Dr. Michael Ward is one of the foremost C.S. Lewis scholars in the world today!  Dr. Ward is an Associate Member of the Theology Faculty and Chaplain of St. Peter's College at the University of Oxford.  Dr. Ward authored The Narnia Code, is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis, and Associate Editor of the online poetry service, Davey's Daily Poetry. Dr. Ward is a guest lecturer at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., the Royal Observatory in England and the John Jay Institute in Colorado.   An Anglican clergyman, he served as Chaplain of Peterhouse in the University of Cambridge from 2004 to 2007.  Between 1996 and 1999 he was Warden of The Kilns, Lewis's Oxford home.  He studied English at Oxford, Theology at Cambridge, and has a PhD from St Andrews. Finally, Dr. Ward made an appearance in the James Bond movie, The World is Not Enough.

In Friday’s lecture Dr. Ward will discuss the mysterious nature of C.S. Lewis. JRR Tolkien described Lewis as "unfathomable" and biographers write that Lewis “never ceased to be secretive.” In this lecture, Ward explains why Lewis was so secretive and how his interest in hiddenness can be seen in his approach to stories and his understanding of theology.

On Saturday, Dr. Ward will talk about C.S. Lewis's expertise in the literature of the Middle Ages and his particular interest in the medieval view of the cosmos and why the seven heavens of that old astronomy remain as “spiritual symbols of permanent value.”

In this lecture, Ward discusses why Lewis valued this ancient view of the heavens so highly and how his interest in the seven heavens informed his academic works, his poetry, his Ransom Trilogy, and, above all, the seven Chronicles of Narnia.   

For more information about Dr. Ward visit these websites: 

Dr. Ward's website

The Narnia Code book website

Planet Narnia book and reviews website

Dr. Temple Grandin, world-famous animal scientist and autism self-advocate, has been included in the 2010 TIME 100, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world!

The list, now in its seventh year, recognizes the activism, innovation, and achievement of the world's most influential individuals.  Temple is listed as one of twenty-five "Heroes" of 2010.  The author of the article, a professor at Harvard University, writes, "What do neurologists, cattle, and McDonald's have in common? 

They all owe a great deal to one woman ... Temple Grandin . an extraordinary source of inspiration for autistic children, their parents—and all people." As Managing Editor of TIME Magazine, Rick Stengel has said of the list in the past, "The TIME 100 is not a list of the most powerful people in the world, it's not a list of the smartest people in the world; it's a list of the most influential people in the world. They're scientists, they're thinkers, they're philosophers, they're leaders, they're icons, they're artists, they're visionaries.

Dr. Temple Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College in 1970.  In 1975 she earned her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University.  Dr. Grandin was awarded her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989.  You can see Temple’s early years in the HBO film Temple Grandin which won 7 Emmy Awards, and earned Claire Danes, who played Temple in the film, a Golden Globe Award.

Dr. Grandin’s book, Animals in Translation was a New York Times best seller and her book Livestock Handling and Transport, which was published in 2007,  is now in its third edition. Other popular books authored by Dr. Grandin are Thinking in Pictures, Emergence Labeled Autistic, Animals Make us Human, Improving Animal Welfare: A Practical Approach, The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism and The Way I See It. 

For more information about Dr. Grandin visit these websites:

Temple Grandin’s Autism Website

Livestock Behaviour, Design of Facilities and Humane Slaughter Website

YouTube Links

Temple Grandin: Reinventing Autism  

5 min - Apr 2, 2008
Uploaded by TempleGrandinDoc youtube.com

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds 

20 min- Feb 24, 2010
Uploaded by TEDtalksDirector
             youtube.com 

Animals Make Us Human 

3 min - Dec 5, 2008
Uploaded by kolbester
             youtube.com

Michael Dowd the author of "Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World" (Viking/Plume), which has been endorsed by 6 Nobel laureates and other science luminaries, including noted skeptics and atheists, and by religious leaders across the spectrum.  He and his wife, Connie Barlow, an acclaimed science writer, have traveled North America non-stop since 2002, and have addressed more than a thousand religious and secular audiences.  They show how the science-based epic of physical, biological, and cultural evolution (our common creation story) can be interpreted in ways that inspire people to cooperate across religious and political differences in service of a just and thriving future for all.  They also show how an understanding of human nature given by evolutionary psychology and neurobiology can help each of us live with greater integrity and passion for life.

"I am neither a theist, nor an atheist; I'm an emergentist, a neo-humanist -- a religious naturalist.  The concepts of theism and atheism came into use long before we had an evidential understanding of how the world, in fact, came into being, and before we learned that the Universe itself is creative.  Given what we now know about big history, the 14-billion-year epic of evolution, the theist-atheist dichotomy no longer makes sense.  Both presuppose a trivial, unnatural God and a Cosmos that is not itself divinely creative.  Reality is my God (my primary allegiance) and integrity is my religion.  By this, I mean that what is real (as evidentially known) is my ultimate commitment and being in right relationship with reality, and assisting humanity in this process, is my calling and deepest inspiration."  ~ Michael Dowd

In Thursday’s lecture “Evolutionize Your Life” Dowd will explore how a meaningful, science-based view of human nature and the trajectory of big history can A) help each of us experience greater joy and fulfillment in life, and B) offers a realistically hopeful and inspiring vision for humanity and the larger body of life. In his acclaimed 2008 book, Thank God for Evolution, Michael Dowd proposes two key distinctions that he maintains are crucial for resolving the wrenching struggle between science and religion. In this beautiful and informative digital slide talk, Dowd will demonstrate why these distinctions matter and thus why Nobel Prize-winning scientists have joined dozens of religious leaders — from Catholics and Quakers to Baptists and Buddhists — in endorsing his book. This program also highlights inspiring long-term and short-term trends in biological and cultural evolution that can help us fulfill the Great Work of our time: co-creating a just and thriving future for our planet, ourselves, and for as many other species as possible. 

For more information about Rev. Michael Dowd visit these websites:

Michael's personal website

Comments from Nobel Prize-winning scientists, skeptics/atheists, and religious leaders

"Thank God for Evolution" Book website

 Connie's most recent book, The Ghosts of Evolution (Basic Books), was Amazon.com's top-recommended science book for several months in 2001. Her previous books, Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science (Copernicus Books), Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life (MIT Press), and From Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences, all explore the nexus of science, spirit, and meaning.

Barlow, a "religious naturalist" and Unitarian Universalist, is also a well-known developer of curricula for children’s religious education that highlight our shared evolutionary story.  Since 2002, she and her husband (Rev. Michael Dowd) have lived entirely on the road as “America’s evolutionary evangelists”— which is also the title of the couple's weekly podcast. She posts videos on evolutionary themes on YouTube under the name “ghostsofevolution.”  

She is founding member and webmaster of Torreya Gaurdians, an internet community of botanists, naturalists, and others dedicated to ensuring the continuing persistence in the wild of America's most endangered conifer tree: Torreya taxifolia. In the 1990s she contributed articles to Wild Earth magazine toward encouraging others in conservation to develop “deep-time eyes”  by way of learning the history of evolutionary change and paleoecological interactions — culminating in her contributions to “Pleistocene Rewilding” advocacy.

In Friday’s lecture: “Evolutionize Your Death and Legacy” Connie will explore how a range of scientific disciplines (from geology to cosmology, from biology to ecology) offer opportunities to rejoice in a fully naturalistic understanding of the creative role that death plays in the world — at all levels of reality, and how this fresh outlook can both energize our lives and help us deeply trust the process of dying. 

For more information about Connie Barlow and her work, visit:

Connie Barlow's publications list (with online links)

"Death Through Deep-Time Eyes" (online links and YouTube clips)

"GhostsofEvolution" YouTube Channel 

Barlow's educational website (TheGreatStory.org)

Dr. Paul Woodruff is a classicist, professor of philosophy, and dean at the University of Texas at Austin, where he once chaired the department of philosophy and has more recently held the Hayden Head Regents Chair as director of Plan II Honors program, which he resigned in 2006 after 15 years of service. On September 21, 2006, University President William C. Powers , Jr. named Dr. Woodruff the inaugural dean of undergraduate studies. He is best-known for his work on Socrates, Plato, and philosophy of theater. A beloved professor, he often teaches courses outside his Ancient Greek Philosophy specialty, including literature courses and specialty seminars, often for the Plan II program.

Born in New Jersey and raised in western Pennsylvania, Woodruff attended Princeton University, where he completed a major in Classics in 1965. His studies then took him to Merton College of Oxford University, where he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Literae Humaniores in 1968. Inspired by the Socratic beliefs on rule of law, he served in the United States Army in the conflict in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, during which time he attained the rank of Captain. Returning to the United States, he once again attended Princeton University, where he completed his doctorate in Philosophy, studying under Gregory Vlastos.

In the same year, he joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has remained to this day.  Well-known for his influential articles on Socrates and Plato, Professor Woodruff has also published critical editions of Plato's Hippias Major (1982), Ion(1983), and (with Alexander Nehamas) Symposium(1989) and Phaedrus (1995). He has also written on topics in aesthetics and ethics.

His recent publications include Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue(Oxford University Press, 2001), Socrates on Reason and Religion (edited with Nicholas Smith, Oxford, 2000), Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists (Cambridge, 1995, with M. Gagarin), Thucydides on Justice, Power, and Human Nature (Hackett, 1993), and contributions to Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates (Oxford, 1994), Essays on Aristotle's Poetics (Princeton, 1992), and The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy (1999). He has been Visiting Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and has twice directed NEH seminars on ancient philosophy.

Thursday’s lecture Renewing Reverence. Reverence is understood in most traditional cultures, but it is an endangered virtue in our time.  Dr. Woodruff will talk about what it is and what we can do to keep renewing it in our lives.
 Friday’s lecture The Ajax Dilemma. Ajax was the ideal fighting man in the Greek army outside Troy; huge, strong, loyal, and dependable.  Odysseus was the brains of the army  -- cunning, devious, and a master of powerful speech.  Which one of them deserves the top honor in the Greek army?  Who deserves the highest rewards from our economy; the banker or the builder?  Where does justice lie in issues like this?

For more information about Dr. Woodruff visit these websites: 

UT College of Liberal Arts Woodruff Bio   

Reverence Renewing the Forgotten Virtue Book

Steve Scott is the Dr. Norman B. Keevil Professor Emeritus of Ore Genesis Geology, McRae Quantec Emeritus Professor of Geology, past Chair of Geological and Mineral Engineering (now Lassonde Program in Mineral Engineering), past Chair of the Department of Geology and Director of the Scotiabank Marine Geology Research Laboratory. He studies present-day geological processes on the modern ocean floor and relates these to ancient features that are now on land. A primary, but not exclusive, focus is comparative studies of modern and ancient deposits of base and precious metal sulfides and other hydrothermal products. Being retired, he no longer supervises graduate students but collaborates with postdoctoral fellows and sabbatical visitors.

He and his research teams have worked in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and on ore deposits of five continents. The scope of his award winning research ranges in scale from regional tectonics to high-resolution electron microscopy and commonly has an emphasis on geochemistry and mineralogy. A current focus is the role of magmatic fluids in the formation of modern and ancient volcanic-hosted massive base and precious metal sulfide deposits on the ocean floor. He is developing a new analytical technique for this research using Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) analyses of melt inclusions that store miniscule samples of magmatic fluid in phenocrysts of volcanic rocks.

Professor Scott was educated at the University of Western Ontario (BSc and MSc) and the Pennsylvania State University (PhD). He holds an honorary doctorate from the Université de Bretagne Occidentale in Brest, France and an Honorary Professorship from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing. His research awards include the Michael J. Keen Medal from the Marine Geosciences Division of the Geological Association of Canada, the Duncan R. Derry Medal from the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada, the Charles L. Hosler Alumni Scholar Medal from Penn State University, the Lindgen Award and Silver Medal from the Society of Economic Geologists, the Past Presidents Medal (renamed Peacock Medal) of the Mineralogical Association of Canada, the inaugural Dr Werner Petersen Foundation “Excellence Professor” in Germany, a Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum distinguished lectureship and the Haddon Forrester King Medal of the Australian Academy of Science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Professor Scott is a consultant to the marine mining industry. He and his wife, Joan, live in Toronto and on the Brittany seacoast of France. Dr. Scott will discuss that Earth’s surface is 71% oceans & seas ... Equivalent area to the surfaces of 2 Moons + 2 Mars. Area of Pacific Ocean is greater than Earth’s entire land mass. 60% of seafloor is at >2000m water depth and largely unexplored in detail. This offers a vast resource potential.

The ocean crust is made of volcanic rock (basalt) heat, nutrients, life incubator, ores. There are “Black Smokers” venting hydrothermal fluid at the Rainbow site south of the Azores. Hot springs on the seafloor, typically up to 350°C, are depositing seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) containing copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold, some at very high concentrations. At Saturday nights lecture Dr. Scott will discuss can we mine SMS and should we? VWTEST, 2.