Spring Break
Hopkins students and faculty balance science and religion
Issue date: 5/1/08
Hopkins is one of the only major private institutions in the country without any historical religious affiliation. Yet, some Hopkins professors struggle to reconcile evolution, a theory accepted by the scientific communitiy, with religious beliefs found at Hopkins.
Investigation into the teaching of various Hopkins courses reveals a variety of approaches to teaching of evolution, as some professors seek to distance evolution (a scientific theory) from intelligent design theory (which they believe has less of a scientific basis), while other address both theories in their classrooms.
"The University is simultaneously a place where people come together - for many aspects of their lives - and a place that [scholarly] activity is put in a particular place of respect and honor," said Adam Falk, dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
"Students interact with all sorts of issues both through the scholarly lens and through the personal kind of lens, and those go far beyond creationism and evolution," he said.
Falk is also a physics professor who teaches quantum mechanics. As someone who focuses on observation and rigorous proof to validate hypotheses, Falk worries that creationists are trying to insert their beliefs into educational curricula and "manipulate the scientific method."
"My view is that a lot of the conflict around issues like creationism comes from a confusion about what science is - people have a desire to cast arguments as scientific because in our culture that's a way of praising them," Falk said.
According to Falk, students have every right to believe what they believe, but they must follow the mandates of the discipline in which they are currently working, whether it is in a scientific context or another controversial study like history or politics.
"People from all cultures and religions embrace the scientific attribute of the University that should continue," Gregory Ball, professor from Psychological and Brain Sciences department, said.
Investigation into the teaching of various Hopkins courses reveals a variety of approaches to teaching of evolution, as some professors seek to distance evolution (a scientific theory) from intelligent design theory (which they believe has less of a scientific basis), while other address both theories in their classrooms.
"The University is simultaneously a place where people come together - for many aspects of their lives - and a place that [scholarly] activity is put in a particular place of respect and honor," said Adam Falk, dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
"Students interact with all sorts of issues both through the scholarly lens and through the personal kind of lens, and those go far beyond creationism and evolution," he said.
Falk is also a physics professor who teaches quantum mechanics. As someone who focuses on observation and rigorous proof to validate hypotheses, Falk worries that creationists are trying to insert their beliefs into educational curricula and "manipulate the scientific method."
"My view is that a lot of the conflict around issues like creationism comes from a confusion about what science is - people have a desire to cast arguments as scientific because in our culture that's a way of praising them," Falk said.
According to Falk, students have every right to believe what they believe, but they must follow the mandates of the discipline in which they are currently working, whether it is in a scientific context or another controversial study like history or politics.
"People from all cultures and religions embrace the scientific attribute of the University that should continue," Gregory Ball, professor from Psychological and Brain Sciences department, said.
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