The Science & Belief in Society Podcast
By International Research Network for the Study of Science & Belief in Society
The Science & Belief in Society PodcastSep 29, 2023
Emerging Trends in the History of Science and Religion with Dr Adam Shapiro
In the final episode of the season, James and Will are joined by Dr Adam R. Shapiro, an historian of science, whose work focuses on public understandings and misunderstandings of science and the relationship between science and religion. Adam provides an overview of some of the emerging trends in the history of science and religion and situates his own work within this wider disciplinary movement. The discussion ranges from the development of and public controversies surrounding two space telescopes - the James Webb Space Telescope and the 30 Metre Telescope on Mauna Kea; the role of Natural Theology in the American Declaration of Independence; Adam's contribution to the second edition of Thomas Dixon's Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction; and where and how Adam sees the field moving beyond 'complexity'.
Psychology of (non)Religion with Dr Carissa Sharp and Dr Carola Leicht
In the penultimate episode of the season, Will and Rebecca are joined by Dr Carissa Sharp, Assistant Professor in Psychology of Religion in the School of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham, UK and Dr Carola Leicht, Reader in Organisational Behaviour at the University of Kent, UK. Carissa and Carola discuss their almost decade-long collaboration, using social psychological methods to explore questions of science-religion conflict and how religious and nonreligious social identities drive perceptions of conflict in unexpected ways. Carola presents the in-depth results of her work on atheist and "new atheist" perceptions of science and religion, before Carissa discusses how stereotypes impact both religious and non-religious perceptions. Carissa goes on to discuss a recent grant success supporting her work to develop psychological cross-training for theologians.
Religious Identity, Political Orientation and Vaccine Attitudes with Dr Renate Ysseldyk and Emily Tippins
In this episode Will is joined by a new co-host Dr Rebecca Hughes, a social psychologist at the University of Birmingham. Will and Rebecca welcome Renate Ysseldyk, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada specializing in Social and Health Psychology, and Emily Tippins, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, who recently completed her Masters of Science working with Renate at Carleton University. Renate and Emily discuss how religious and non-religious individuals in Canada coped with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic and the differential relations between religiosity, trust in science (or lack thereof) and vaccine intentions that exist between religious and non-religious individuals. They complicate this picture further by highlighting the role that political orientation plays in vaccine intentions and trust in science, showing that it can play a greater role than religious/non-religious identity. Renate and Emily discuss the wider societal implications of this, and vaccine hesitancy more generally.
Abortion, Religion & Liberalism with Professor Amy Adamczyk
In this timely episode James and Will welcome Amy Adamczyk, Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Amy discusses her sociological exploration of attitudes towards abortion, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), and the role that religious and other socio-demographic factors play in shaping these attitudes. Amy presents the results of a comparative quantitative analysis of attitudes to abortion across 70 countries, before presenting findings of more in-depth qualitative work into attitudes in the US and China, and the role of liberalism in these different contexts. In the Chinese context, abortion is a less contentious issue, and Amy discusses the comparative hardening of attitudes to abortion in the US in the context of the Supreme Court's overturning of the Roe vs Wade decision, which had guaranteed the right to abortion across the US. Amy discusses the international implications of this decision, whilst considering the socio-economic and other demographic factors that influence 'country-level' attitudes to abortion and ARTs.
Science and Religion in Argentina with Professor Reynaldo Rivera, Dr Arturo Fitz Herbert and Sol Barbera
In this episode James and Will welcome Professor Reynaldo Rivera, Full Professor in the School of Communication and Design, post-doctoral researcher Dr Arturo Fitz Herbert and researcher Sol Barbera from Austral University (Argentina). Reynaldo, Arturo and Sol discuss there work as project partners on the Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum of Global Perspectives project, which sees teams of researchers in 8 countries investigate the relationship between science and religion using diverse sociological, social psychological, historical and media/cultural studies methods. Focusing on the Argentinian case, the Austral team present findings from their qualitative and media studies work, showing how the relationship between science and religion is perceived and presented as operating in very different ways depending on the social context (e.g. in professional science vs in more public arenas). The Austral team also discuss their efforts to identify scholars in the region (Latin America) working on similar topics and pull together a network of such scholars - the CRYS Network - to share research and best practice, which has even included establishing their own Spanish-language Science and Belief podcast!
STS and Religion in Conversation with Dr Thokozani Kamwendo, Dr Caroline McCalman, Dr James Riley and Dr Will Mason-Wilkes
In this episode James and Will welcome Dr Thokozani Kamwendo, post-doctoral researcher at Durham University, and Dr Caroline McCalman, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, for a roundtable discussion on the relationship between scholarship in Science & Belief and Science & Technology Studies (STS). Thoko is the editor of a collection exploring this relationship, with Caroline providing a single-authored and a co-authored contribution. As well as hosting the podcast, both James and Will are scholars at the intersection of these disciplines, and are also contributing a chapter each to the volume. In a departure from the usual format, James and Will hand over the hosting duties (at least temporarily) to Thoko, who leads us through the motivation for the volume, before Caroline, James and Will outline their own contributions, before engaging in a more wide-ranging discussion of the value of this kind of inter-disciplinary project for both STS scholars and scholars of Science & Belief.
Science & Meaning: From 'Cultured Meat' to the March for Science with Dr Neil Stephens
In this episode we welcome Dr Neil Stephens, Associate Professor in Technology and Society at the University of Birmingham. Neil discusses his 15+ year study of ‘cultured meat’; the processes of its scientific and technological development, how religious authorities have been involved in these processes, and the broader epistemological, ontological and sociological implications of his research. We go on to discuss the March for Science, the value of borrowing concepts from different disciplines, and more broadly, what Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Science and Belief scholars can learn from one another.
Reflections on the History of Science & Religion with Prof. Bernard Lightman
In this episode (our first recorded in-person) we talk with distinguished historian of science Professor Bernard Lightman. We discuss his wide-ranging contributions to the historical study of science and religion, from his early work on the origins of agnosticism, to his views on more recent shifts and trends in the field - and the differences between T.H. Huxley and Richard Dawkins.
The End of the World with Dr Hauke Riesch
The Science & Belief in Society Podcast is back - but for how much longer? In this opening episode of Season 3, James and Will welcome Dr Hauke Riesch, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Brunel University, London, to talk about the end of the world...
Narratives of the apocalypse - stories of how the world will end, and humanity's fate before, during and after these variously prophesied cataclysms, have been a central feature of many global religions. From the threat of nuclear war via global pandemics to the onset of climate breakdown, these narratives are now increasingly prevalent in scientific discourses. We discuss Hauke's work in this area, which has traced the continuities and breakages in how these narratives are deployed in both religious and scientific contexts, the different forms they take and their existential and social function. We also discuss the lighter side of the end times, contrasting apocalyptic narratives with other communication strategies for engagement, including comedy.
Measuring Meditation: the Study of Contemplative Science with Mareike Smolka
Religious practices and their effects are increasingly the subject of scientific investigation. In the field of Contemplative Science, mediative practices drawn from Buddhist traditions are united with techniques of analysis from cognitive and neurosciences.
In this episode, James and Will welcome Mareike Smolka, a PhD Researcher at Maastricht University in Science and Technology Studies and Fullbright Scholar at Arizona State University, who has ethnographically explored this community. Mareike’s work traces the development of Contemplative Science from fringe to mainstream interest, and demonstrates the tensions and trade-offs in play when exploring religious practices from within the boundaries of the neoliberal academy.
Science and Colonial Legacies in East Africa with Professor Adam Chepkwony
In this episode, Richard and Will talk with Professor Adam Chepkwony, a Full Professor of Religion at the University of Kabianga in Kenya. Professor Chepkwony's work covers a wide range of topics including African Religion, Inter-religious Dialogue, Science and Religion, and more. In this episode, Professor Chepkwony provides his perspective on how issues like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected, and are perceived by, people in Kenya. Additionally, Professor Chepkwony discusses the impacts of colonialism and missionary work in Kenya, including how rigid conceptualizations of Christianity, democracy, and science can sometimes lead Africans to feel like they are living "double lives".
Science and Islam in the 19th Century with Dr Sarah Qidwai
In this episode, Rachael and Richard talk with Dr Sarah Qidwai, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg, Germany. Sarah’s work explores transnational and local perspectives on scientific disciplines during the long nineteenth century. In this episode, we discuss the focus of Sarah’s doctoral thesis, the Muslim polymath Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), and her latest project entitled ‘Scientism and Empire’ while examining how disciplines such as astronomy, geology, and evolutionary biology operated within the confines of Empire in the 19th Century.
Science Scepticism around the World with Dr Baastian Rutjens
Understanding public attitudes towards science has become an increasingly important area of research in recent decades, and the importance of this kind of work has only been heightened by the emergence of COVID-19, and the diverse and unpredictable public responses to scientific and medical advice during the pandemic. In this episode Will and Richard talk to Dr Baastian Rutjens, who investigates public attitudes to science around the world, with a focus on what he describes as ‘science scepticism’. Baastian explains how tools and methods from social psychology can help us to understand the motivations which underlie scepticism of science, and we discuss the wider social and political implications of these kinds of attitudes.
Evolution and Creation in New Zealand with Dr John Stenhouse
In this episode James Riley and Richard Grove talk with John Stenhouse, Associate Professor of History at the University of Otago, New Zealand. John's research interests centre on the interconnections between science, religion, race, politics and gender in the modern world, particularly using New Zealand as the major site of study. We talk about the history of creationist and evolutionary ideas in New Zealand, and how a nation cannot be separated from larger complexities of empire and globalisation when thinking about the reception of scientific ideas.
Cultural Psychology of the Mind with Dr. Vivian Dzokoto
In this episode, hosts Richard Grove and James Riley meet with Dr. Vivian Dzokoto, a Cultural Psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States, to discuss her work on the cultural differences in how people think about "the mind." Dr. Dzokoto has published research on a wide range of topics. However, one of the key characteristics of her research is the examination of culture and religion. Much of her research focuses on people from West African countries, such as Ghana. In this episode, Dr. Vivian Dzokoto chats with Richard and James about her research on emotions and Ghanaian understandings of the mind based on an analysis of Akan proverbs.
Varieties of Atheism in Science with Professor Elaine Howard Ecklund and Dr David R. Johnson
In this episode, hosts Rachael Shillitoe and Richard Grove, meet with Elaine Howard Ecklund, Professor of Sociology at Rice University and David R. Johnson, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University, to discuss their new book, Varieties of Atheism in Science, out now with Oxford University Press. Elaine and David reflect on the findings of their study which draws on surveys and interviews with atheist scientists in the UK and USA. Chatting with Rachael and Richard, Elaine and David, challenge some of the commonly held assumptions about the interrelation between atheism and science and by exploring atheist scientists’ diverse views of religion, their perspectives on the limits to what science can explain, and their views of meaning and morality.
Science, (Con)spirituality and COVID-19 with Dr Anna Halafoff
New-age spirituality, wellness and alternative health practices have been cast in a new light as the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded. The relationship between these practices and established or mainstream science and public health has tended to be an uneasy one, and this unease has only increased during the pandemic, with online spiritualist and wellness communities providing fertile ground for the growth and spread of increasingly anti-establishment and conspiratorial ideas. To discuss these issues with James and Will is today's guest, Dr Anna Halafoff, Associate Professor in Sociology at Deakin University, Melbourne, who explores these issues in the Australian context. Anna dissects the rise and development of ‘(con)spirituality’ online, the shifting political make-up of these communities, and how, beyond the pandemic, these communities and the individuals participating in them can be seen as responding to the social and economic conditions imposed by neoliberalism.
Fingerprinting Ghosts: Science, Technology & the Occult with The Media of Mediumship Project Team
The Media of Mediumship project is running jointly at the University of Stirling and the Science Museum Group. The project team comprises Principal Investigator Professor Christine Ferguson, Co-Investigator Dr Efram Sera-Shriar and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Emma Merkling.
In this very spooky episode, Christine, Efram and Emma tell us how from the late-19th Century on, novel technologies of the period - including photographic cameras, radio transmitters and devices for producing and recording different types of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays - were used to explore what we now think of as the 'supernatural'. The team show that during this period, phenonema such as the ability of a medium to channel the spirits of the dead, or the physical manifestations of this ability such as the production of ectoplasm, were open to scientific debate, having not yet fallen outside the boundaries of legitimate scientific study. Similarly, what phenomena it was possible for novel technologies such as radio and photography to record or capture was not yet settled. Spiritualists, occultists, scientists, as well as magicians and outright con-artists (with more than one of these labels often applying to the same individual) used these novel technologies variously to evidence or debunk various claims, draw boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate scientific and spiritualist or occult practises, whilst also satisfying a Victorian public for whom attending a séance, for example, was a popular form of entertainment. The team discuss this fascinating history with reference to some of the technological artefacts and other objects of the period, which are held by the Science Museum Group and Senate House Library, and which were implicated in some of the most high-profile contemporary controversies e.g. the Cottingley fairies.
Season Two Trailer
A sneak peak of what's coming up in Season Two of The Science & Belief in Society Podcast
Science and Religion in Mass Media - Dr Tom Aechtner
In the final episode of Season 1 of the Science & Belief in Society Podcast, we’re re-joined by Dr Tom Aechtner, Senior Lecturer in Religion and Science in the School Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland. Tom talks us through the persuasive and rhetorical tactics used by both pro- and anti-evolutionist media and explains what science communicators can learn from their anti-evolutionary counterparts.
Alongside his work on science and religion in mass media, Tom’s currently working on a project investigating vaccine hesitancy and vaccine scepticism in Australia titled “Improving Vaccination Rates in Australia: Analysing Media, Religion and Policy.”. You can listen to a special podcast we recorded with Tom on this topic here. You can read Tom’s Researcher Profile here.
Science and Non-religion - Dr Lois Lee
In this episode, we talk with Dr Lois Lee about the relationship between science and non-religion and the perceived affinity between the two. Through her ground-breaking research on non-religion and unbelief, Lois discusses the role that science plays in lives of the non-religious and how this role varies across different non-religious groups. Drawing on empirical research and disaggregating what it means to be non-religious, Lois reveals the myriad ways science is and is not intertwined within the cultural and social identities of the non-religious and how this interrelation can be related to different existential outlooks.
Dr Lois Lee is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent, and is the Principal Investigator on the Understanding Unbelief programme. You can read her Researcher Profile here.
Historical Research on Science and Religion: The Conflict Thesis Revisited - Dr James Ungureanu
In this episode James and Will welcome Dr James Ungureanu, Historian in Residence in the George L. Mosse Program in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Queensland.
Dr Ungureanu discusses his recent book Science, Religion, and the Protestant Tradition: Retracing the Origins of Conflict in which he reinterprets the origins, development, and popularization of the “conflict thesis,” the idea that science and religion are fundamentally and irrevocably at odds. The book recasts the role of two influential figures in the history of the ‘conflict thesis’, John William Draper and Andrew Dixon-White, and relocates the origins of the view of science and religion as being in perennial and irreconcilable conflict in a specifically liberal protestant tradition. In the episode, Dr Ungureanu also tells us a bit about his historical method and describes his dream library…
Science and Religion in African Contexts - Dr Bankole Falade
In this episode we talk with Dr Bankole Falade about his recent social psychological and media research on science and religion in South Africa and Nigeria. Bankole introduces the concepts of polyphasia and cognitive dissonance, explains how they are helpful in understanding how and why individuals are able to reconcile apparently contradictory beliefs, and why these concepts are useful for researchers interested in understanding science and belief in diverse social contexts. Bankole also provides an insight into the (social and traditional) media landscapes in South Africa and Nigeria, and how these in turn shape and influence beliefs, including shaping public attitudes during the COVID19 pandemic.
The Humanist Blockbuster and the Evolutionary Epic - Dr Alexander Hall
In this episode, we welcome Dr Alexander Hall, who discusses his research into the popular media representation of science and religion in the 20thcentury. He introduces us to ways of presenting science which became common on television and radio over the second half of the 20th century, which he calls the ‘evolutionary epic’ and the ‘humanist blockbuster’: grand, sweeping stories about nature and evolution, that takes us from the earliest moments of creation to now, and which in many ways echo religious creation myths. Alex will help us trace the history and development of these ways of presenting science, through influential figures such as David Attenborough, Julian Huxley, and the archetypal work of Jacob Bronowski, to help us understand where this kind of storytelling style comes from, and why it’s so common in Science and Nature TV. Alex will also tell us why it’s so important to investigate media presentations of Science and Religion if we want to understand the relationship between science and belief in society – and as a bonus he’ll also recommend his favourite science and religion TV and radio programmes!
Special: Measuring Public Attitudes - Dr Cary Funk and Dr Courtney Johnson from the Pew Research Centre
The Pew Research Centre is a fact tank which focuses on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They study U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends. To carry out such research, the team at Pew Research Centre conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. You can read more about Pew Research Centre on their website.
In this episode, we speak to Drs Cary Funk and Courtney Johnson. Cary is the director of science and society research at Pew Research Centre, where she leads the Centre’s efforts to understand the implications of science for society. She has authored or co-authored a number of reports focused on public trust in science, scientific experts and science news and information. Dr Courtney Johnson is a research associate at Pew Research Centre whose work focuses on interrelation between science and society. Cary and Courtney discuss some of the research conducted by Pew into public perceptions of the relationship between science and religion, and in particular, on beliefs about evolution. Focusing on the methodological approach taken at Pew, our guests reflect on the importance of survey design and how the way in which questions are asked can impact the data generated.
Science and Religion amongst Indian Scientists - Dr Renny Thomas
In this episode, Dr Renny Thomas introduces his research on science and religion in India. Renny explains how his ethnographic work in Indian laboratories allowed him to explore belief systems among Indian scientists. He discusses some of the challenges of ethnographic research in scientific settings, from gaining access to negotiating insider/outsider status in the field. Renny’s work challenges orientalist assumptions and helps us to move beyond science and religion literature dominated by Western perspectives by examining the science-religion relationship in spaces and places that have been previously overlooked. In considering the experience of Indian scientists, Renny rethinks what atheism(s) mean in such contexts, how we think of culture in relation to religion and the key role Science and Technology Studies (STS) can play in investigating science and religion.
Dr Renny Thomas is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi (India). Renny received his PhD in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and was the 2017-2018 Charles Wallace Fellowship in Social Anthropology at Queen’s University, Belfast, UK.
Science, Religion and Stereotypes - Dr Kimberly Rios
Our guest for this latest instalment of the Science & Belief in Society Podcast is Dr. Kimberly Rios, Associate Professor at Ohio University, whose research explores the relationship between science, religion and identity from a social psychological perspective. In this episode, Kim talks about how our perception of things as seemingly fixed as the length of a straight line are shaped by group pressures, discusses the differential impacts membership of majority and minority social groups have on our identity and the potential for us to ‘choke’ under pressure, and even introduces us to her dog Jimmy!
Special: COVID, Conspiracies & Vaccines - Dr Tom Aechtner
Recently, we caught up with Dr Tom Aechtner, Senior Lecturer in Religion and Science at the University of Queensland, to record an episode for the Science & Belief in Society podcast series. That episode, on Tom’s work around persuasion tactics in science and religion mass media communication, will be launched in Summer 2021.
Tom has also been researching vaccination scepticism and anti-vaccination movements and media. Given that this is such timely work in the winter of 2020, James, Rachael and Will also discussed this with Tom, and we are sharing this discussion with the network now as a separate Science & Belief in Society Podcast: COVID, Conspiracies & Vaccines Special.
Sociological Research on Science and Religion in the USA - Dr Shiri Noy
In this episode, we talk with Dr Shiri Noy about the value of quantitative and qualitative methods in understanding public attitudes to science and religion in the US; how theoretical insights from political and cultural sociology help to better make sense of this relationship, and, for reasons that will become clear, we also talk quite a lot about Battenberg cake.
Dr Shiri Noy is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at Denison University, Ohio. Her research interests are in political culture, globalization, and development.
Introducing the Network - Prof. Fern Elsdon-Baker
In this episode, Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker introduces the Network and explains the importance of multi-disciplinary and international research into science and belief.
Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker is the Director for the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society and the Principal Investigator on the Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum of Global Perspectives project. She is a Professor in Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society and is the Director of the Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society Research Group at the University of Birmingham.
Science and Belief in Society Trailer
Trailer for the Science and Belief in Society Podcast.