Elaine Howard Ecklund on Science vs. Religion

Elaine Howard Ecklund, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rice University, is the author of Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think (New York: Oxford University Press, May 2010). She has received the opportunity to share her insights on this topic in the public arena on several occassions, including an article in USA Today, “Will science trump religion, answer how we should live?” covering her talk at the Faith Angle Forum. Additional publications covering her perspective on science vs. religion can be found on Dr. Ecklund’s faculty website.

Audio Recordings from InterVarsity Conferences

• Science as Worship: At InterVarsity’s Following Christ 2008 conference, Francis Collins shared his perspective on “science as worship.” The audio recording is available from FC08’s plenary sessions audio page.

• Audio from Following Christ Seminars Tracks: Audio from Following Christ 2008’s disciplinary tracks is available online, including talks from Jennifer Wiseman, Jim Bradley, and David Gill.

• How to Be Busy, Productive, and Happy: Cal DeWitt, Professor at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies of the University of Wisconsin, delivered this talk at the 2007 Faculty Conference at Cedar Campus. He focuses on a topic of concern to all Christian academics: time management. Along the way, he shares his love for creation and passion for scholarship.

• Can a Biologist Trust an Evangelical Christian? A recap and audio recordings a panel discussion hosted by the Indiana University Graduate and Faculty Ministry. Panelists featured were Jeff Hardin (Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison), Tim O’Connor (Philosophy, Indiana University), and a pastor, Rich Holdeman (Biology, Indiana University).

Articles and Interviews

• Leading a Life of Balanced Excellence: Robert Kaita, Principal Research Physicist of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, offers his perspective and a Scriptural basis for aiming to serve Christ and achieve academic success simultaneously.

• Students Are a Lot like People by Steve Simmons, Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota. Drawing on 32 years in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Simmons offers some ideas on how to show grace and humanity to graduate students.

• Jimmy Lin, Doxologist: An interview with Jimmy Lin, MD/PhD student at Johns Hopkins, about why he calls himself a “medical and scientific doxologist” and how he balances his studies and spiritual life.

• Emerging Scholars Blog Posts on Science: The Emerging Scholars Blog is updated three times a week with links, articles, and interviews related to Christianity in the academy. This link collects our many science-related posts over the past few years. Some recent posts include an interview with Ted Davis, a historian of science, and a discussion of miracles and the definition of science.