Advanced Seminar in
Religion and Science 2012
Surveying the Interface of
Humans and (Other) Animals
Chaired by Philip Hefner and Paul
Heltne
Monday Evenings 6:30 PM - 9:30
PM, January 30 through April 30, 2012
Room 201, Lutheran School of
Theology at Chicago, 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615
“Surveying the Interface of
Humans and (Other) Animals” - the title of the 2012 Advanced
Seminar in Religion and Science plays on the differences we make between the
human animal (the animal we are) and all others. This seminar will explore the
distinctions and connections between humankind and animals from scientific,
theological, and ethical perspectives. Participants will engage with expert
speakers and survey current knowledge that is relevant to the interface of
humans and other animals, in order to discern how this knowledge shapes and
re-shapes our understandings of humans and other animals.
Offered by the Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS), the
Advanced Seminar in Religion and Science is designed as a research seminar for
faculty and graduate students.
Course credit is available via registration through the Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) or cross-registration through member schools of
the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS); the course number is
LSTC T-672. All participants,
whether taking the seminar for credit or not, are asked to pre-register with
the seminar chairs by contacting ZCRS at [email protected] or
773-256-0670. For more information
about ZCRS, please visit www.zygoncenter.org.
January 30 What Is the Interface of Humans and (Other)
Animals?
Philip Hefner, theology, Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago and ZCRS
Complexity
and Care with Respect to Humans and Nature
Paul Heltne, evolutionary biology,
Chicago Academy of Sciences and ZCRS
February 6 The Personalities of Animals - Including
Humans
Dan McAdams, psychology, Northwestern
University
February 13 Humans, Chimpanzees, and Cognition
Paul Heltne, evolutionary biology,
Chicago Academy of Sciences and ZCRS
February 20 Animal Machines: A Partial History and Some
Theological Projections
Lea Schweitz, theology and science,
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and ZCRS
February 27 No Lectures (Reading Week at LSTC)
March 5 Perspectives on Nature - as Experienced
by Bipedal, Binocular,
Megacephalic
Members of the Food Chain (Me and You)
Steve Sullivan, biology, Chicago Academy
of Sciences
March 12 Spirituality Unleashed
Anne Benvenuti, visiting fellow,
psychology and philosophy, ZCRS
March 19 Perspectives on Large-Scale Animal Studies
Gayle Woloschak, molecular biology,
Northwestern University School of Medicine
March 26 What Is It about
Butterflies, Anyway? Finding Complexity in the Smaller Side of Nature
Doug Taron, biology, Chicago
Academy of Sciences
April 2 No Lectures (Holy Week at LSTC)
April 9 The Moral Primate: On the Importance of
Animals for Ethics
William Schweiker, theological ethics,
The University of Chicago Divinity School
April 16 Why Did God Create Animals or Humans? Why
Are We Here?
… and
Other Small Questions
Philip Hefner, theology, Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago and ZCRS
April 23 Course Reflections
April 30 God, the Emergence of Human Freedom, and
the Question of the Animal
Celia Deane-Drummond, theology,
University of Notre Dame