Course statistics
Name: HONR 228C, section 0101 (3 credits). Science and Religion: Synergy and Conflict

CORE This course has been approved for the CORE curriculum in Distributive Studies: Humanities & the Arts (HO) category.
Prerequisite: You must be part of the Honors Program. Also, this course is discussion-based, and you must be willing to participate in class discussions.
Meeting Time and Place: Tuesday/Thursday; 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm; Plant Sciences Bldg., Room 5112.

Instructor: Jerome Regier (Professor, Center for Biosystems Research)
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute;
Affiliate Professor, Department of Entomology, UMCP
Office: Plant Sciences Bldg., Room 5140
Lab: Plant Sciences Bldg., Room 5142
Phone: 301-405-7679 (has answering machine)
Email: regier@glue.umd.edu

Campus Mail: J. Regier, CBR, Plant Sciences 5115
[N.B.: Please do not send me mail via Anne Arundel Hall or the Honors Program]
Web Page: http://www.umbi.umd.edu/regier

Office Hours: Wednesday, 10 am - 12 pm; Friday, 1-3 pm; after class; or by appointment.

Required Readings

1. Pine, Ronald C. (2002). Science and the Human Prospect. Accessible on the Internet at http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/book1-2.html. If you choose to print a hard copy directly from the Internet, either send a $5.00 royalty fee to Professor Ronald Pine (Honolulu Community College, 874 Dillingham Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96817) or give it to me and I will send it to him. Alternatively, if you wish that I provide you with a complete photocopy of the text, then give me $17.00, $12.00 for photocopying and $5.00 for royalty.

2. Kaufman, Gordon D. (1993). In Face of Mystery. A Constructive Theology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 507 pp. [available at local bookstores]

Useful Web resources
1. Various electronic dictionaries (Oxford English Dictionary recommended) are accessible from: http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/Reference.html#dictionaries.
2. Electronic dictionaries of philosophical terms and concepts are accessible at http://www.philosophypages.com/dy and at http://plato.stanford.edu.

Description of course
How do scientists and religious believers pose, address, and resolve questions? What do they mean by such terms as belief, explanation, fact, faith, evidence, and theory? Do conflicts between science and religion arise from inadequate information or from misunderstanding, or are some conflicts inherently irreconcilable given differing worldviews? What role does bias, religious or otherwise, play in scientific creativity? What role does scientific discovery play in theological construction? How is the God of Christianity/Judaism/Islam to be viewed in a naturalistic universe? How does our historical awareness of changing religious and scientific belief structures impact our current beliefs? Is it reasonable to ask what role, if any, humanity has within the universe?

These questions will be addressed in class discussion through readings of a philosopher of science who outlines changing scientific worldviews (both physicalist and evolutionary) and their religious implications, and of a Christian theologian whose conception of God is largely naturalistic but still retains central traditionalist elements. Discussion of this theological construction is meant to highlight the role of creativity in religious thinking and to draw some parallels with what occurs in science.

Course goals and objectives

• Students will address what science is and what it is not, how it proceeds and how it cannot, and the relationship between scientific observation and scientific theory.

• Students will ponder the limits of scientific knowledge and discuss how to act morally in the World given that humanity's current knowledge base is highly incomplete.

• Students will recognize the difference between matters of fact and value, while understanding the intimate relationship between the two.

• Students will reflect upon, dissect, and analyze the academic process of constructing a theology focused around developing a meaningful concept of God.

Calendar of Reading Assignments [S = 28 class meetings]
week 1 (Sept. 2 / 4) -- Introduction to the course / SHP, chap. 1,
+ personal statement and E-mail address due Sept. 4
week 2 (Sept. 9 / 11) -- SHP, chap. 2 / 3 [no office hours on Friday, Sept 13]
week 3 (Sept. 16 / 18) -- SHP, chap. 4 / 5
week 4 (Sept. 23 / 25) -- SHP, chap. 6 / 7
week 5 (Sept. 30 / Oct. 2) -- SHP, chap. 8 / 9
week 6 (Oct. 7 / 9) -- SHP, chap. 10 / FM, chap. 1-2
week 7 (Oct. 14 / 16) -- FM, chap. 3-4 / 5-6
week 8 (Oct. 21 / 23) -- FM, chap. 7-8 / 9-10
week 9 (Oct. 28 / 30) -- no class / FM, chap. 11
week 10 (Nov. 4 / 6) -- FM, chap. 12-13 / 14-15, + first report due Nov. 4
week 11 (Nov. 11 / 13) -- FM, chap. 16-17 / 18
week 12 (Nov. 18 / 20) -- FM, chap. 19 / 20
week 13 (Nov. 25 / 27) -- FM, chap. 21 / no class (Thanksgiving recess)
week 14 (Dec. 2 / 4) -- FM, chap. 22 / 23
week 15 (Dec. 9 / 11) -- FM, chap. 24-25 / 26-27, + second report due Dec. 15
SHP, Science and the Human Prospect (Ronald C. Pine, author)
FM, In Face of Mystery (Gordon D. Kaufman, author)

Conduct of the course
Class time will largely consist of group discussion, consistent with the seminar format and the expansive themes that characterize Honors courses. During class time, the instructor will solicit comments on questions raised by the day's assigned reading. For In Face of Mystery only, a list of discussion questions will be distributed by E-mail at least one day in advance. Discussion will take the forms of a student / instructor dialog and an open-class exchange.

Grading procedures and expectations of students

• Class discussion will be 25% of the final grade. Participation in terms of questions, responses to questions, and comments will be expected. Students will need to complete reading assignments on time in order to contribute to class discussion in an intelligent and focused manner.

• Short (e.g., 10 minutes) quizzes on the assignments will be a regular feature at the beginning of class and will constitute, in aggregate, 25% of the final grade. Quizzes will consist of short answer (e.g., definitions) and short essay questions. The latter may test ability to understand concepts and to apply them, perhaps in novel situations. For those with excused absences (e.g., due to observance of religious holidays, participation on UMCP sports teams, and sickness), missed quizzes will not count towards final grades if written summaries of the main points of the missed day's reading assignments are turned in anytime during the semester, but no later than December 12. Summaries of approximately 1 page/chapter in a complete-sentence, word-processing format are acceptable.

• Two reports, each worth 25% of the final grade, will be assigned. These reports (each 6-9 pages of text + references, double-spaced, word processing only) will be on topics of the students' choosing, but the topics should be pre-approved by the instructor. Reports should be comparative (e.g., contrasting philosophical ideas) and/or analytical in their approach, and not simply descriptive. The first report (due November 4) should relate to the philosophy or history of science, or to some aspect of the conflict or synergy between science and religion. A list of sample topics will be provided later in the course. The second report (due December 15) can continue with the preceding themes or can relate to theological construction or to some aspect of the biohistorical trajectory (defined in In Face of Mystery). Students should think about suitable topics in light of the assigned readings. The selection of a topic is an important and, for many, challenging task. Reports will be graded on thoughtfulness, thoroughness, logic, and clarity (including grammar, spelling, and good composition). References should be briefly cited (e.g., by number or author + year of publication) at appropriate places in the text and then fully cited at the end of the report. It is not acceptable simply to provide a list of references at the back of the report without page citations for key statements in the report. The University's Honor Pledge (see www.umd.edu/honorpledge) should be written in hand at the bottom of both reports and signed. The report can also be delivered as an E-mail attachment in Microsoft Word, in which case a typewritten Honor Pledge and signature is satisfactory. You should assume that your report has been received only after the instructor has acknowledged its receipt by return E-mail.

• There will be no final exam. This course does not offer a no-grade / pass-fail option. Arrangements for incompletes must be made with the instructor prior to the end of the course in a manner consistent with University policy.

Attendance
Fifty per cent of the grade (i.e., that based on in-class discussion and the quizzes) is dependent on performance during class time, so attendance is strongly recommended. Accommodation for failure to complete in-class work due to absence will require satisfactory certification. There will be no opportunity for makeup of class discussion. For those with excused absences, quizzes not missed will be averaged to determine that portion of the grade, as long as the written summaries of missed readings are completed (see above). Reports handed in late will be reduced by one letter grade, unless an extension has been arranged prior to the deadline.

Academic Integrity
Submitted reports are to be the efforts of individual class members only, with all cited thoughts properly referenced. The Student Honor Council's statement on academic dishonesty should be followed (see www.testudo.umd.edu/soc/dishonesty.html).

Statement on Disabilities
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Core Liberal Arts and Sciences Studies Program
"You may have chosen this course as part of your CORE Liberal Arts and Sciences Studies Program, the general education portion of your degree program. CORE Distributive Studies courses are designed to ensure that you will take a look at several different academic disciplines and the way they create and analyze knowledge about the world. A faculty and student committee approved this CORE Distributive Studies course because it will introduce you to ideas and issues that are central to a major intellectual discipline and because it promises to involve you actively in the learning process. Please take advantage of the opportunities this course offers you." (excerpted from CORE Program goals of the Core Program).