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Closing Reflections from the SSQ Program Originator

By W. Mark Richardson I write these remarks as one who helped to found and has been involved in leading the Science and Spiritual Quest project over the last eight years. These eight years have been a gift as I have watched the program grow from our original idea to something much larger than anything I could have conceived. SSQ has enriched the lives of so many people—from scientists, to conference guests, and the staff who executed the programs. The SSQ vision was clear. We sought to bring leading scientists from around the globe and from many spiritual traditions into conversation with...
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Science and the Spiritual Quest

“Science and the Spiritual Quest” was an international program conducted by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in collaboration with several partner organizations and funded by a major grant from the John Templeton Foundation. From 1996-2003, SSQ focused on the ethical and spiritual questions raised by the best of contemporary science particularly for its scientific practitioners. Our mission was to invite leading scientists into dialogue, through private workshops, on the connections between their scientific pursuits and their spiritual practices, and to present the results of...
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How Has the Science-Religion Field Changed Over the Last Eight Years? An SSQ Retrospective

by Philip Clayton "SSQ has been an extraordinary program in its global outreach. Every conference has been simultaneously a dialogue between science and religion and a dialogue among major religious traditions. Because the participants respected each other as scientists, they were open to each other’s views without the defensiveness typically found in ecumenical conferences. Because these were such eminent and articulate scientists, they communicated effectively to a wider public through symposia, media coverage, and subsequent publication" –Ian Barbour, Carleton College For eight years,...
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The SSQ Program

History “Science and the Spiritual Quest” served as a hub of expertise and activity at the intersection of science and spirituality from 1996 - 2003. SSQ benefited from the intellectual capital of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences as well as the academic reputations of the Graduate Theological Union and the University of California at Berkeley. “Science and the Spiritual Quest” was one of the most successful programs ever conducted in the field of science and religion. In seven years, SSQ recruited more than 120 internationally, leading scientists into intensive dialogue on...
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SSQ/UIP Morocco Colloquium

June 1- 3, 2002 Based in Ifrane, Morocco, Al Akhawayn is a university based on the American education system. It offers a graduate and undergraduate program in Business Administration, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Engineering. It also houses a Center of Environmental Issues and Regional Development well known as an Institute seeking to bridge between Morocco’s environment and its developmental needs. It is also known for its Institute of Economic Analysis and Prospective Studies, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Women Empowerment Center and the Azrou Center for Community...
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Programs

CTNS has created and administered a number of Fellowships, programs and research projects central to our mission of bridging science and religion through research, teaching, and public service.
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SSQ/UIP Paris Conference

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France Conference Overview United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France,  The SSQ Paris Conference, “Science and the Quest for Meaning” was a unique event representing a worldwide awakening to the need for integration of the various dimensions of our lives. We are driven to explore the natural world with intellectual precision and rigor; driven to question who we are and what our place in the world might be; and driven to find a moral basis for our actions. The SSQ...
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SSQ People

Please note: these bios date from the time of the SSQ program. In the time since the program, some of the participants have moved institutions and some have passed away. Science and the Spiritual Quest Investigators Philip Clayton Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University Principal Investigator, Science and the Spiritual Quest Philip Clayton holds a Ph.D. in both Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies from Yale University. He has taught at Haverford and Williams Colleges, at the California State University, at the University of Munich (holding Humboldt and...
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SSQ Boston Conference

The Quest for Truth, Knowledge, and Values in Science & Religion October 21-23, 2001 at Harvard Memorial Church Cambridge, Massachusettspresented byScience and the Spiritual Quest in partnership withThe Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science) andThe Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity SchoolConference OverviewThe growth of knowledge in the natural sciences is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe, our planet, and ourselves. At the same time the world’s spiritual traditions remain...
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SSQ Silicon Valley Conference

Creativity, Spirituality and Computing Technologies June 8, 2000 Hyatt Sainte Claire Hotel, San Jose, CaliforniaConference OverviewToday we are in the midst of an unprecedented series of changes brought about by computer technologies. The technological changes of the last few years have altered the face of human existence in the world, giving rise to questions and speculation about the social and cultural transformation that will be brought about by continued advances in technology. Currently there is little sustained discussion within the computer and information technology industries of the...
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Bangalore Symposium

Science and Beyond: Consciousness, Cosmology and Technology in the Indic TraditionsJanuary 8-11, 2003 National Institute for Advanced Studies, Bangalore, IndiaWe are grateful to our many partners for making this symposium possible:John Templeton FoundationCTNS Science and Religion Course ProgramNational Institute of Advanced Studies, BangaloreKengal Hanumanthaiya FoundationThe Infinity FoundationIndian Council for Philosophical ResearchCentre for Studies in CivilisationsUniversité Interdisciplinaire de ParisConference Overview Religious and scientific specialists on consciousness gathered in...
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Public Service

An important part of CTNS’s mission is to promote the creative mutual interaction of theology and science through public service. Although public outreach takes many forms, the most regular events are the public forums CTNS sponsors. These include public forums by visiting scholars, presentations by current students, and public presentations by the annual Russell Family Fellow. Public service was also the focus of one of our past major programs, Science and the Spiritual Quest (SSQ), where top scientists shared about their faith in the practice of their particular branches of science.
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SSQ Japan Symposium

Science and Spirit: Science, Values, and the Limits of KnowledgeOctober 18-19, 2002 Gakushuin Academic Consortium, Tokyo JapanSSQ Japan Symposium Overview Modern science arose in no small part by freeing itself from the dominance of religion. The scientific method has provided powerful knowledge about the world, and the useful technologies that flow from it, because it limited itself to empirical evidence and testable theories.Gradually during the modern period many people began to interpret the success of science as proving that all that could be known, and indeed all that could possibly...
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Spain Symposium

Science and the Three Monotheisms: A New Partnership?August 23-25, 2002 Hotel Alhambra Palace, Granada, SpainConference OverviewRecent world events signal the urgent need for dialogue among the three monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If we are to respond to these events, we must understand the complex mutual influences between the spiritual traditions and their wider cultural contexts. At this symposium—held at an historic meeting ground of Jews, Christians, and Muslims— we focused on these three traditions as they engaged with one of the most pervasive of cultural...
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SSQ/UIP Vatican University Conference

The Pontifical Lateran University, Vatican City January 7-10, 2002 Conference Overview The Vatican Conference was organized by IRAFS–International Research Area on Foundations of the Sciences of the Philosophy Faculty at the Pontifical Lateran University, under the patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture of the Holy See, in collaboration with UIP–Université Interdisciplinaire de Paris (France) and SSQ–Science and the Spiritual Quest (USA) in January 2002. This interdisciplinary event brought together scholars on the topic of the scientific and metaphysical bases of mathematics,...
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Kazakhstan Colloquium

September 19- 20, 2002 National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan Almaty, KazakhstanInstitute of the Oriental Studies of the Ministry of Education & Science of the Republic of KazakhstanPurpose of Colloquium:The main purpose of the colloquium was to bring together, in Central Asia, scholars who share an interest in Education, Science and Religion. The colloquium explored general issues relating to education and religion in the region, at all levels, but also took the opportunity to open up dialogue between different universities in order to develop joint scientific and...
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The Center

The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences   From 1981-2015 the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) was an independent, self-incorporated affili­ate of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). During this time, CTNS depended primarily on program grants to support the salaries of faculty and staff. These grants includ­ed three international and interfaith mega-programs: The Science and Religion Course Program (SRCP), Science and the Spiritual Quest (SSQ) and Science and Transcend­ence: Advanced Research Program (STARS), funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
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SSQ Collaborating Speakers

Collaborating SpeakersThis page contains brief biographies of people who were not involved in the SSQ workshops but whose involvement in the field of science and religion has made them valued participants in SSQ public events.Please note: these bios date from the time of the SSQ program. In the time since the program, some of the participants have moved institutions and some have passed away.Imad Ad Din AhmedImad Ad Din Ahmed is astronomer and Professor of Social Change and of Religion and Progress at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies and at the University of Maryland...
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Founder

Professor Robert J. Russell is the Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), and the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley. He is the author of Time in Eternity: Pannenberg, Physics, and Eschatology in Creative Mutual Interaction (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012) and Cosmology from Alpha to Omega: Towards the Mutual Creative Interaction of Theology and Science (Fortress Press, 2008). He has co-edited a multi-volume series of books focused on scientific perspectives on divine action...