Interdisciplinary minor in Theology, Science, and Technology
A newly launched interdisciplinary minor offered by the Theology Department will help Boston College undergraduates explore technical and scientific fields from a humanistic and theological perspective, according to Theology Chair Andrea Vicini, S.J., the Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics.
The Theology, Science, and Technology interdisciplinary minor will provide students with the skills and opportunities to critically engage and thoughtfully reflect on the conversations, connections, and conflicts between theology, the sciences, and technology.
The minor also will equip students with the intellectual tools they need to recognize both the strengths in and limits to academic methods’ diverse ways of knowing.
Andrea Vicini, S.J.
“Theology is interested in exploring the relationship of human beings with the world and how we encounter God in reality,” said Fr. Vicini. “One area where we have interlocutors are the sciences because they're part of who human beings are in terms of ingenuity, creativity, applications, and also challenges. We want to help students find a way of developing and combining multiple interests that they have in sciences, in technological developments, and in the humanities.
“We want students to consider what the humanities and theology can bring to their scientific and technical fields in terms of a vision of science, of human beings, and of the world,” Fr. Vicini continued.
Fr. Vicini anticipates the minor being of interest to students majoring in subjects such as human-centered engineering, global public health and the common good, nursing, neuroscience, biology, and computer science, among other fields.
“We envision a large spectrum of students with very specific interest in the sciences, but who want to take advantage of the opportunity of pursuing a more integrated study, engaging the humanities as part of a liberal arts education,” he said.
Jeffrey Cooley
Applications for the Theology, Science, and Technology interdisciplinary minor open January 2 and the initial cohort will be limited to 15 students.
A core element of the new minor is a mandatory three-credit capstone course, Theology, Science, and Technology Senior Seminar. Organizers say the seminar will give students a synthesizing experience where they can bring together the various elements they've gathered throughout their studies in view of their future careers. The objective is to help students reflect critically, see connections, and understand how their studies have helped them grow as human beings.
Other requirements for the minor will be five electives, including one in a science with a lab, one in technology/applied science, two in science and technology in context, and one in theology and science.
Fr. Vicini credits Theology Associate Professor Jeffrey Cooley with shepherding the minor from inception to final approval.
“Students are looking for insight as to how their faith and religious traditions can co-exist and, indeed, engage with their scientific worldviews and rapidly developing technological culture,” said Cooley, a biblical studies scholar with a research focus on the Hebrew Bible. “The desire to ‘find God in all things,’ should not result in intellectual and moral compartmentalization. Boston College is an ideal setting for this program: the University features not only one of the world's preeminent theology faculties, but excellent natural science and nursing programs, relatively new programs in global public health and human-centered engineering, as well as the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.
“Many students are looking for a pedagogical venue in which they can examine their scientific and technical vocations in light of their theological traditions, and this program seeks to offer them that,” he added.
Also instrumental in establishing the new minor have been Theology’s Director of Undergraduate Studies Matthew Kruger and Engineering’s Director of Undergraduate Studies Jenna Tonn, who serves as co-director of the minor.
“The Theology Department’s desire is to be an integrating presence within the University,” said Fr. Vicini. “We want to create opportunities for integration, avoiding the silos that we might experience in the academy. We want to create possibilities where we join other departments, other colleagues, and welcome faculty and students to reflect on what concerns our way of living on the planet and how we can promote it and make it better.”