UNST / UHNR 404B: Religious, Moral, and Social Aspects of Biology—Spring Qtr 2009

CH 206; 1-3 pm, Mondays & Wednesdays

Instructors: Dr. Gary Bradley, Dr. Lee Greer, and invited guest lecturers

Phone numbers: 951-785-2011; 951-785-2101 (Office); 2512 (Lab)

E-mail: ;

Course objectives

Our senior Biology capstone course provides a journey in three parts, completing your Bachelor of Science degree. Each part will be based on the peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature and books by scientists and scholars in their respective academic fields. You should be able to understand, discuss, and synthesize the following categories of information:

I. Scientific evidence of the natural history and evolution of life on earth from comparative biology, geology, paleontology, and genomics – capped by your Major Field Achievement Test (MFAT). You will have an opportunity to reflect on the data in a paper.

II. The emerging dialogue between science and religion – a synthesis of history, epistemology, philosophy, laying emphasis on current discussions, and the history of thought on science and religion from the late Medieval-Renaissance Europe, to the Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment of the mid-17th -18th centuries, and the expanding world of science since Darwin and into the 21st century. You will have an opportunity to reflect on the issues in a paper.

III. Environmental ethics – the roots of our current ecological crisis and individual and societal approaches for becoming more sustainable in a time of planetary stress. You will keep up with breaking developments in the planetary environmental crisis and participate in campaigns on Internet.

Requirements

Attendance & participation

You are expected to attend all class sessions and to actively participate as biologists approaching your baccalaureate degree! The optimum success of a discussion course like depends on the involvement of every student. Records of attendance and participation in discussion will be taken in every class.

You will be required to keep up with breaking developments in the planetary environmental crisis on Ecological Internet ( and actively participate as an informed citizen in various campaigns dealing with atmospheric-climate, ocean, forest, biodiversity, and freshwater supply issues under the various respective internet portals. E-mail documentation will be added to special Dropboxes on D2L.

Optional Service Learning

You may receive optional service learning credit for participating in these assignments, and for going for the extra step of setting up your own blogspot on My.EcoEarth.Info, which is affiliated with Ecological Internet. Then you will periodically post thoughtful pieces on your blog on current campaigns and / or your insights on the current state of our planet, and what we ethically owe to our planet and its inhabitants – our fellow voyagers on the long odyssey of this spaceship we call Earth. You will share the links to your blogspots with classmates and professors, and the world, after editing.

Reading

This is a reading and writing course. You should read the day's assigned reading before coming to class. Assigned papers may be handed out, posted on D2L, linked from the Internet, or put on reserve in the library. We will make them available at least one week before they will be discussed.

Writing

Learning to think and to write critically is a lifelong process, and you will be asked to work hard in this course to seriously advance your skills. You will also be challenged to further develop the art of integrating, synthesizing, and interpreting what you know.

The writing required in this course will entail a major paper (5-7 pages in length exhibiting clear writing and scholarship with bibliography) and a final exam.

Bonus points for interesting new references from NCBI Pubmed or PubMed Central on the relevant topics, along with a half-page submission introduction about why the paper is relevant.

Major paper

You will submit a major paper over the course of the quarter. The purpose of this assignment:

a) To Identify and define the issues

b) To Summarize the methods and datafrom the scientific (or peer-reviewed academic) literature on the current status of the discipline about which you are writing.

c) To Reflect on the broad implications with specific reference to the data.

In the light of geochronology and modern biological techniques, present the

1. Evidence and interpretation of the natural history and evolution of life on Earth from paleontology,

2. Evidence and interpretation of the natural history and evolution of life on Earth from biology.

MFAT

The Major Field Achievement Test (MFAT) is required of all senior Biology majors and will be administered as part of this course. As you participate to the best of your ability on this test, remember that your score memorializes your baccalaureate degree in the scientific field of Biology.

Final Examination

A structured essay and short answer exam with questions on parts I-III of the course.

Grade weighting

Class attendance, participation, & Internet environmental involvement ...... 33.3%

A Paper...... 33.3%

Final Exam...... 33.3%

>93% = A; 90-93% = A–; 87-90% = B+; 83-87% = B; 80-83% = B–; 76-80% = C+; 70-76% = C; 66-70% = C–; 63-66% = D+; 57-63% = D; <57% = F

Spring Qtr Schedule for 2009

Date / Topic / Lecturer
30 Mar
Mon / Introduction; syllabus & course / Lee Greer
01 Apr
Wed / PART I
How old is planet Earth and its life? / Kevin Nick (LLU)
06 Apr
Mon / Radiometric dating
Carbon 14 dating / Ben Clausen (GRI)
Erv Taylor (UCR)
08 Apr
Wed / Evidence from ice cores
“What About God?”—PBS film / Lee Greer / lecture: McCloskey
13 Apr
Mon / Origin of life (DVD lecture)
Origin of life studies – a summary / Donald Prothero (Occidental, Caltech)
Lee Greer / October 2008 Origins Conference, Caltech
Prothero (2007), ch. 6, 145-59
15 Apr
Wed / Fossils and the fossil record – Dating the paleontological evidence / Gary Bradley / lecture: McCloskey
20 Apr
Mon / Evolution of life – selected vertebrate fossils / Lee Grismer
22 Apr
Wed / Human Evolution – the fossils / Gary Bradley
27 Apr
Mon / Geological evidence from ancient lakes and early life / Paul Buchheim (LLU)
29 Apr
Wed / Human Evolution – the molecules
Evolution and genomics – fossils in the molecules / Lee Greer / Cooper & Kehrer-Sawatzki (2008)
Koonin (2009) review
04 May
Mon / “Judgement Day” – ID on trial in Dover / Discussion
06 May
Wed / MFAT
11 May
Mon / Mammalian evolution
Cenozoic magnetic stratigraphy / Donald Prothero (Occidental; Caltech)
13 May
Wed / PART II
Science & Religion – Intro / John Webster
18 May
Mon / So many sagas – a biologist looks at creation stories / Lee Greer
20 May
Wed / The legacy of the Enlightenment (mid-17th - 18th centuries) / Lee Greer / Paper due
27 May
Wed / PART III
Environmental ethics – an overview / Gary Bradley
01 Jun
Mon / Crafting a sustainable world-view / Gary Bradley
03 Jun
Wed / Film documentary / TBA
10 Jun
Wed / Final Examination / TBA

Readings and references

Readings will be assigned as we proceed through the course. Here is a list of reference books which we will put on reserve at the library:

Baker, Catherine. 2006. The evolution dialogues: Science, Christianity, and the quest for understanding. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Clayton, Philip (ed.), Simpson, Zachary (assoc. ed.). 2006. The Oxford handbook of religion and science. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Collins, Francis S. 2006. The language of God: A scientist presents evidence for belief. New York, NY: Free Press.

Cooper, David N., Kehrer-Sawatzki, Hildegard (eds.) 2008. Handbook of human molecular evolution (2 volumes). West Sussex, England: J Wiley & Sons.

Des Jardins, Joseph R. 2004. Environmental ethics; An introduction to environmental philosophy, 4th edition. Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Falk, Darrel R. 2004. Coming to peace with science: Bridging the worlds between faith and biology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.

Giberson, Karl W. 2008. Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and believe in evolution. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Miller, Kenneth R. 2008. Only a theory – Evolution and the battle for America's soul. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Prothero, Donald R. 2007. Evolution: What the fossils say and why it matters. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Internet Resources:

National Center for Biotechnology Information: PubMed and PubMed Central (

American Scientific Affiliation: A fellowship of Christians in Science (