First of all, welcome to the new blog subscribers from the annual Emerging Scholars Network member survey! Thank you for completing the survey and letting us know how ESN can improve. If you haven't been reading the blog regularly, you might want to review our new Top Posts page to get a feel for what we cover. Tom Grosh and I view the blog as an online community of ESN members, so I look forward to reading your comments and contributions. A couple of friends tipped me off to this intriguing story in the New York … [Read more...] about Would you major in Secularism?
religion
Is Religion Inferior to Science?
Yesterday, USA Today published an opinion column by University of Chicago professor Jerry Coyne called "Science and religion aren't friends." Coyne, the author of Why Evolution Is True, opposes any attempt to reconcile, integrate, or otherwise bridge the gap between science and religion. To Coyne, religion is less than worthless: ...pretending that faith and science are equally valid ways of finding truth not only weakens our concept of truth, it also gives religion an undeserved authority that does the world no good. … [Read more...] about Is Religion Inferior to Science?
What’s Your Strategy for Controversy?
Almost two weeks ago, Comment published my article Is That Disagreement Religious—or Political?, about the political differences between evangelical academics and their academic colleagues. Here's my opening paragraph: In the political conflicts between right and left, evangelical Christian faculty are often in danger of being squeezed in the middle. Not only are they frequently out of step with the academic political mainstream, but the strong connection between evangelicalism and conservative politics outside the … [Read more...] about What’s Your Strategy for Controversy?
Christian Privilege in the Academy?
In InterVarsity and many other Christian organizations, we're used to thinking of Christians as a minority - even a persecuted minority - within the academy, particularly at the more prestigious universities. For example, responding to a common question asked by many faculty and graduate students, we recently published an essay by Ken Elzinga of the University of Virginia titled "Being Open About My Faith Without Turning People Off." There is another way of looking at Christianity in the university, however. Photo … [Read more...] about Christian Privilege in the Academy?
Week in Review: Nobel Prize Edition
Our Week-in-Review feature has a new format. We know there's way too much to read out there already, so we're going to be highlighting the top five articles, books, websites, etc., that we've been reading or thinking about the past week. 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. Academic Nobel News - The Nobel Prizes are being handed out this week, and, as usual, academic researchers did quite well. The prize for Medicine went to Elizabeth … [Read more...] about Week in Review: Nobel Prize Edition