World Religions, Knowledge and Science (WoRKS) Group, Edwardsville
The Religious Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, Illinois
The core membership of this society brings together faculty, students, professionals, clergy, and community leaders representing the disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, religious studies, philosophy, psychology, history, language, technology and ministry. Faith affiliations and scholarly expertise represented include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Muslim, and Bahá’í tra ditions. WoRKS comes together to implement programs in support of a productive engagement of faith and science. The monthly WoRKS Study Group pursues topics ranging from origins of the universe; the nature of the human being; knowledge systems in world traditions; to the ethical dilemmas raised by contemporary bio-technologies. The WoRKS Distinguished Speakers’ Series invites influential thinkers for public presentations and open discussion. The offices of the Religious Center are housed in a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome building, modeled after Fuller’s image of planet earth. The group envisions supporting a Center as a permanent hub for regional, national, and international LSI groups to facilitate collaborative research into global traditions of religion, knowledge, and science. Additional plans include hosting an international conference modeled on bi-annual East-West Philosopher’s Conferences, promoting active participation of students and the public. Matching funds for WoRKS are provided by the Graduate School, the Office of the Provost (Social and Cultural Diversity), the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Philosophy, the University Religious Council, and Friends of the Religious Center at SIEU.