I am doing four degrees concurrently, the MD/PhD [at Johns Hopkins], the masters in arts religion at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a masters in health sciences at the School of Public Health.

MH:Why did you decide to do so many different degrees at the same time, and how are you doing so many different degrees at the same time?

JL: It all started because I am very interested in bringing the discoveries of science and seeing it applied to the cure of human diseases or the welfare of humans in general. The MD/PhD is a very established program that I applied to and was accepted. It’s a great program. That’s where I started.

My research interest is computational biology specifically using the computer to do genomics work in cancer. That requires a lot of specific information which is in the field called bioinformatics. It’s not offered as part of the PhD program. My PhD is in pure biology, so that’s why I did the additional masters, to acquire those skills in bioinformatics.

In addition, the theology degree — I felt that I was very lacking in the field. I was reading so much about it anyway, but I was lacking formalized, systematic learning about these topics. That’s why I started in a seminary classes — and then got addicted. It was so much fun to have these top scholars come tell you what to read, teach you what they have learned. That’s why I pursued it, and my church was very supportive of it, so that’s why I do all that.

I think I do it out of love. I love learning and I love all the aspects of it.

How do I do it? That’s a good question. The medical degree is a very time intensive degree. Usually medical students spend 60 to 100 hours a week of studying and learning, whereas in graduate school [for the PhD], you are a lot more flexible. In terms of time, it’s less. The minimum is 40 hours, though people do spend a little bit more.

For example, during my PhD years, I could take [the theology courses]. Most of my weekends are free and I have a lab on weekends, and that’s when I take my seminary classes. During the PhD years, it was easier to take the additional classes then. Now I am going back to medical school, and I won’t be able to do that because the time commitments are so large for medical school.

MH: One of the things I was also very interested in, is you call yourself a doxologist. What’s the full term you used in your Jubilee bio?

JL: Medical and scientific doxologist.

MH: How did you decide on that term and what does it mean to you? Read the rest of this entry »

What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike.

1. Inhabiting God’s story? Over the past several days Tom hosted Bobby Gross, National Director of InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministry.  They had a number of conversations with faculty, pastors, and friends of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  As part of the visit, Bobby participated in an Ascension Day service at First Presbyterian Church, York, PA.  The gathering was in partnership with Hearts and Minds Bookstore.  One of Byron Borger’s recent blog posts related to the event, Living the Christian Year author Bobby Gross to speak here on Ascension Day (5/10/2010) commends several books on the topic. In another post Byron shares that the beginning of Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God is worth the price of the book.   Here’s an excerpt he highlights:

“Most of us think of ourselves as ordinary people living quiet lives in unremarkable places. We are merely hobbits in our shires. But listen! We may not be caught up in dangerous drama like Frodo and his loyal companion, Sam, but we nonetheless live inside a big story, one that started long before our birth and that will go on long after our death, one that’s as wide as the universe and as old as eternity: the Story of God as centered in Jesus the Christ.

Our personal narratives take their fullest shape and deepest meaning in relation to God’s purposes for us and for the world. As Eugene Peterson puts it, “God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.” A very large context and very long plot indeed. — Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God (5/11/2010)

2. Want to know Why Amish businesses don’t fail (Geoff Williams, CNN Money, 5/4/2010), then read Erik Wesner’s new book Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive.  By-the-way, the 95% success rate Wesner uses is based upon a 2009 report by Elizabethtown College sociology professor Donald Kraybill, who has spoken for two Central PA Emerging Scholars Network events. HT:  Scot McKnight,  Business folks, what do you see here? (5/13/2010).

“studying several Amish settlements, Kraybill found failure rates ranging from 2.6% and 4.2%; interviews with loan officers, accountants and industry professions in other Amish regions yielded additional anecdotal evidence of closure rates significantly south of 10%.Compare that to the average five-year survival rate for new businesses across the United States, which hovers just under 50%. So what’s the secret?” — Why Amish businesses don’t fail (Geoff Williams, CNN Money, 5/4/2010)

3.  The New War Between Science and Religion (Mano Singham, The Chronicle Review, 5/9/2010) opens
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