Alumni Reading Groups
Intellectual engagement after graduation
One of the signature experiences of Christ College is meeting with fellow students to discuss important texts and cultural monuments. Keeping this spirit alive, Christ College alumni reading groups meet around the country to discuss this year’s syllabus, Science and Religion.
The readings for this year are drawn from a two-week study abroad seminar in Cambridge UK, led by Professor Matthew Puffer in the 2024 spring semester. The texts selected are meant to represent a variety of ways that human beings have understood the relationship between science and religion. Each offers a different perspective. Some examine the emergence of modern science and religion as distinct from what they would have meant to ancients, others trace the changed relationship between science and religion as one or the other concept evolved. Each affords a distinct vantage that collectively troubles any simplistic conflict vs. complimentary binary. They also move us beyond merely controversial issues and advance the more constructive dialogues that have taken place between religious and non-religious persons, theologians and scientists. The texts engage topics such as cosmology, evolution, ecology, human freedom, and morality—themes that have shaped the way humans have understood themselves, the natural and supernatural world, God, religion, and science. Implicitly and explicitly, these texts tell somewhat different stories about the development of religion, science, and their relation—sometimes competing, sometimes complimentary stories—and each draws variously upon ancient, medieval, and modern history, figures, and ideas of discovery, innovation, and revolution. As always, read carefully, interpret responsibly, and discuss thoughtfully!
TEXTS
1. Peter Harrison, selections from The Territories of Science and Religion (2015)
2. Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation” (1917)
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, selections from Letters and Papers from Prison (1945)
6. Lynn White, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science (1967)
& Pope Francis, Laudato si’ (2015)
7. Lorraine Daston, selections from Against Nature (2019)
& David Wallace-Wells, “The Uninhabitable Earth” (2017)
Christ College alumni reading groups can be found in the following locations:
- Amherst, Massachusetts – CCAmherst.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Austin, Texas – CCAustin.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Chicago, Illinois – CCLoopchicago.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Chicago, Illinois – CCNorthchicago.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Cincinnati, Ohio – CCCincinnati.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Columbus, Ohio – CCColumbus.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Denver, Colorado – CCDenver.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Detroit, Michigan – CCDetroit.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Eastern Time Zone, U.S.A – CCEasternTZ.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Fort Wayne, Indiana – CCFortWayne.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Indianapolis, Indiana – CCIndy.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Lincoln, Nebraska – CCLincoln.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Los Angeles, California – CCLosAngeles.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Minneapolis, Minnesota – CCTwincities.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Phoenix, Arizona – CCPhoenix.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Rockford, Illinois – CCRockford.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Silicon Valley, California – CCValleyCA.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota – CCSiouxFalls.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Toledo, Ohio – CCToledo.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Valparaiso, Indiana – CCValpo.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Washington, D.C. – CCWashDC.readgroup@valpo.edu
- Class of 2007 – CC2007.readgroup@valpo.edu
Having trouble reaching a reading group? Email us at christ.college@valpo.edu and we will assist.
These groups give alumni a cherished opportunity to continue these life-changing conversations and participate in the life of the College. Each year, Christ College provides the groups with a syllabus, including a reading list and suggested discussion questions, that touches on themes and texts that are discussed in a Christ College seminar that year.
Some recent syllabi: