ESN is currently creating a Faith/Science curriculum for young adult small groups. We've partnered with InterVarsity graduate student discussion groups to identify faith/science questions that are important to emerging scholars, and we're commissioning thoughtful Christians in science or theology/philosophy to explore those questions in this series at the ESN blog. We will publish these posts as a booklet curriculum for campus groups. Today, we're delighted to welcome Jim Stump on the topic of epistemology. This … [Read more...] about How should Christians in the sciences choose an epistemology? (STEAM Grant Series)
communication
Where Are You Planted? (Masterclass in Writing, Part 6)
With Written on Their Hearts: Writing, Worship, and Spiritual Formation in the Life of the Mind, Dr. Royce Francis began a new series on writing with a new format for the ESN blog, i.e., Masterclass. Like a Masterclass in music or performance, it provides the opportunity to learn skills from an expert, as well as exercises designed by that expert to help you deepen those skills in your own academic life. In this series, which will run for the length of the spring semester, Royce will weave together theological … [Read more...] about Where Are You Planted? (Masterclass in Writing, Part 6)
Science Corner: Arithmophobia & Other Language Barriers
For everyone who blanches at binomials, cringes at coefficients or detests derivatives: you're not alone! Even scientists may avoid math if they can, according to a study on the effect of equation density on the likelihood a scientific publication will be cited by other scientists. (Original paper here) The effect is small; for every additional equation per page, a paper is 5% less likely to be referenced. Still, the result is notable because it was observed in the physics literature, a discipline generally associated … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Arithmophobia & Other Language Barriers
Responding to Overnaming in Academia
Today, Matthew Boedy wraps up his four part series on overnaming. See Post 1 here, Post 2 here, and Post 3 here. For other work by Matthew at the ESN blog, including a series on the academic job search, click here. In this four-part series, I have tried to think about one particular aspect of language: naming. In describing the appearance of our central problem called overnaming, I suggested that when we speak with a moral knowledge we are in fact showing our original sin. But when we speak ethically, we … [Read more...] about Responding to Overnaming in Academia
A Response to Overnaming
In this four-part series, I aim to think about one particular aspect of language: naming. In the introduction, I preliminarily addressed the root of the problem, the Fall. In the second post, I argued the “knowledge of good and evil” we gained at the Fall became the way we separate ourselves from God. We never gained this knowledge as if it was information about good and evil. We instead changed our relationship with naming. Here I want to begin to think through a general response. In the fourth, we will tackle … [Read more...] about A Response to Overnaming