Religious Studies 398:
Does the fact of evolution, now nearly universally accepted by biologists, render the idea of an intelligent designer thought to be responsible for creating the universe (a designer perhaps known by the name of “God”) one that is no longer intellectually tenable? Does science point us in the direction of atheism? Alternatively, are there versions of theism that are consistent with the fact of evolution? Just what is the idea of evolution, exactly, and what does it imply? What was the nature of the so-called “Darwinian revolution” and why are the Galapagos islands credited with being the part of the world in which Darwin’s great insights first occurred to him? This three-unit course will explore these and related questions over the course of an intense, ten-day excursion to the Galapagos islands during the month of January, 2008. Students will have the opportunity to ask these questions afresh, as Darwin himself did, while availing themselves of the insights and guidance of world class naturalists who will personally escort them to four of the islands that comprised Darwin’s proverbial “ground zero.” This course is interdisciplinary. Over the course of ten days, students will meet with me to read theological, biological, and literary approaches to understanding the nature of evolution and the nature of God with an eye towards reconciling the insights of these various perspectives, if possible.
Course Objectives:
In light of the above description, this course will seek to provide students with readings in primary sources as well as address (1) a critical historical reading of the ideas evolution and creationism (involving both theistic and non-theistic metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical thought over the course of two centuries); (2) an analytical study of several major problems in these areas that include reference to the history of these problems; and (3) attention to a variety of perspectives and figures in relation to these significant issues. The course will entail a heavy writing and participation component to allow the students ample opportunity to reflect on these issues orally and in writing.
Readings (to be purchased on Amazon.com or elsewhere in November, 2007):
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
John Lennox, God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?
Kurt Vonnegut, Galapagos
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
Janet Browne, The Galapagos
Jonathan Wiener, The Beak of the Finch
Ed Larson, God and Science on the Galapagos
Galapagos Guidebook of your choice
Students enrolled in this course will be expected (1) to attend all required field trips scheduled on the trip to the Galapagos (2) to meet with me daily for roughly an hour to discuss the readings and field work experience and (3) write three 5-6 page papers based on the readings and the field work experience. We will be reading the books listed above in November and discussing them through the end of January. Students will have the flexibility to choose from among various issues and themes discussed in some or all of these texts upon writing their papers.
Hours: (please note: all excursions are led by a level three naturalist guide, the highest level guide available)
Three one hour meetings scheduled before departing to the Galapagos to discuss readings, issues to be explored in the course, expectations on the excursions, and requirements for the course: (1) October 16th and (2) November 15th and (3) December 16th: 3 hours
Meeting once a day, for an hour, each day of the trip from January 4th-14th: 10 hours
Santa Cruz Island tour of Darwin Scientific Station: 3 hours
Plazas Island (all day) Excursion: January 10th: 8 hours
North Seymour Island (all day) Excursion: January 11th: 8 hours
Bartolome Island (all day) Excursion: January 12th: 8 hours
Santa Cruz Island (part day) Excursion: January 13th: 3 hours
Wrap up, final discussion, sharing of papers with one another: January 21st: 2 hours
Total: 45 hours
Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism constitutes the worst possible thing that you can do as a student. It is automatically grounds for failure of the course. Plagiarism and cheating are grave violations of the academic integrity policy of the California State University, Chico. This policy (EM 04-36) is posted at http://www.csuchico.edu/prs/EMs/EM04/em04_36.htm .We view plagiarism and cheating as serious offenses. The policy of the Department of Religious Studies is that anyone found to have blatantly cheated or plagiarized on an assignment will automatically fail the course and be referred to student judicial affairs for further disciplinary action.