Mark your calendars: November 14, Saturday, at 1:30 PM US Eastern time: Free zoom lecture and webinar:

“Extraterrestrial Life: The Science and the Theology” 
Might Extraterrestrial life exist? Where? How would we search for it? (Do we already have evidence of it?)  Could such life have human-level intelligence? If Extraterrestrial intelligent life (or “ETI” life) exists, what would be its theological implications? These questions will be addressed by two distinguished Catholic scholars: Prof. Jonathan Lunine, an astrophysicist at Cornell University, and Prof. Chris Baglow, a theologian at University of Notre Dame in the USA.  Each will present a short lecture (of around 20 to 25 minutes) followed by a Q&A session based on questions submitted by the audience in advance (see below).

This event is the second in the new webinar series, presented jointly by the Society of Catholic Scientists and the Science & Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute the University of Notre Dame, called The Steno Lectures: Discussions at the Intersection of Faith and Science.  The series is named after Blessed Nicolas Steno, founder of the science of geology, who is pictured above.  This event is co-sponsored by the new Regional Chapter of SCS in Poland.  It is also co-sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute.

Registration is now open.  At the following link you can both learn more about the Steno Lecture series and register for the November 14 webinar.  https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conferences/academic-pastoral/the-steno-lectures-discussions-at-the-intersection-of-science-and-religion/   (Scroll down on that page to find the information about the Nov 14 event.)  

We ask that participants submit potential questions for the Q&A in advance using this link
https://mcgrath.nd.edu/conferences/academic-pastoral/the-steno-lectures-discussions-at-the-intersection-of-science-and-religion/#questions
 

About the speakers:

Jonathan I. Lunine is David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences of Cornell University and Director of the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science.  (Ph.D.  Planetary Science 1985, Caltech) Prof. Lunine does research in astrophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and among other awards is the recipient of the Jean Dominique Cassini Medal of the European Geosciences Union (2015) and the Basic Sciences Award of the Int. Academy of Astronautics (2009).  He is the author of Earth: Astrobiology, A Multidisciplinary Approach (Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2005) and Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World (2nd ed., Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).  Prof. Lunine is Vice President of the Society of Catholic Scientists.

Chris Baglow, Ph.D., is Professor of the Practice in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and the Director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, where he creates and directs programming that assists Catholic leaders in bringing the Catholic faith and modern science into dialogue for the sake of the New Evangelization.  He has led programs of academic integration at two Catholic high schools, including the STREAM™ Program at St. Mary’s Dominican H.S. in New Orleans, LA. In 2011-2014 Baglow directed the Templeton-funded Steno Learning Program in Faith and Science for Catholic Secondary Educators (SLP), a week-long seminar experience for Catholic science and religion teachers. Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, 2nd ed. (Midwest Theological Forum, 2019).