Interdisciplinary course stresses compatibility

“Science and Religion”

An interdisciplinary course offered at Creighton University, a Jesuit university in Omaha, Neb., “Science and Religion” draws crowds. Students from a number of departments fill enrollment each time the course is offered.

The common goal of reconciling science and religion brings these students together. “For many students the relationship between science and religion is an issue of personal importance,” said professor Charles Austerberry. His mission is to show that science and religion can be compatible. “I don’t want students to have to choose between science and religion,” he said.

Charles Austerberry

Charles Austerberry, who holds a doctoral degree in molecular biology from Washington University in St. Louis, is an assistant professor of biology at Creighton University.

Austerberry has been interested in science-and-religion since high school. He gained a sense of the compatibility between the two when he saw his high school biology teacher singing in his church’s choir. Austerberry’s search continued into college. Taking both science and humanities courses prompted Austerberry to develop his own personal model for the relationship between science and religion. “I wanted to know the truth and not just hold to what was comfortable for me,” he said. By teaching “Science and Religion,” Austerberry provides his students with an opportunity he never had: to systematically study the relationship between science and religion.

Austerberry’s current involvement with science-and-religion extends beyond the classroom. He is a member of both the American Scientific Affiliation and the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology. In 2001, he co-founded the Nebraska Religious Coalition for Science Education “to help defend the teaching of evolution and articulate the compatibility of science and theology.”

Course History

“Science and Religion” was first offered at Creighton in 1995 with the start of a new initiative: the Senior Perspective course. Under this initiative, professors were encouraged to create interdisciplinary courses that would tie together student majors with the core curriculum. Each course was also required to include an ethical component. Austerberry and Eugene Selk, a philosophy professor at Creighton, worked together to develop “Science and Religion,” which went on to win a grant from The Science and Religion Course Program (also initiated in 1995). 

Austerberry and Selk taught “Science and Religion” jointly for eight years, but started offering separate sections two years ago as a result of scheduling conflicts.

Course Content

Students in “Science and Religion” are given an overview of the field by looking at its theoretical framework, studying its history and discussing its applications to modern life. One topic of particular importance to Austerberry is divine action. Austerberry noted that divine action is rarely discussed explicitly, but that it is at the crux of models for the interaction between science and religion. In class, students study various models of origins in the context of divine action, identifying which view of that issue is implied within each model.

Although the material in “Science and Religion” is presented mainly through lecture, Austerberry said that he is continually looking for better ways to facilitate discussion. Stimulating discussions are often sparked by a guest lecture from a genetic counselor, a highlight of the course. Students are presented with ethical questions in genetic counseling and are forced to consider whether the parties involved made the right decisions. Austerberry commented, “Students really enjoy thinking through ‘What would I do in this situation?’ wondering whether or not the parents, hospital, et cetera. did the right thing.”

Throughout the semester, students are encouraged to develop and articulate their own views of science and religion. At the end of the course each student writes a term paper on a topic of interest. Some past topics have included Christian environmentalism, the relationship between Islam and science, and the nature of the soul.

Austerberry says of teaching the course, “Personally it’s been very valuable and satisfying for me.”

Required Reading

BridgingScience and Religion by Ted Peters and Gaymon Bennett

Perspectives on an Evolving Creation by Keith Miller

Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues by Ian G. Barbour

Professor’s Pick

“The number one [book] that we keep sticking with is Barbour’s Religion and Science,” said Austerberry. “It’s sort of the commonly used magnum opus for this area of science and religion.” According to Austerberry, Barbour’s fourfold typology of the relationship between science and religion — conflict, independence, dialogue and integration — is “a useful approach.”

Student Perspective

“Dr. Austerberry’s class helped clarify some of my confusions about my religious convictions,” said former student John Gross. “I think it is important for people to not think of science and religion as [being in] conflict.” Rather, he said, together they delve into issues that neither can fully explain. “I am very grateful for the guidance Dr. Austerberry provided with dealing with these matters and think he did an excellent job conducting his course. He allowed students to ask questions and offer their interpretations of these matters.”

Theresa Fish is an editorial intern atScience & Theology News.