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<p>The purpose of the Center for the Study of Science and Religion is to pursue important issues in science, medicine, ethics, economics, and other areas through scholarship and interdisciplinary dialogue. The center regularly organizes lectures and discussions featuring scientists, philosophers, psychologists, ethicists, religious studies scholars, and medical professionals and others. In past events, presenters have explored the relation between faith and biology, meditation and the brain, scientific truths versus religious meaning, ethics, religious experience, and the place of religion and medicine. The website includes the background and history of the center, a listing of relevant readings on religion and science, a list of publications related to the center, webcasts of past events, and information for undergraduate students. (Zach Rowinski 2004-05-27)</p>
<p>In this webcast, astrophysicist Piet Hut of the Institute for Advanced Study presents a model of knowledge based on the differing approaches and worldviews of scientific methodologies, the Western phenomenological tradition, and religious contemplative practices. Science in its current form focuses on only one aspect of the world- the external world. Alternative approaches to knowledge and understanding might involve taking a broader, long- term perspective using the insights and practices from a variety of different, yet internally complete and coherent world views. Webcast includes lecture and Q & A with the audience. (Zach Rowinski 2004-06-04)</p>
<p>This webcast presents some of the latest research findings on the effects of meditation on brain, body, and emotions based on several studies conducted by Richard Davidson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Davidson begins by discussing different parts of the brain and pointing to certain areas which seem to be associated with "positive" emotions, especially the left prefrontal cortex. He reports : (1) Individuals who tend use more positive adjectives have greater activity in the left prefrontal cortex. (2) Meditation accentuates activity in the prefrontal cortex. (3) An experimental group who engaged in mindfulness meditation showed not only greater increase in activity of the left prefrontal cortex, but also a greater increase antibody production in response to an influenza vaccine compared to a control group. (In other words, changes in left prefrontal activity shows correlation to changes in antibody production. As Davidson says, this essentially means that members of the experimental group would have a less severe flu than members of the control group) (4) Advanced Tibetan meditators show a drastic change in brain activity in certain tasks compared to average subjects. He suggests the research challenges past notions that the brain is not malleable. </p><p>The next section of this webcast consists of an explanation of Buddhist meditation and philosophy from Robert Thurman, a professor of Buddhist studies at Columbia University. The webcast concludes with a question and answer session. </p>
<p>Absent in the webcast is the presentation by Daniel Goleman. It is important to note that Goleman is introduced at the very beginning of the webcast, but the video cuts directly to Davidon's talk. This can make it easy to confuse who the speaker is. This event was hosted by the Center for the Study of Science and Religion (CSSR) at Columbia University. (Zach Rowinski 2004-05-11) </p>
<p>Joseph Loizzo is a psychiatrist and a Ph.D in religious studies with a focus on Buddhism. In this lecture, he discusses meditation and its relation to health practice and research. He asks why meditation and other Indic practices are not recognized as viable treatment options by the health sciences despite clear evidence of their effectiveness. He suggests that Western medicine holds strongly to a materialistic paradigm and actively disregards practices such as meditation or psychotherapy as mystical and unscientific. He offers suggestions on how the differences in paradigms between contemplative traditions and science may be overcome and suggests that the Buddhist tradition, with its evolutionary view of the human condition and emphasis on rationality and causality, can act as an acceptable and valuable contributor to modern clinical practices. (Zach Rowinski 2004-05-27)</p>