This past fall, the Lumen Christi Institute organized an academic collaboration with one of the world’s leading experts in the intersection of science, philosophy, and religion. From September 1 to November 1, 2024, Dr. Peter Harrison, a distinguished scholar whose scholarship has shaped global discourse on the history of science and religion, joined the Institute as its Fall Scholar-in-Residence.
Currently a Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame, Australia, and Emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy at the University of Queensland, Dr. Harrison brought decades of scholarly expertise to the table. Before his role at Notre Dame, he held the prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowship, one of the highest honors in Australian academia.
Dr. Harrison’s reputation in academia spans the globe. He served as the Idreos Professor of Science and Religion and Director of the Ian Ramsey Center at the University of Oxford, where he influenced some of the most prominent thinkers in the field. He has been a visiting fellow at top institutions such as Yale, Princeton, Otago, and the University of Chicago. His academic journey includes delivering the highly respected Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 2011 and the Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford in 2019.
The fall residency at the Lumen Christi Institute provided a unique opportunity for scholars, students, and the public to engage with Dr. Harrison’s insights on the history of science and religion. Dr. Harrison’s time at the Institute had a lasting impact on the academic community of the University of Chicago’s campus and beyond. As a part of his work as a visiting scholar at Lumen Christi, Peter Harrison also spoke at other In Lumine Network Institutes, giving lectures and workshops and participating in symposia at Harvard, Duke, and USC.
Dr. Harrison taught Lumen Christi’s non-credit course, Science and Religion: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives, which considered the long history of science-religion relationships and explored the ways in which religious factors played a positive role in the emergence of modern science and established a permanent place for scientific activity at the heart of modern Western culture. One of the students shared, “I’ve been attending these courses for a few years and this is as excellent a course as any I’ve had the privilege of attending.” Another commented that the course provided a “compelling thesis, argued systematically and eloquently [with] a myriad of practical takeaways.”
Another highlight of Dr. Harrison’s visit was a colloquium which the Institute held on September 20 in Swift Hall at the University of Chicago. The colloquium focused on his book Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age. For the event, Lumen Christi brought together more than 40 scholars and graduate students from the University of Chicago, the University of Oxford, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, Mundelein Seminary, the University of Toronto, the University of Notre Dame, and more.
Along with Dr. Harrison, Brad Gregory (University of Notre Dame) and Willemien Otten (University of Chicago Divinity School) offered remarks on the book’s in-depth questioning of the foundational categories used for thinking about science, religion, and their intersection. The question of the nature-grace distinction was explored as well as the historical development of views on this topic in the Catholic and various Protestant traditions. One attendee shared, “Brilliant – the text chosen was an exceptional complement to the ongoing work at the Science and Religion Initiative.” Another attendee said, “I appreciated it as an opportunity to network and meet with other academics in my field of study from the Midwest.”
In continuing its mission to foster meaningful intellectual exchange, the Lumen Christi Institute remains committed to connecting Chicago’s academic community with groundbreaking scholars. Dr. Peter Harrison’s visit exemplified the Institute’s dedication to deepening understanding across disciplines. As the Institute looks to the future, it is inspired by the insights shared and eager to host more transformative conversations in the years to come.
*This event was made possible through the support of ‘In Lumine: Supporting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide’ (Grant #62372) from the John Templeton Foundation.