Lent is halfway through, we’ve set our clocks ahead, and Peeps are on the store shelves. It must be nearly spring, and so soon young men’s fancies will lightly turn to thoughts of life. New life will be everywhere: blooming flowers, baby birds, buzzing cicadas. We know where this life comes from. But where did the first life come from? That remains a mystery, yet one which many young folks of all sorts seek to unravel. One group in Scotland has gone so far as to build their own “Chemputer” to help, and its first results are starting to come in.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: Ask Your Parents Where Life Comes From
Science Corner
Join us on 2/24: Online Chat about Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant
Are you an early career faculty person? Interested in applying to the 2024 Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant? Know someone who might be? Join us on Sat 2/24 at 11am EST/10 CST/9 MST/8 PST! Hear from the 2023 Awardee Dr. George Montañez, and chat with members of the 2024 Grant Committee.
We have made some changes to the application for clarity and timeline purposes. They are very much in the spirit of the grant’s tradition of flexible support for the research of early career Christian scholars, and we believe they will also simplify the application process somewhat and make the timeline more approachable. Join us to hear about the updates and share your questions. Dr. Hannah Eagleson, Grant Director, will facilitate the conversation, and Bob Trube, committee member will host.
This event is cosponsored by InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network and Global Scholars.
Science Corner: When the Bloom is off the Rose
Imagine if you will a holiday on which it is customary to bring flowers, chocolates, and the like to another person for whom one has romantic feelings. I know, I know, a preposterous proposition, but sometimes an outlandish thought experiment can be helpful. And so on this holiday, you bring a gift of flowers and observe how happy they make your crush. The next year, you are late to the florist and cannot get flowers so you bring chocolate instead and notice an equally happy reaction. The following year you are extra prepared–flowers ordered in advance and just-in-case chocolates; you give both and notice your crush is even happier, but not really twice as happy as with either gift alone. Now you are curious, and so the next year you supplement flowers and chocolate with provocative loungewear only to discover this makes your crush less happy than if they had gotten no gift at all. O dear! What is going on?
[Read more…] about Science Corner: When the Bloom is off the Rose
Conference Report: Developing A Christian Mind at Harvard/MIT
On January 19-20, 2024, the first Developing a Christian Mind Conference in the United States was held at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This article is drawn from a report written to ministry partners by Jeff Barneson, Associate Director of Faculty Ministry and Campus Staff Minister at Harvard University.
Last weekend we hosted our first conference on Developing a Christian Mind at Harvard & MIT. The initiative, based on the longstanding conference – DCM Oxford – was an experiment for us and our Faculty Ministry Leadership Team. Our intent was to explore new ways to empower faculty ministry with early-term graduate students – especially those headed toward work in higher education.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Friday Jan 19:
1:30pm – Registration, snacks, coffee, tea
2:00pm – Main Session 1
-Welcome & Introduction
-Talk & Discussion: Discipleship of the Mind: Reflections on seeking the shalom of the university
-Talk: Discipleship of the Mind: Reflections on integrating Christian faith with our scholarship
-Panel Discussion: What does it mean to be human and be made in God’s image? What is the understanding of a human being in your field? How does the Gospel map critique and help redeem the dominant understanding of humanity in your field? What ways have you found to seek the shalom of the university?
6:30pm – Dinner & Discussion
Saturday, Jan 20:
8:30am – Breakfast, coffee, tea
9:00am – Main Session 2
-Talk: What is our response to creation? Christian Science and Engineering
-Talk & Discussion: Wholeness, Sin and Redemption in Public Health
12:00pm – Lunch & Discussion groups
1:00pm – Main Session 3
-Panel Discussion: What is the influence of sin in your discipline and what does redemption look like in your discipline?
-Talk & Discussion: The Calling of Christian Graduate Students and Academics
4:00pm – Closing worship, prayer & sending out
We are still processing the experience with graduate students, faculty members and InterVarsity staff, but it is already clear – this DCM was a hit. Some of the things we observed were:
• Graduate students loved seeing their professors speak about the distinctive meaning of the gospel of Jesus for their research, teaching, mentoring and leadership in the academy. Several faculty remarked how much they wished they had received this kind of teaching when they first set out on their studies.
• Faculty members experienced a unique opportunity to work together and learn from one another across discipline lines – engaging generously with one another and with graduate students
• Invitations to professors to speak and work on panels provided significant opportunities for them to reflect on and strengthen the integration of their own Journey with Jesus and what this means for their calling in the academy
• Dinners in the homes of professors extended conversations, allowed students to ask more discipline-specific questions, and developed deeper relationships between faculty and students
On Saturday evening, our organizing team celebrated and debriefed the weekend with professors, students, staff and family members. There was a lot for which we were thankful. The most common words used to describe the conference were awe, grateful, powerful, and humbled.
Please continue with us in prayer as we work together to understand how to strengthen the ministry of professors with graduate students and each other in the future.
ESN Announces: American Scientific Association 2024 Winter Symposium
The Emerging Scholars Network has loved partnering with the American Scientific Affiliation for many years. Elaine Howard Ecklund is a friend and past ESN Conversation guest and so we were very excited to learn of her presentation this weekend at the ASA Winter Symposium. Here are the details!
WHEN: Saturday, January 27, 2024, at 1:00 ET
COST: Free (a free-will donation is suggested)
SPEAKER: Elaine Howard Ecklund
TITLE: Why Science and Faith Need Each Other
REGISTER: Scan the QR code above or visit the Winter Symposium page
BIO: Elaine Howard Ecklund is the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, and director of the Boniuk Institute at Rice University. As a sociologist of religion, science, and work, she is particularly interested in social change and how institutions change, especially when individuals leverage aspects of their religious, race, and gender identities to change institutions. Over the past several years Elaine’s research has explored how scientists in different nations understand religion, ethics, and gender; religion at work; and the overlap between racial and religious discrimination in workplaces. Most recently Elaine is co-directing a $2.9 million grant in order to create a new field of sociological research examining science and religion. Elaine has received funding for her research from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Issachar Fund, John Templeton Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, and Templeton World Charities Foundation. She is the author (with students and colleagues) of over 100 journal articles and seven books, including Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values That Move Us Beyond Fear. In 2018 she gave the Gifford Lecture at the University of Edinburgh.
Books by Elaine Howard Ecklund can be purchased through the ASA virtual bookstore here.