Religion and Science: The Best of Frenemies
RELI 284
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
STS 289 |
Are religion and science at war? Most people assume the answer is obviously yes -- the Galileo affair, the Scopes Trial, the creation-evolution debates all seem to confirm the picture. But historians, philosophers, and scientists have complicated this story enormously. The real relationship between religion and science turns out to be far messier, more creative, and more interesting than the conflict narrative suggests: a relationship not of enemies but of frenemies -- mutual dependents who sometimes clash, sometimes collaborate, and have never quite been able to do without each other.
This course examines that relationship across five centuries and multiple disciplines. Moving historically from the Scientific Revolution through Darwin, Freud, and the Big Bang, and thematically across cosmology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, medicine, and artificial intelligence, we ask: When have religion and science genuinely conflicted, and why? When have they reinforced or enriched one another? What does each presuppose about the nature of knowledge, reality, and the human? And where does the boundary between them -- if there is one -- actually lie?
The course is organized as a seminar and is designed to be genuinely open-ended: we are not working toward a predetermined conclusion. Students from all backgrounds and with all prior views on these questions are welcome. No background in science or religion is required -- only curiosity about both. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Religion Minor)(Religion) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
William Ames, "Emptiness and Quantum Theory"
Ian Barbour, "Ways of Relating Science and Religion" Justin Barrett, Why Would Anyone Believe in God?
14th Dalai Lama, THE UNIVERSE IN A SINGLE ATOM
Charles Darwin, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
Descartes, Meditations I-II
Galileo, LETTER TO THE GRAND DUCHESS CHRISTINA
Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges"
Stephen Hawking, A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME
John Hedley Brooke, SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Thomas Kuhn, THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS
Holmes Rolston, "Methods in Scientific and Religious Inquiry" Snobelen, S.D. Newton¿s Theology
Robert Wright, WHY BUDDHISM IS TRUE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Seminar Participation
Weekly Reading Responses
Position Paper
Dialogue Paper
Final Seminar Presentation
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the "additional course" requirement for the Religion major/minor. |
| Instructor(s): Berger,Jesse Times: ..T.R.. 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 18 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 16 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 4 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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