2020: On-line lecture by Elaine Howard Ecklund

The Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum was honored to host an on-line visit and lecture by author, researcher, and professor Elaine Howard Ecklund of Rice University, on Tuesday 8 September 2020, at 6 PM Mountain Daylight Saving Time (7 PM Central Daylight Saving Time). A video recording of the lecture is available by clicking here,

or by copying and pasting this link in your browser: https://youtu.be/U-HtYoWhS04

Prof. Ecklund spoke on the topic “What Scientists think about Religion and the Common Values that Bring Science and Faith Communities Together”

Prof. Elaine Howard Ecklund, Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology, Rice University

The title and abstract for the lecture and the speaker’s biographical information are given below.

You can view a video recording of the lecture on YouTube by clicking here.

What Scientists think about Religion and the Common Values that Bring Science and Faith Communities Together

Prof. Elaine Howard Ecklund

Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology, Rice University

Abstract. Based on 15 years of data collection, Elaine Howard Ecklund, who is a sociologist and director of Rice University’s Religion and Public Life Program, will discuss what scientists in eight national contexts think about religion and the relationship between religion and science. She will also examine some of the unexpected shared values that science and faith communities have in common, values that show why science and faith need each other. And Ecklund will talk about how– in these fractured times –the Religion and Public Life Program is using research on religion to build common ground for the common good.

Biographical information. Elaine Howard Ecklund is the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology at Rice University, as well as founding director of the Religion and Public Life Program. Ecklund is a sociologist of religion, immigration, and science who examines how individuals bring changes to religious and scientific institutions. She is the author of four books with Oxford University Press, one book with New York University Press, one book with BrazosPress, and numerous research articles and op-eds. Her most recent book is Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values That Move Us beyond Fear (BrazosPress, 2020). She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Her research has been cited thousands of times by local, national, and international media. In 2013, she received Rice University’s Charles O. Duncan Award for Most Outstanding Academic Achievement and Teaching, and in 2018 she gave the Gifford Lecture at the University of Edinburgh.

Prof. Ecklund answered questions from the audience after the lecture. We hope you were able to join us on-line for her stimulating and thought-provoking talk! If you missed it, or would like to watch it again on YouTube, please click here.

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