Student Symposium on Science and Spirituality

This application proposes an expansion program of the Hyde Park Religion and Science Society (HPRSS): a day-long religion and science research symposium for graduate students. If granted funding, the Hyde Park Society’s first annual student scholarship symposium will take place in fall 2008. The 2008 symposium will focus on science and spirituality, and will invite papers from graduate students from around the Midwest and from many disciplines. The program will consist of several sessions of student presentations, meals and social time for networking, and an evening keynote lecture from a senior scholar in the field. The symposium’s goals grow out of the successful experiences of the HPRSS. It has been designed to encourage studentgenerated and student-directed dialogue with the input and support of faculty mentors; to provide opportunities and incentives to engage in religion and science research; and to facilitate academic professionalization through conference experience. These well-tested strategic objectives, combined with the fertile academic environment of Chicago, the intellectual and human resources at the Zygon Center for Religion and Science, and early success in leveraging pledges of financial support, will all contribute to the success of the symposium project.