About the Advanced Seminar Program

Since 1965 an advanced seminar on religion in the context of the sciences has been offered for faculty, students, and professionals in the Chicago area. The seminar was initially chaired by Ralph Wendell Burhoe, Director of the Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) at Meadville/Lombard (M/L) Theological School. CASIRAS traces its origins to the scientists who comprised the Committee on Science and Human Values of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which began in 1952, when Burhoe was Executive Officer of the Academy. This group worked on the significance of religion within the processes of genetic and socio-cultural evolution.

In 1970, CASIRAS and its courses were affiliated with the Chicago Cluster of Theological Schools. Philip Hefner, Professor Systematic Theology Emeritus at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) became the program chair of CASIRAS. In 1988, the Zygon Center for Religion and Science was founded by LSTC and CASIRAS. The new center became co-sponsor of the Advanced Seminar, along with its Epic of Creation Project Director, Thomas Gilbert. Antje Jackelén, the director of the Zygon Center, and Philip Hefner serve as co-chairs of the seminar.

From this tradition, the Seminar takes its shape as a multidisciplinary network of persons seeking to understand how the sciences and the religions engage each other and to interpret the fundamental issues that are posed in this engagement. The goal is to gain insight into the import of the sciences for the critical function of religion in its role as a cultural vehicle of ultimate values and concerns.

The Seminar is available for course credit (through ACTS).