If you are a college Junior or Senior or a Graduate Student studying the Natural Sciences, Philosophy of Science, or in Theology, Law, Humanities, or the Social Sciences and have a keen interest in the intersection of Science and Religion you are invited to apply for a free scholarship for a summer seminar in Seattle, Washington held July 8-16, 2016. These courses for students and graduate students are sponsored by the Center for Science and Culture, a division of The Discovery Institute.

Room, Board, and Travel Costs: Students selected for these seminars will be provided with course materials, lodging, and most meals. Travel scholarships are available and will be awarded based upon need after acceptance into the program. Application Deadline is April 7, 2016. Early application is encouraged as these seminars fill up.

Two separated seminars are offered:

1. The C.S. Lewis Fellows Program on Science and Society will explore the growing impact of science on politics, economics, social policy, bioethics, theology, and the arts during the past century. The program is named after celebrated British writer C.S. Lewis, a perceptive critic of both scientism and technocracy in books such as The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength. Topics to be addressed include the history of science, the relationship between faith and science, the rise of scientific materialism, the debate over Darwinian theory and intelligent design, evolutionary conceptions of ethics, science and economics, science and criminal justice, stem cell research and abortion, eugenics, family life and sexuality, ecology and animal rights, climate change, the impact of evolutionary theory on theology, the coverage of science controversies by the news media, legal and public policy conflicts over science education, and the relationship between science and the arts. Participants will benefit from classroom instruction and interaction with prominent researchers, writers, and scholars, such as Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, Wesley J. Smith, David Klinghoffer, Jonathan Witt, Jonathan Wells, Jay Richards, and John West. The seminar is open to college/university students who intend careers in the social sciences, humanities, law, or theology.

Details and registration information.

2.) The Center for Science and Culture (CSC) Seminar on Intelligent Design in the Natural Sciences will prepare students to make research contributions advancing the growing science of intelligent design (ID). The seminar will explore cutting-edge ID work in fields such as molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, developmental biology, paleontology, computational biology, ID-theoretic mathematics, cosmology, physics, and the history and philosophy of science. The seminar will include presentations on the application of intelligent design to laboratory research as well as frank treatment of the academic realities that ID researchers confront in graduate school and beyond, and strategies for dealing with them. Although the primary focus of the seminar is science, there also will be discussion of the worldview implications of the debate over intelligent design. Participants will benefit from classroom instruction and interaction with prominent ID researchers and scholars. Past seminars have included such speakers as Michael Behe, Stephen Meyer, William Dembski, Jonathan Wells, Paul Nelson, Jay Richards, Douglas Axe, Ann Gauger, Richard Sternberg, Robert Marks, Scott Minnich, and Bruce Gordon. The seminar is open to students who intend to pursue graduate studies in the natural sciences or the philosophy of science. Applicants must be college juniors or seniors or already in graduate school.

Details and registration information

If the links above aren’t working go to: https://www.discovery.org/id/summer-seminars/

You can contact them by email with questions at: cscseminar@discovery.org

These seminars are made for those starting out on their scientific and leadership careers. However they do save a few spaces for teachers, scientists, lawyers, judges, public servants and even pastors, so if you are youngish starting out in your career but no longer a student, you can make an application to be considered.  My personal experience with the Discovery Institute is that they are an excellent source for information on the science and philosophy of Intelligent Design.  You don’t have to be a supporter of ID, you just need to be open to listening to their ideas and give them a fair hearing.  Young earth creationists, old earth creationists, theistic evolutionists, and scientific naturalists are all welcome to come and study.

Posted by Jack Hoehn, a regular columnist for Adventist Today, on January 20, 2016.