The Future of Creation 2012

Foundations for a Just and Sustainable World

Chaired by Barbara Rossing and Gayle Woloschak

Tuesday Evenings 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM, January 31 through May 1, 2012

Room 201, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615

To live faithfully in today’s world, we need to face today’s problems. At the Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS), we believe that community coalitions—between scientists and people of faith, between scholars of religion and leaders of religious communities—are necessary to forge a better world. “The Future of Creation: Foundations for a Just and Sustainable World” addresses one key element in making a better world: developing effective, equitable, and sustainable responses to environmental degradation. Through the Future of Creation course, we invite you to learn, reflect, and act in response to today’s and tomorrow’s environmental crises—informed by contemporary scientific insights, guided by critical religious perspectives, and trained in practical public strategies.

Offered by the Zygon Center for Religion and Science (ZCRS), the Future of Creation course is designed as a graduate-level seminary course and public lecture series. All lectures are free and open to the public. 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/B/I-400. For more information about ZCRS, please visit www.zygoncenter.org, email [email protected], or call 773-256-0670.

Faith, Science, and Ecology

January 31 (6:30 PM) Course Introduction: Barbara Rossing, New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC)

January 31 (8:00 PM) Course Introduction: Gayle Woloschak, molecular biology, Northwestern University

February 7 (6:30 PM) Ecology of Food and Hunger: David Creech, program director, Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger

February 7 (8:00 PM) Religious Environmental Ethics: Michael Hogue, theology, Meadville-Lombard Theological School

Ecological Stresses and Environmental Sustainability

February 14 (6:30 PM) Field Trip: “Radiation and the Environment,” Woloschak Lab, Northwestern University
Meeting in Ward Memorial Building, room 13-002, 303 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611

February 21 (6:30 PM) Organisms and Habitats: Linda Vick, biology, North Park University

February 21 (8:00 PM) Loss of Species Diversity: Paul Heltne, evolutionary biology, Chicago Academy of Sciences and ZCRS

February 28 No Lectures (Reading Week at LSTC)

March 6 (6:30 PM) Population Processes and Extinctions: Chris Mulvaney, science coordinator, Chicago Wilderness

March 6 (8:00 PM) Sustainable Strategies for a Sustainable Environment: George Nassos, environmental management, Illinois Institute of Technology

Theological Perspectives and Biblical Backgrounds

March 13 (6:30 PM) Environmental Racism: Richard Perry, ethics, LSTC

March 13 (8:00 PM) New Testament Reflections: David Rhoads, New Testament, LSTC

March 20 (6:30 PM) Theology of Nature: Philip Hefner, theology, LSTC and ZCRS

March 20 (8:00 PM) Old Testament Reflections: Ted Hiebert, Old Testament, McCormick Theological Seminary

March 27 (6:30 PM) Climate Change and Daily Bread: Barbara Rossing, New Testament, LSTC

March 27 (8:00 PM) Open Discussion

April 3 No Lectures (Holy Week at LSTC)

Ecological Coexistence and Environmental Ethics

April 10 (6:30 PM) Presentation and Discussion: “Coal in Southern Illinois,” Clare Butterfield, director, Faith in Place

April 17 (6:30 PM) The Spirit of Agriculture: Gavin Van Horn, Midwest director, Center for Humans and Nature

April 17 (8:00 PM) Liturgy, Ecology and the End(s) of Creation: Robert Saler, theology, LSTC

April 24 (6:30 PM) Earth Day Program (speakers TBA)

May 1 (6:30 PM) Student Project Presentations