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Summer 2009: Table of Contents

|||Digital Age||Fighting Terrorism||Issues in Education||Literature||Science and Religion||Social Justice||Three Cultures||Women and Leadership||

Three Cultures

• Creative Minds: The Search for the Reconciling Principles of Science, the Humanities, Arts and Religion
  Richard England, Professor of Music, Adjunct Graduate Professor of Counseling, Freed-Hardeman University
• How We Got Here:  Historical Reflections on the Rifts between Ways of Knowing
  Eric A. Hanson, Professor of Music, Seattle Pacific University and Music Director/Conductor, Thalia Symphony
• The Sky: Connecting Science and Symmetry with Reverence
  Anahita Sidhwa, Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Brookhaven College

Creative Minds: The Search for the Reconciling Principles of Science, the Humanities, Arts and Religion
Richard England, Professor of Music, Adjunct Graduate Professor of Counseling, Freed-Hardeman University

Abstract
Since before the time of writers such as Plato in his Republic and Timaeus; Martianus Capella in The Marriage of Mercury and Philology; Boethius in De institutione musica; Kepler in The Harmony of the Universe; and many others, there have been attempts to reconcile the various disciplines in the sciences, arts, humanities, and religion within specific principles. These efforts have continued among the various representatives in each discipline. C. P. Snow’s texts, The Two Cultures and subsequent The Two Cultures: A Second Look, are examples of a distinguished physicist discussing the conflicting ideologies that can occur, and the potential impact on what constitutes quality education, rational thinking, and societal priorities in general. The purpose of the proposed paper is to suggest that there are common aesthetic principles within the context of belief systems that unify disciplines, and have implications for cultural and societal development. Observations will also be made about the outcomes that may occur and have impact on each of the broadly defined disciplines.

How We Got Here:  Historical Reflections on the Rifts between Ways of Knowing
Eric A. Hanson, Professor of Music, Seattle Pacific University and Music Director/Conductor, Thalia Symphony

The 2009 Oxford Roundtable posits three cultures, science, the humanities (arts), and religion, inspired by CP Snow’s Rede lecture of fifty years ago, “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.”  In it, Snow lamented the great gulf of incomprehension between the literary intellectuals and the scientists.  Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the Madrid train bombings, and the attacks on the London Underground of 2005, religion, or faith, cannot be ignored in this list of “cultures.”  In addition to heinous acts of terror, belief continues to inspire people to commit acts of heroic self-sacrifice and altruism, of love and compassion; it allows humans to touch a mystery outside of their limited phenomenal existence.  Faith matters.  The Roundtable also posits rifts between these three categories.  Without a historical understanding of how these rifts came to be, one cannot appreciate them, weigh their significance, or judge their value.  This paper offers historical reflections on how we came to be at this juncture and evaluates to what extent the rifts are positive, to what extent reconciliation is necessary.
In Padua in 1609, when Galileo raised his telescope to the heavens, observed the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and embraced the Copernican model of the universe, little did he know the fissures he would cause in the foundations of Western civilization, or the personal costs he would pay, which included house arrest and the suppression of his work. The two who bear even greater responsibility for the rift between science and religion, between faith and reason, are Francis Bacon and René Descartes.

The Sky: Connecting Science and Symmetry with Reverence
Anahita Sidhwa, Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Brookhaven College

Abstract:
The celebration of equinoxes and solstices predates the major religions of the world.  Studying the vastness of the sky offers a connection between science and the human desire to understand the symmetry and order of the universe.  This paper will focus on the vernal equinox, how ancient civilizations deciphered it and made it into an event with religious and cultural significance.   The Zoroastrians are among the many people of the world who have celebrated the vernal equinox through the ages and continue to do so today.
The author, who is a practicing Zoroastrian, will use the vernal equinox as an example of an event in the sky that connects the cultural traditions and religious teachings of her faith to science. Since Zoroastrianism teaches reverence for the physical world and emphasizes human choice and good thinking, it demonstrates the reconciliation of science and religion.  With 2009 being the International Year of Astronomy, it is fitting to create awareness, and appreciate our common roots by studying and celebrating the sky. 

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