The Conflict between Science and Religion: A Report from the Front Lines

On Sunday morning, January 11, 2009, at Adas Israel's Gewirz Hall, Dr. Alan I. Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science will present on the topic "The Conflict between Science and Religion: A Report from the Front Lines." Dr. Leshner has been a leading spokesperson in responding to the efforts to bring “Creation Science” into the public school science curriculum. Dr. Leshner will speak about his experience in this struggle and its implications. His presentation will be followed by a discussion.

Dr. Alan Leshner is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, "triple A-S") and Executive Publisher of the journal Science. Before coming to AAAS, Dr. Leshner was Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1994 until 2001. Previously, he had been the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Leshner is a member (and on the governing Council) of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. President Bush appointed Dr. Leshner to the National Science Board in 2004.

The Institute for Science and Judaism is committed to expanding our understanding of the interface between science and Judaism, including how science can expand our spiritual horizons and its philosophical and educational implications.. For more information, visit scienceandjudaism.blogspot.com.

The program, which is free of charge, begins at 10:30 a.m., and is preceded by brunch at 10:00 a.m. The brunch is $10 per person. RSVP by Wednesday, January 7, to Marcia Miller, marcia.miller@adasisrael.org or 202-362-4433 ext. 112.

About the Institute

Established by Rabbi George Driesen, the Institute For Science and Judaism is committed to expanding our understanding of the interface between science and Judaism, including how science can expand our spiritual horizons and its philosophical and educational implications. The Institute’s mission is to educate and inspire the community through lectures, workshops and conferences and by developing and distributing educational materials for use in Jewish institutions. Beyond expanding knowledge and awareness, the Institute hopes to inspire poets and lay people to create Jewish liturgical materials that embrace science.

Past speakers have included
- Dr. Francis Collins, former Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, the group that first mapped the Human Genome; discoverer of genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes and genes responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis and Huntington’s disease; author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief; winner of numerous scientific awards and prizes.

- Professor Daniel Matt, author of God And The Big Bang, is a writer and professor of Jewish mysticism at the Center for Jewish Studies, Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, CA). Dr. Matt earned his Ph.D. at Brandeis University, and has taught at the Graduate Theological Union for nearly 20 years. Other published works include three volumes of a multi-volume translation and commentary on the Zohar The Essential Kabbalah and Varieties of Mystical Nothingness: Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist. (Scholar In Residence).

- Dr. David M. Reiss, Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Professor at George Washington University. Dr. Reiss’ international research team is the first to provide comprehensive, scientific data on the complex subject of whether and precisely how children’s genes affect parents’ behavior towards them and towards each other, and how all three influence children's temperaments and behavior in adolescence and adulthood.

Dr. Reiss is the author of 140 scientific papers and six books, including The Relationship Code: Deciphering the Genetic and Social Determinants of Adolescent Development (Harvard, 2000). In addition to his biological research and lectures, Dr. Reiss is an experienced family therapist who practices and teaches psychoanalysis.

- Dr. Elliot Dorff, Rector and Co-Chair of the Bioethics Department and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Judaism; Vice-Chair, Committee on Law and Standards, Rabbinical Assembly; Formerly instructor in Jewish Law, UCLA Law School. Dr. Dorff is the author of numerous books, including Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics, How To Do The Right and the Good, and has served on Numerous Prestigious Public Boards and Commissions.

- Dr. Jonathan H. Pincus, Chief of Neurology at Veterans Administration Medical Center; and Professor of Neurology, Georgetown University School of Medicine. Author of Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill and Behavioral Neurology (Oxford University Press)

- Dr. Stephen M. Barr, Professor of Physics, Bartol Institute, University of Delaware. Author of Modern Physics and Ancient Faiths, University of Notre Dame Press (2003).

- Rabbi David W. Nelson, author of Judaism, Physics and God: Searching for Sacred Metaphors In A Post-Einstein World (Jewish Lights Publishing 2005).

- Dr. Julie Forman-Kay, Senior Scientist, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Toronto Member of Darchei Noam Reconstructionist Congregation: "How A Reconstructionist and Molecular Science Researcher Thinks About Cells Science and Judaism."

Contact us at the Institute for Science and Judiasm, 7962 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20814. The Institute is a non-profit organization; donations are welcome.