The Structure of Scientific Revolutions When Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientifc Revolutions appeared in 1962, it offered a radically new perspective on the history of science. It challenged the prevailing view that science develops by “accumulation” and argued...

Lara Buchak Associate Professor of Philosophy; Senior Fellow, Berkeley Institute Understanding Ritual Whether we are religious or secular, our lives are structured by rituals. Religious believers often participate in liturgies, but our culture is filled with other...

Steven Hayward Visiting Professor, Goldman School of Public Policy Visions of Justice: From Conservatism to Postmodernism Justice today typically comes in hyphenated forms. There’s social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, and even spacial justice. Many...

Anselm Ramelow Professor of Philosophy; Senior Fellow, Berkeley Institute Understanding Architecture Architecture shapes our lives and forms our imaginations in ways we often do not fully appreciate. Places of work, learning, worship, and living do more than provide...

How to Be Christian In College A lot of people think it should be hard to be a Christian and a college student. Is it? Should it be? And in any case, how can you do both well? Berkeley professors Lara Buchak and Steven Justice will offer both intellectual and...

The Fire Next Time: Race & Religion in James Baldwin Many are wondering if it is still possible to dream of an America where people of vastly different backgrounds can live and thrive together. This seminar proposes an actual beginning to the conversation by...

Our summer fiction reading group continues with Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. We will meet weekly to talk about Kundera’s understanding of erotic love, its relationship to human finitude, and his frequent reflections on theological themes. A free...

Jane Austen wrote romantic comedies about smart young women looking for good husbands.  But her novels are also charged with moral significance, and offer guidance, both serious and hilarious, in the virtuous conduct of life.  Her heroines learn about the importance...

Theology After Christendom In 1850, nearing the end of his writing career, Soren Kierkegaard published the book that he regarded as his most personal and his most important. Training in Christianity was his summation of “what it meant to be a Christian.” It culminated...

Saved By Poetry: The Message of T.S. Eliot T.S. Eliot’s poetry possesses exquisite music , formal experiment, and indelible images: “Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table.” He is arguably...

Although their view of reality does not seem to invite it, atheists often claim that they can be just as good and moral people as religious believers. Theists, on the other hand, will frequently claim the opposite. For them, it is not so much that we need the threat...