Scientist peacemaker visits Goshen College, sparks interdisciplinary dialog

GOSHEN, Ind. – “Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. It makes no sense for them to be quarreling,” renowned Harvard biologist and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize Dr. E.O. Wilson told the crowd of over 800 people that filled the main floor of Goshen College’s Sauder Concert Hall and spilled into the balcony on Oct. 23.

Wilson’s visit to Goshen College is a recent chapter in an ongoing dialog in response to Wilson’s 2006 book, “The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth.” In this slim volume, addressed to a Southern Baptist pastor, Wilson initiates a conversation between Christians and his own secular humanist perspective. In a subtitle to the first section, he describes the book as “A call for help and an invitation to visit the embattled natural world in the company of a biologist.” Wilson challenges Christians to embrace care of the earth as an important part of their calling.

When Hoosiers asked about the religious community’s response to the book, Wilson described a November 2006 meeting convened by the Center for Health and the Global Environment of Harvard Medical School and the National Association for Evangelicals. For several days, a group of 28 scientists and Evangelical leaders laid aside differences to focus on their common concerns about the stewardship of the earth.

In January 2007, the group issued a document co-authored by Wilson and Rev. David P. Gushee, a professor of moral philosophy at Union University. The document, titled “An Urgent Call to Action: Scientists and Evangelicals Unite to Protect Creation,” names both environmental destruction and human poverty as critical concerns requiring immediate action from religious, scientific, business, political and educational leaders. “We pledge to work together at every level to lead our nation toward a responsible care for creation, and we call with one voice to our scientific and evangelical colleagues, and to all others, to join us in these efforts,” the document concludes.

Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College, describes Wilson as a bridge builder within a dialog about climate change that is often conflictive. “Wilson provided our students with yet another model of compassionate peacemaking, which is one of our core values at Goshen College,” Gascho said.

Gascho attributes Wilson’s crowd appeal to his reconciliatory approach. “People are seeking a message of hope, and the hope within our environmental dilemma comes when you can engage people in working together in a peaceful way,” Gascho observed.

“E.O. Wilson reminds us that the future may well depend on our common efforts across all disciplines, especially scientific and religious disciplines,” said Jim Brenneman, president of Goshen College, who has signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Signatories pledge to reduce and ultimately neutralize greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses and to incorporate sustainability into their curriculum.

“I greatly respect E.O. Wilson’s commitment to engage faith-based communities,” said Ryan Sensenig, assistant professor of biology. “It should strengthen the church’s resolve to articulate care of the Creation which is grounded in the best science.”

For Sensenig, hosting E.O. Wilson was an opportunity for interdisciplinary discussion, which he sees as a key strength of small liberal arts colleges like Goshen. “Conservation in the next century will require a multidisciplinary approach that includes social, economic and justice-related issues,” Sensenig said.

In addition to organizing a student study group that met weekly prior to his visit to discuss Wilson’s 2002 book, “The Future of Life,” Sensenig also convened a panel involving representatives from the biology, Bible and religion, economics, history, peace, justice and conflict studies departments and from the physical plant. During the panel presentation a week before Wilson’s arrival, faculty responded to Wilson’s proposed solutions to the biodiversity crisis and named questions they would like to ask him.

“Is it only Western perspectives that may lead to solutions?” asked Professor of History Jan Bender Shetler, author of a 2007 book titled “Imagining Serengeti: A History of Landscape Memory in Tanzania from Earliest Time to the Present.”

“Who is E.O. Wilson’s ‘Other,’ and how does he treat them?” asked Joe Liechty, associate professor of peace, justice and conflict studies.

“How can all this preservation be funded given budget deficits and the divergence between what’s needed and what has been allocated so far?” asked Jerrell Richer, associate professor of economics.

Wilson himself affirmed the need for interdisciplinary dialog during a student question-and-answer session preceding his lecture. “So much of our future is going to be interdisciplinary and problem-oriented,” Wilson said, illustrating his point with the possible flooding of parts of Bangladesh due to climate change. To address a problem such as this, Wilson observed, the ability to assemble a team of knowledgeable people is probably more helpful than an intense focus on hydrology alone.

“You’re at the right place,” Wilson told Goshen students. Wilson believes that small liberal arts colleges like Goshen College can serve undergraduates as well as the most celebrated research institution. “You have a tremendous advantage in that you have access to your professors,” he said.

E.O. Wilson gave the first Christner Memorial Lecture at Goshen College, made possible by a gift from the late Nancy Christner de Targioni and the Christner Foundation. De Targioni and the Christner Foundation have also provided funds for a scholarship for the new Master’s in Environmental Education offered at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College.

– by Jennifer Halteman Schrock, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.