Conversations on Religion, Ethics, and Science (CORES)

We live in a bitterly polarized moment in history. Religious, ethical, and scientific precepts foundational to our society are being challenged inside and outside of the academy in increasingly harsh, polemical, and distorted ways. Controversy over climate change is but one of many examples of this polarization that has global consequences for present and future generations. Respectful, informed, and productive dialogue on issues critical to the flourishing of humanity and the natural world is needed now more than ever.

Hosted at Arizona State University, Conversations on Religion, Ethics, and Science (CORES) will seek to model a dialogical approach of intellectual humility and relational integrity to help correct the current dysfunction. By bringing together scholars, students, and life-long learners from a variety of academic disciplines and religious and secular communities, much can be achieved through dialogue that is not only informed and respectful, but also productive and solutions oriented.

Over the course of the project, CORES will multiply these conversations through a series of public events and conferences, creating an “arena of conversation” among people of “keen mind and knowledge and understanding” in order to “solve difficult problems at the intersection of science and technology and the theory and practice of religion and ethics, to engender new understandings of the “world as it is” and “what it ought to be.”