My name is James Riley, I’m a PhD student at Newman University, Birmingham, researching Catholicism and science. As part of my research I am currently carrying out face-to-face interviews with individuals in England who identify as Catholic. Continue reading Interview participants needed for new research into Catholicism and science
If you can believe what you read, “FAKE NEWS” is everywhere these days. Shot onto the media scene like a lexical gag, the phrase was fired from the mouth of President Donald J. Trump as he confronted CNN reporter Jim Acosta during the then president-elect’s first press conference. Although the words are much older, Trump has certainly made the capitalisation his own. “FAKE NEWS!” The phrase itself comes stinking of Orwell’s ink, and when levelled it splits the media between those who goodthink and crimethink—between those who carry the party line, and those who don’t. However, this post isn’t concerned with presidential duckspeak, but rather the shape of the messages themselves—fake or not—which we receive via the media. Continue reading Fake news, media framing, and the case of Pope Francis’ ‘shocking’ comments on evolution
***This podcast first appeared on The Religious Studies Project on 30 January 2017***
Science and evolution in Muslim societies is a complicated topic. Among members of the public, what does evolution mean? Is there one ‘Muslim view’ on evolution, or are there a great variety of views on evolution in Muslim majority contexts?
In this podcast for The Religious Studies Project SRES’s Dr Stephen Jones interviews Dr Salman Hameed about recent research on Muslim perceptions of science and evolution.
Continue reading Podcast: Religion, Science and Evolutionary Theory
If someone asked you the question: “What do creationists think about science?” It’d be quite understandable for you to answer: “Well, they must hate it.” After all, we define these people by their rejection of one of the most well-known scientific theories of all time. But beyond evolution itself, how do creationists view science in general? The first problem with answering this question is that it assumes creationists are a monolithic group of like-minded people, who all hold the same beliefs for the same reasons. In recent years, much work has been done to smash this monolith, and to rebuild the pieces into a more nuanced understanding of this group of individuals.
At the beginning of 2016, the team at the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society (CSKBS) launched their first student partnerships at Newman University. The main aim of the project was to engage the student population in the process of research on two of the Centre’s projects: God’s in Mind and Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum. We hoped to mentor the students as they were introduced to the various stages of the research process, guiding them through the ups and downs of being a researcher. Below is a reflection, by both the students and the team, on the successes and the challenges of the student partnership project. Continue reading Lifting the lid on the research process