Terra Nova Community

Terra Nova Community

Elon University
Elon, North Carolina

Including faculty from philosophy, English, political science, religious studies, physics, biology, and engineering, this group actively engages in issues of sustainable design and environmental remediation. Engaging leaders in science-oriented businesses, public agencies, community and citizens organizations, local members of Native American tribes, local clergy, and the general public in outreach, this Society is bringing together a broad community to explore and map the “interconnections among scientific and spiritual phenomena in the articulation of sustainable cultural, intellectual, economic and ecological systems. Using Thomas Berry’s Dream of the Earth as a guide to the group’s work, each member receives a copy of the text to those who write a 500-word response – identifying urgent issues for the Society’s attention. The project, titled Mapping a New Earth Story: Reconciling Science and Religion in the Ecological Age, promotes intellectual, spiritual, theoretical and practical applications of the reconciliation of science and faith in terms of ecology. Quarterly meetings review the agenda of the group and assist in preparation for participation in the annual Fall Forum of the Center for Environmental Studies. Presentation of an annual speaker of national prominence invites the public to share in the considerations fostered through the Society. Matching funds are provided by the University’s Center for Environmental Studies and the University’s Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.