One Day University

Can science and religion truly coexist, or are they forever locked in conflict? Kenneth Miller approaches this question from a unique perspective. In focusing on a few of today's most contentious issues, he explores if science can be understood in a religious context, or have we finally reached the end of faith?

Modern science has its roots in western religious thought, was nurtured in universities established for religious reasons, and owes some of its greatest discoveries to scientists who themselves were people of faith. Nonetheless, on one issue after another, from evolution to the "big bang" to the age of the Earth itself, religion is often on a collision course with scientific thought.

On one side, religious believers have constructed pseudosciences to justify narrow interpretations of scripture or to support specific religious claims. On the other, non-believers have used scientific authority to label faith a "delusion" to be set aside.

Kenneth Miller is a professor of biology at Brown University. He has received six major teaching awards at Brown, the Presidential Citation of the American Institute for Biological Science, and the Public Service Award of the American Society for Cell Biology. In 2009 he was honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for Advancing the Public Understanding of Science, and also received the Gregor Mendel Medal from Villanova University. In 2011 he was presented with the Stephen Jay Gould Prize by the Society for the Study of Evolution.

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Professor Anna Celenza shows how music doesn't simply reflect culture, it can change it. She highlights three musical masterpieces that, each in their own way, changed America for the better: A ballad that fueled the need for the Civil Rights movement; an album that influenced American foreign policy; and a musical that that forced us to reassess history. 

Anna Celenza is the Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University. She is the author of several books, including 'Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra.' In addition to her scholarly work, she has served as a writer/commentator for NPR's Performance Today and published eight award-winning children's books, among them 'Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue' and 'Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite.' She has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs, including the BBC's 'Music Matters' and C-SPAN's 'Book TV.'

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What role do money, IQ, marriage, friends, children, weather, and religion play in making us feel happier? Is happiness stable over time? How can happiness be increased? Professor Catherine Sanderson describes cutting-edge research from the field of positive psychology on the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness. She provides practical (and relatively easy!) ways to increase your own psychological well-being.

Catherine Sanderson is the Poler Family Professor and Chair of Psychology at Amherst College and is often cited as the school’s most popular professor. Her research has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. She has published over 25 journal articles in addition to five college textbooks.

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In the relatively short history of the United States, certain events irrevocably altered the direction of the nation and signaled the dramatic start of a new historical reality. Some took the form of groundbreaking political and philosophical concepts; some were dramatic military victories and defeats. What all of these turning points had in common is that they forever changed the character of America.

Edward O’Donnell is a professor of history at College of the Holy Cross. He is the author of several books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age. O’Donnell also has curated several major museum exhibits on American history and appeared in several historical documentaries.

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Abraham Lincoln is considered our greatest president — and one of the most controversial. People have debated various aspects of his personality and politics. Was he depressed? Was he truly opposed to slavery? Did the Union prevail because of his leadership, or despite him? This episode, led by noted Lincoln scholar Louis Masur, aims to uncover the man and not the myth.

Louis Masur is a Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University. He received outstanding teaching awards from Rutgers, Trinity College, and the City College of New York, and won the Clive Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Harvard University.

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In today’s episode, Professor Joseph Luzzi highlights eight books that can change your life. These fascinating works can help us understand our most pressing concerns today, including the nature of religious faith, questions of personal identity, even the quest for the American Dream.

Joseph Luzzi (PhD, Yale) is Professor of Comparative Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College, and he taught previously at the University of Pennsylvania.

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