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Metanexus Institute

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The Metanexus Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997, “dedicated to promoting scientifically rigorous and philosophically open-ended explorations of foundational questions.” [1] The institute has organized the exchange of ideas through conferences,[2][3][4][5] and published books.[6][7] It has worked with hundreds of universities in at least 37 different countries.[8] Metanexus also has an online magazine.[9]

History

1997 - William Grassie then an assistant professor in the Intellectual Heritage Program at Temple University, launches the “Meta-List,” a moderated listserv on science and religion that begins with 600 subscribers and quickly grows to several thousand. [10]

1998 - With the help of Peter Dodson, Soloman Katz, Andrew Newberg, and Stephen Dunning, William Grassie creates the Philadelphia Center for Religion and Science (PCRS). [11] The goal of the center was to promote literacy in science and religion by hosting seminars, courses, and conferences. [12]

1999 - PCRS hosts a special symposium at the University of Pennsylvania with Holmes Rolston III on the subject of his Gifford Lectures and newly released book Genes, Genesis, and God: Values and Their Origins in Natural and Human History.

2000 - PCRS is renamed the Metanexus Institute, and the Meta-List relaunches as a dynamic website with the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, Metanexus then launches the $5.1 million Local Societies Initiative [13] [14]

2001 - Metanexus administers the $800,000 Templeton Research Lectures program (which awards grants for interdisciplinary studies and lecture series) [15] and hosts the “Interpreting Evolution” conference as part of the CTNS Science and Religion Course Program at Haverford College. [16]

2002 - The organization receives a $3 million expansion grant from the John Templeton Foundation [17] [18] and hosts three conferences: “Interpretation Matters” at Haverford College, “Spiritual Transformation Research” at the University of Pennsylvania, “Science and Ultimate Reality” in Princeton, New Jersey. The latter resulting in an edited volume, "Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology, and Complexity." [19]

2003 - Metanexus launches the $3.3 million Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Project [20] and hosts two conferences: “Works of Love: The Science of Altruism” at Villanova University [21] and “Spiritual Capital” at Harvard University.

2004 - Metanexus launches the $3.75 Spiritual Capital Research Program [22] and administers the $4.8 million renewal of the Templeton Research Lectures program. The following projects were funded:

The organization also hosts the “Science and Religion in Context” international conference at the University of Pennsylvania. [23]

2005 - Metanexus launches the $5.79 million Templeton Advanced Research Project [24] [25] and hosts the “Science and Religion: Global Perspectives” international conference at the University of Pennsylvania. [26]

2006 - Metanexus hosts three conferences: “Continuity and Change” at the University of Pennsylvania [27], “Spiritual Transformation” at the University of California, Berkeley [28] and “Amazing Light: Visions for Discovery” (including the Young Researchers Competition) at the University of California, Berkeley [29] The latter resulted in the publication of an edited volume entitled "Visions of Discovery: New Light on Physics, Cosmology, and Consciousness."

2007 - Metanexus launches the $8.9 million Metanexus Global Network Initiative (MGNI) and hosts the “Transdisciplinarity and the Unity of Knowledge” international conference at the University of Pennsylvania. [30] William Grassie stepped down as Executive Director of Metanexus and Eric Weislogel took over managing the Institute.

2008 - The organization hosts the “Subject, Self, and Soul” international conference in Madrid, Spain. [31]

2009 - Metanxus hosts the “Cosmos, Nature, and Culture” international conference at Arizona State University. Eric Weislogel stepped down as Executive Director and William Grassie returned to manage a reorganization of the Institute.

2010 - Metanexus launches a book series and publishes three books: Politics by Other Means by William Grassie, [32] Advanced Methodologies in the Scientific Study of Religion and Spirituality edited by William Grassie, [33] and Transhumanism and Its Critics edited by Gregory Hansell and William Grassie. [34] William Grassie also writes a book, The New Sciences of Religion, which is published by Palgrave Macmillan. [35] The organization hosts David Christian for lectures on “Big History” at the New York Academy of Sciences [36], the National Science Foundation, and Villanova University. Metanexus moved its offices to Center City, Philadelphia. [37]

2011 - The board of Metanexus adopts a new mission “promoting scientifically rigorous and philosophically open-ended approaches to foundational questions.” [38] The organization closes its Philadelphia office and relocates to New York [39]. Metanexus publishes a new book, Indic Visions in an Age of Science by Varadaraja V. Raman. [40]

Big History

In recent years, Metanexus Institute has actively promoted the concept of Big History, what is also referred to as the "Epic of Evolution". Big History is a field of historical study that examines history on large scales across long time frames through a multidisciplinary approach,[41] focusing on both the history of the non-human world and on major adaptations and alterations in the human experience.[42] It seeks to understand the integrated history of the cosmos, earth, life, and humanity, using the best available empirical evidence and scholarly methods.[43] It arose as a distinct field in the late 1980s and is related to, but distinct from, world history,[42] as the field examines history from the beginning of time to the present day.

Metanexus Institute has endorsed the adoption of a Big History curriculum in school systems worldwide.[44] It has sought to “incubate such courses in undergraduate colleges and universities, book clubs, religious congregations, and ultimately in age-appropriate ways in K-12 education, here in the United States and around the world.” [45]

References

  1. ^ http://www.metanexus.net/about-metanexus-institute
  2. ^ http://www.wnrf.org/cms/metanexus_science_religion.shtml
  3. ^ http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol6iss1/4_Final%20Edited%20Middlebrooks_pp65-83.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/mi-wtp102105.php
  5. ^ http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/pennmatters/pdf/Sociolog-Fall04.pdf
  6. ^ Grassie, William (2010). Politics by Other Means: Science and Religion in the Twenty-First Century.
  7. ^ Hansell, Gregory, ed. (2011). H+/- Transhumanism and its Critics.
  8. ^ http://www.depauw.edu/news-media/latest-news/details/17394/
  9. ^ http://www.metanexus.net/metanexus-institute/conferences
  10. ^ http://metanexus.net/metanexus-institute-history
  11. ^ http://metanexus.net/metanexus-institute-history
  12. ^ Faye Flam, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 9, 1999, “Science, at a High Power/Is God in the Details?”
  13. ^ http://capabilities.templeton.org/2004/science07.html
  14. ^ David O’Reilly and Melissa Dribben, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2008, “An Investor in Money and Faith.”
  15. ^ http://capabilities.templeton.org/2004/science06.html
  16. ^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Interpreting+Evolution%3A+Scientific+and+Religious+Perspectives...-a075522225
  17. ^ http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=5200002
  18. ^ David O’Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 18, 2002, “Center thinks religion and science can say much to each other.”
  19. ^ http://metanexus.net/metanexus-institute-history
  20. ^ http://articles.philly.com/2002-10-13/news/25352919_1_metanexus-institute-spiritual-transformation-research-proposals
  21. ^ http://www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org/news/pdf/irul_november.pdf
  22. ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/three-grants-of-500000-each-awarded-for-research-on-spiritual-capital-by-metanexus-institute-54347912.html
  23. ^ http://www.christianpost.com/news/theologians-and-scientists-hold-interdisciplinary-conference-7130/
  24. ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/metanexus-institute-awards-46-million-to-further-scientific-research-on-religion-55757382.html
  25. ^ http://www.metanexus.net/archive/templetonadvancedresearchprogram/#
  26. ^ http://metanexus.net/archive/conference2005/
  27. ^ http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-3/Continuity-+-Change-3A-Perspectives-on-Science-and-Religion-6875-1/
  28. ^ http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/04/03_spiritmed.shtml
  29. ^ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/mi-wtp102105.php
  30. ^ http://capabilities.templeton.org/2008/GP/mgni.html
  31. ^ http://www.upcomillas.es/eng/noticias/noticia.aspx?ID=328
  32. ^ http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ugqX9wUsUGoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=Politics+by+Other+Means+william+grassie&ots=adc_hMOL8G&sig=da0FAq-tib83wtEw1iYpfIkwAes
  33. ^ http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=u5S_C-79HnwC&oi=fnd&pg=PT12&dq=Advanced+Methodologies+william+grassie&ots=AbSq1FukGL&sig=xhbQLHKhRuIQagfBClGwzNl6VFw
  34. ^ http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PejV2ViHcXIC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=Transhumanism+and+Its+Critics&ots=Tw_7hNNhbu&sig=8_WTX4wJhk9R4dNJaIVgNAhKPX4#v=onepage&q=Transhumanism%20and%20Its%20Critics&f=false
  35. ^ http://us.macmillan.com/thenewsciencesofreligion/WilliamGrassie
  36. ^ http://www.nyas.org/events/Detail.aspx?cid=a2fe0011-6b1d-451c-b7f6-74e278c47530
  37. ^ > http://metanexus.net/metanexus-institute-history
  38. ^ http://metanexus.net/about-metanexus-institute
  39. ^ http://metanexus.net/metanexus-institute-history
  40. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=HJs64QawLccC&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=Indic+Visions+in+an+Age+of+Science+metanexus&source=bl&ots=8sKQ54kN6X&sig=2CqNOO0oZOrUG27y9vmsR61nUZ8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OOtRUcK3OMHA4AO8hIHIDA&ved=0CF0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Indic%20Visions%20in%20an%20Age%20of%20Science%20metanexus&f=false
  41. ^ Christian, David. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History.
  42. ^ a b Stearns, Peter N. Growing Up: The History of Childhood in a Global Context. p. 9.
  43. ^ "International Big History Association". Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  44. ^ http://www90.homepage.villanova.edu/lowell.gustafson/bighistory/newsletters/IBHA_Newsletter_201204.pdf
  45. ^ http://www.metanexus.net/essay/explore-big-history
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