Jeffrey Russell

Constructing Cosmos: Science, Religion, History, and Reality
3:00-5:00 PM Friday April 27
Hatlen Theater, Snidecor Hall (Note Venue Change)
Dedication in Memory of Ninian Smart: Henry T. Yang, Chancellor, UC Santa Barbara
Discussant: Helen Couclelis, Department of Geography
Discussant: Maria Herrera-Sobek, Luis Leal Chair, Department of Chicano Studies

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Abstract

The "history of concepts" is an inclusive approach to truth that illuminates the relationship between science and religion. In the Middle Ages, science and religion formed a unity, as illustrated by a description of the cosmos in the 14th Century. Cracks began to appear in the cosmos by the 16th century with the reception of Copernican theory by academic orthodoxy . Science and religion further diverged from Galileo onward during the scientific revolution of the 17th century and the 18th-century Enlightenment. In the 19th and 20th centuries, "evolution" became an emblem of unnecessary "warfare," when myths and caricatures about the past occurred, including that of the flat earth. Academic orthodoxy of the 20th century fixed on outmoded materialism. Are there many paths to one truth, many truths, or no truth? What are the consequences of these choices for the human condition? Will the 21st century bring victory to one "side" or the other; yet more divergence; new convergence; or recognition of a more complex reality? Is the cosmos most fully understood through metaphor?
Jeffrey Burton Russell’s five-volume history detailing the concept of the Devil is recognized by scholars as the definitive text on this subject. His more recent writings include The Flat Earth which explores the falsehoods that served as the basis of thought in the nineteenth-century and A History of Heaven: The Singing Silence which analyzes the meaning of heaven from the beginnings of time through the fourteenth century. Dr. Russell graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley and completed his Ph.D. at Emory University. He also studied at the Université de Liege in Belgium as a Fulbright Fellow. In 1985 he was elected a Fellow of the Medieval Academy. His numerous awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities Senior Fellow award. He has taught History and Religious studies at Berkeley, Riverside, Harvard, New Mexico and Notre Dame. He is currently Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Event
Over 250 people filled Snidecor Hall's Hatlen Theater on Friday afternoon April 27 to hear Jeffrey Russell's lecture, which drew enthusiastic reviews afterward. Those in attendance especially welcomed Russell's moving prose on science and religion (see online text), derived from his reflection on their interaction over the long sweep of Western history, plus thoughtful comments provided by Chancellor Henry Yang (in a dedication of the series to Ninian Smart), Prof. Richard Hecht (who introduced the speaker), and the two discussants in attendance, Prof. Helen Couclelis and Prof. Maria Herrera-Sobek (see discussant text).

Below are some pictures from the event; click here for a news article from the UCSB campus newspaper, the Daily Nexus.

Chancellor Henry Yang dedicates UC Santa Barbara's Templeton Research Lecture series in the memory of Prof. Emeritus Ninian Smart, presenting a plaque in his honor which Prof. W. Clark Roof of Religious Studies accepted on behalf of the Smart family. Ninian Smart was a world-renowned scholar of comparative religion who spent the latter part of his career at UCSB, and who participated eagerly and insightfully in our early Templeton-related discussions. Ninian was due to return to UCSB this spring to deliver a Templeton lecture, but died suddenly in January. We are grateful to Ninian for his guidance in our program, and will strive to maintain the spirit of scholarly openmindedness he embodied.
Prof. Jeffrey Russell delivers his lecture, here pointing to a slide of the Aristotelian conception of the cosmos, with the earth at its center.
IProf. Helen Couclelis delivering her comments on Russell's talk.
Questions were collected in written form and delivered by Prof. Proctor to the speaker and discussants for their responses.
Lively, food-filled conversation followed the event at the reception just outside Hatlen Theater.
Lectures on as broad a topic as Constructing Cosmos inevitably lead to spirited discussion, which carried on for some time after the event.

 

 

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