John Templeton Grant: Science and the Big Questions – Philosophy and Theology

Key Questions
- Is there a divine reality, and how is it related to the cosmos?
- Do we have free will?
- Are minds wholly material?
- What are the virtues and how do we acquire them?
Guidelines
- Supports research that promises genuine progress in our understanding.
- Encourages research that engages deeply with the sciences, including interdisciplinary collaborations in which philosophical or theological understanding informs and is informed by the findings and methods of the sciences.
Sample Projects
- Advancing Scientific and Theological Literacy in Madrasa Discourses in India
  - PI: Islamic Studies Professor Ebrahim Moosa (History Department, University of Notre Dame)
    - Research Aims
      - To teach graduate-level students in traditional Muslim schools in India and Pakistan to understand the role that reason and evidence plays in the scientific method.
      - To help students evaluate questions not only in science, but in their theological studies as well, in ways that draw on both empirical data and the affirmations of religious texts.
- Aspects of Religious Experiences: Investigations from Science, Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies
  - PIs: Professors of Philosophy Michael Rea & L.A. Paul (University of Notre Dame)
  - Research Question
    - What do transformative religious and spiritual experiences reveal about connecting to the divine?

FASS Research