The Jewish Theological Seminary
JTS in Your Community
Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies
Since 1938, the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary has maintained an innovative interfaith and intergroup relations program that emphasizes conversation among diverse communities.
The program's ability to unite voices from different academic, social, and religious communities has resulted in unique conferences and interfaith cooperation and brought the relevance of Judaism and other religions to prominence on a myriad of issues.
Upcoming Programs
Three Conversations on Science and Religion
The year 2009, the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, is a perfect opportunity to reflect on how modern science has changed religion, and what religion has to say to science. Has science eroded the credibility and legitimacy of religion as “new atheists” claim? Does religion—as a guide to life and a way of wisdom—provide us with precisely what science lacks? Is Judaism exempt from or a party to the presumed tensions between these ways of understanding the world?
This series will explore the sometimes complementary, often competing relationship through lively conversations with award-winning authors and thinkers.
Co-sponsored with The Center for the Study of Science and Religion, The Earth Institute at Columbia University.
To RSVP:
All of the programs take place at JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), in New York City.
Admission is free, but reservations are required. Please email publicevents@jtsa.edu or call (212) 280-6093 to attend any of these events. We request that you arrive at least fifteen minutes early to allow sufficient time for registration, and have photo ID available.
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Date/Time |
Event Title |
Details |
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November 17 7:30–9:00 p.m. |
Creation and Evolution |
Speakers: Lenn Goodman is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. His most recent book is Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself. Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy and James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization at Columbia University, is the author of Living with Darwin and other works. Description: Two leading philosophers address the perceived conflict between the Bible's perspective—in which a benevolent God creates a good world—and a Darwinian universe governed by accident and chance. How deep does this conflict go? Do the contemporary political and cultural battles still have a point? Have we really learned to live with Darwin? |
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February 17 7:30–9:00 p.m.
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Religion, Science, and Wonder |
Speakers: Janna Levin, professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College, is the author of the PEN/Bingham award-winning novel, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which explores the borders between scientific knowledge and sheer wonder, faith and delusion, and genius and lunacy. Rabbi Shai Held, cofounder of Mechon Hadar and the author of a dissertation on the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel—one of the most profound Jewish thinkers of the last century. |
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March 25 7:30–9:00 p.m.
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The Science of Spirituality |
Speaker: Barbara Bradley Hagerty, National Public Radio's religion correspondent, recently published Fingerprints of God: In Search of the Science of Spirituality. Description: Part personal journey, part reporter's exploration of how contemporary science makes sense of the religious dimensions of human experience, the book is an honest, graceful look at how we pursue our deepest questions. Professor Arnold Eisen, chancellor of JTS, will discuss the issues with Barbara Bradley Hagerty. |
View videos and transcripts from past programs.
Explore other public programs at JTS.
Leadership
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Dr. Alan Mittleman is director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies and the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought, as well as professor of Jewish Philosophy at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of Hope in a Democratic Age and other works. |
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Rabbi Leonard Sharzer, MD is a senior fellow in Bioethics of the Louis Finkelstein Institute of JTS. His current research is in the field of bioethics, especially as it pertains to Jewish law. |
Contact Us
For questions about the Louis Finkelstein Institute, please email Bobbi Raphael or call (212) 280-6124.
Louis Finkelstein
Louis Finkelstein from the cover of Time magazine, October 15, 1951.