This project seeks to provide secondary educators in science and religious education in Catholic schools with the knowledge and resources to foster a dynamic interchange between these disciplines in their classrooms and academic communities. 150 educators will learn from veteran scholars about the interface of Catholic theology and modern science in seminars designed specifically for applicability to their educational milieu, consider points of contact between science and Catholic theology regarding Big Questions about God, the universe, life, human nature and emerging technologies (Outputs 1-2), and be assisted in implementing lesson units specially designed for use at the secondary level (Output 3).
Larger Catholic secondary learning communities will be drawn into the conversation through 12 one-day professional development events that include whole faculties, reaching approximately 1,200 educators and 300 of their students in 3 events cosponsored by the Society of Catholic Scientists (Output 4). Bishops and diocesan educational leaders will be served through a 2.5-day symposium on integrating faith and science (Output 5). Finally, ongoing evaluation of all these events, of implementation at participating schools and of student learning through lesson units will be undertaken (Output 6).
These activities build on the clear and sustained need for this work demonstrated in the first phases of this project, and will produce practitioners well-prepared to promote the relational unity of faith and science, embodying the best heritage of the Catholic intellectual tradition. While respecting the integrity of the legitimate autonomy of the disciplines, the overall project will promote interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement, "a synthesis of culture and faith…reached by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel” (“The Catholic School,” no. 37).
