Institute for Religion & Science

“Catching Fire” With Anita Wood, DMin September 22 – November 10, 2022 Eight Thursdays at 6:30 – 8:00 pm Register directly with Anita Wood at msanitawood@verizon.net by September 12. A small (8 person, maximum) contemplative dialogue experience applying the basic principles of Teilhard’s writings to personal experience. In dialogue with others, new insights are gained about the meaning of Teilhard’s evolutionary principles for everyday faith and action. There is a sliding scale for the series ($75-$125). Co-sponsored by Institute for Religion…

“Emerging Hope in a Chaotic World” With Kathleen Duffy, SSJ, PhD September 30, 2022 Online at 7pm EDT Flyer Register here.

"Perspectives on Life’s Technologies" With Gayle Woloschak, PhD Professor of Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Cell and Molecular Biology Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University DMin, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary October 3, 2022 Online at 7:00 pm ET Register here for this Zoom meeting.   Most ethical reflections on technology determine that the technology itself is neither good nor bad, but the uses of it determine its appropriate and inappropriate uses. This is the case for most beginning of life technologies including stem cell…

"Ecotheology, or Why Climate Crisis and Eco-Anxiety Require a Radically Different Kind of Theology" With Philip Clayton November 10, 2022 Online at 7:00pm EST Register here.   If anything has been scientifically established, it’s anthropogenic climate change. As we learned this last summer, climate disruption means floods, droughts, and fires ― levels of social and economic disruption we could hardly have imagined a few decades ago. The result is eco-anxiety and a pervasive sense of hopelessness, especially in younger people. What resources are…

Walking with Teilhard Through Advent: “Contemplating the Divine Milieu” With Anita Wood, DMin November 29 – December 20, 2022 Tuesdays at 6:30 to 7:30pm Register directly with Anita Wood at msanitawood@verizon.net by November 10. A guided journey through Teilhard’s The Divine Milieu. Anita Wood will lead a contemplative dialogue on the material with a group of up to 8 participants. Participants will read sections of this book prior to each meeting and ponder questions which are provided by the facilitator…

"The Greatest Challenge: The Created Co-Creator Creates a Co-Creator" With Philip Hefner, PhD Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago January 25, 2023 Online at 7:00 - 8:30pm View the flyer. Register here. Our technology began as toolmaking even when it turned to bioengineering and robotics. That is, it emerged and evolved to perform tasks for us. Recent developments suggest that it is entering a phase in which it is on its way to creating creatures that are in fact functioning…

“Alexa, do you love me?  AI and Authentic Relationship” With Noreen Herzfeld, PhD February 28, 2023 Online at 7pm ET View the flyer. Register here. We converse with increasingly intelligent programs such as Alexa and ChatGPT, but can we have a truly authentic relationship with them?  What does it take to have such a relationship with another person, or with a non-human being such as a pet, an AI, or God?  Can we love an AI and if we do,…

“Can AI Systems Be Persons?” With Anne Foerst, PhD March 21, 2023 Online at 7pm ET View the flyer. Register here. Humans have the tendency to treat anything that interacts with them as a person and we have the universal tendency to anthropomorphize. At the same time though, we are willing to treat humans as non-persons for which each genocide or war is an example. The new crop of Artificial Intelligences falls right into this tension. I will discuss some…