UNST / UHNR 404B: Religious, Moral, and Social Aspects of Biology—Spring Qtr 2009

CH 206; 1-3 pm, Mondays & Wednesdays

Instructors: Dr. Gary Bradley, Dr. Lee Greer, and invited guest lecturers
Phone numbers: 951-785-2011; 951-785-2101 (Office); 2512 (Lab)
E-mail: gbradley@lasierra.edu; lgreer@lasierra.edu

Course objectives
Our senior Biology capstone course provides a journey in three parts, completing your
Bachelor of Science degree. Each part will be based on the peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly
literature and books by scientists and scholars in their respective academic fields. You should be able to
understand, discuss, and synthesize the following categories of information:
I. Scientific evidence of the natural history and evolution of life on earth from comparative
biology, geology, paleontology, and genomics – capped by your Major Field Achievement Test
(MFAT). You will have an opportunity to reflect on the data in a paper.
II. The emerging dialogue between science and religion – a synthesis of history, epistemology,
philosophy, laying emphasis on current discussions, and the history of thought on science and
religion from the late Medieval-Renaissance Europe, to the Scientific Revolution &
Enlightenment of the mid-17th -18th centuries, and the expanding world of science since Darwin
and into the 21st century. You will have an opportunity to reflect on the issues in a paper.
III. Environmental ethics – the roots of our current ecological crisis and individual and societal
approaches for becoming more sustainable in a time of planetary stress. You will keep up with
breaking developments in the planetary environmental crisis and participate in campaigns on
Internet.

Requirements
Attendance & participation
You are expected to attend all class sessions and to actively participate as biologists
approaching your baccalaureate degree! The optimum success of a discussion course like depends on
the involvement of every student. Records of attendance and participation in discussion will be taken
in every class.
You will be required to keep up with breaking developments in the planetary environmental
crisis on Ecological Internet (www.ecologicalinternet.org/), and actively participate as an informed
citizen in various campaigns dealing with atmospheric-climate, ocean, forest, biodiversity, and
freshwater supply issues under the various respective internet portals. E-mail documentation will be
added to special Dropboxes on D2L.

Optional Service Learning

You may receive optional service learning credit for participating in these assignments, and for
going for the extra step of setting up your own blogspot on My.EcoEarth.Info, which is affiliated with
Ecological Internet. Then you will periodically post thoughtful pieces on your blog on current
campaigns and / or your insights on the current state of our planet, and what we ethically owe to our

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planet and its inhabitants – our fellow voyagers on the long odyssey of this spaceship we call Earth.
You will share the links to your blogspots with classmates and professors, and the world, after editing.

Reading
This is a reading and writing course. You should read the day's assigned reading before coming
to class. Assigned papers may be handed out, posted on D2L, linked from the Internet, or put on
reserve in the library. We will make them available at least one week before they will be discussed.

Writing

Learning to think and to write critically is a lifelong process, and you will be asked to work
hard in this course to seriously advance your skills. You will also be challenged to further develop the
art of integrating, synthesizing, and interpreting what you know.

The writing required in this course will entail a major paper (5-7 pages in length exhibiting
clear writing and scholarship with bibliography) and a final exam.

Bonus points for interesting new references from NCBI Pubmed or PubMed Central on the
relevant topics, along with a half-page submission introduction about why the paper is relevant.

Major paper
You will submit a major paper over the course of the quarter. The purpose of this assignment:
a) To Identify and define the issues
b) To Summarize the methods and data from the scientific (or peer-reviewed academic) literature on
the current status of the discipline about which you are writing.
c) To Reflect on the broad implications with specific reference to the data.

In the light of geochronology and modern biological techniques, present the

1. Evidence and interpretation of the natural history and evolution of life on Earth from paleontology,
2. Evidence and interpretation of the natural history and evolution of life on Earth from biology.

MFAT
The Major Field Achievement Test (MFAT) is required of all senior Biology majors and will be
administered as part of this course. As you participate to the best of your ability on this test, remember
that your score memorializes your baccalaureate degree in the scientific field of Biology.

Final Examination
A structured essay and short answer exam with questions on parts I-III of the course.

Grade weighting
Class attendance, participation, & Internet environmental involvement . . . . . . . . 33.3%
A Paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.3%
Final Exam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.3%
>93% = A; 90-93% = A–; 87-90% = B+; 83-87% = B; 80-83% = B–; 76-80% = C+; 70-76% = C;
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66-70% = C–; 63-66% = D+; 57-63% = D; <57% = F

Spring Qtr Schedule for 2009

Date Topic Lecturer
30 Mar Introduction; syllabus & course Lee Greer
Mon
01 Apr PART I
Wed How old is planet Earth and its life? Kevin Nick (LLU)
06 Apr Radiometric dating Ben Clausen (GRI)
Mon Carbon 14 dating Erv Taylor (UCR)
08 Apr Evidence from ice cores Lee Greer
Wed “What About God?”—PBS film
13 Apr Origin of life (DVD lecture) Donald Prothero October 2008 Origins
Mon Origin of life studies – a summary (Occidental, Caltech) Conference, Caltech
Lee Greer Prothero (2007), ch. 6,
145-59
15 Apr Fossils and the fossil record – Dating the Gary Bradley
Wed paleontological evidence
20 Apr Evolution of life – selected vertebrate Lee Grismer
Mon fossils
22 Apr Human Evolution – the fossils Gary Bradley
Wed
27 Apr Geological evidence from ancient lakes Paul Buchheim (LLU)
Mon and early life
29 Apr Human Evolution – the molecules Lee Greer Cooper & Kehrer-
Wed Evolution and genomics – fossils in the Sawatzki (2008)
molecules Koonin (2009) review
04 May “Judgement Day” – ID on trial in Dover Discussion
Mon
06 May MFAT
Wed
11 May Mammalian evolution Donald Prothero
Mon Cenozoic magnetic stratigraphy (Occidental; Caltech)
13 May PART II
Wed Science & Religion – Intro John Webster
18 May So many sagas – a biologist looks at Lee Greer
Mon creation stories
20 May The legacy of the Enlightenment Lee Greer
Wed th th
(mid-17 - 18 centuries) Paper due
27 May PART III
Wed Environmental ethics – an overview Gary Bradley
01 Jun Crafting a sustainable world-view Gary Bradley
Mon
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03 Jun Film documentary TBA
Wed
10 Jun Final Examination TBA
Wed

Readings and references

Readings will be assigned as we proceed through the course. Here is a list of reference books
which we will put on reserve at the library:
 Baker, Catherine. 2006. The evolution dialogues: Science, Christianity, and the quest for
understanding. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.
 Clayton, Philip (ed.), Simpson, Zachary (assoc. ed.). 2006. The Oxford handbook of religion
and science. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
 Collins, Francis S. 2006. The language of God: A scientist presents evidence for belief. New
York, NY: Free Press.
 Cooper, David N., Kehrer-Sawatzki, Hildegard (eds.) 2008. Handbook of human molecular
evolution (2 volumes). West Sussex, England: J Wiley & Sons.
 Des Jardins, Joseph R. 2004. Environmental ethics; An introduction to environmental
philosophy, 4th edition. Wadsworth Publishing Co.
 Falk, Darrel R. 2004. Coming to peace with science: Bridging the worlds between faith and
biology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
 Giberson, Karl W. 2008. Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and believe in evolution. New
York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
 Miller, Kenneth R. 2008. Only a theory – Evolution and the battle for America's soul. New
York, NY: Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
 Prothero, Donald R. 2007. Evolution: What the fossils say and why it matters. New York, NY:
Columbia University Press.

Internet Resources:
National Center for Biotechnology Information: PubMed and PubMed Central (http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PMC&itool=toolbar)
American Scientific Affiliation: A fellowship of Christians in Science (www.asa3.org).