Projects / Columbia University, Center for Study of Science and Religion,
Project Title: Human Nature PI: Dr. Robert Pollack, Professor of Biology and Director . Location: Center for Study of Science and Religion, The Earth Institute at Columbia University.
News & Announcements
- UCI Student Leadershp Summit April 8, 2009
The CSSR will offer an innovative short course that will address a task among the most difficult and problematic that we all face today: We will look at how the natural world, science, law, religion, politics and medicine can be brought together to create a better understanding of human individuality. As E. O. Wilson points out in his 1978 book, Human Nature, the problem of understanding this concept well is also the problem of understanding oneself well enough to accept the burdens and responsibilities each of us has as a member of a common species. The key message of the Earth Institute--that this is a turning point in the history of the planet, where we can either act responsibly on behalf of the species or perpetuate the decline in its ability to support large, complicated species--grounds the focus of the course. Unlike any other course offered by Columbia or any other higher educational institute, this course is designed to generate informed dialogue about science and religion among students with very different backgrounds through discussion and debate on a diverse range of issues, including race, identity, human biology, and species consciousness.