A science and theology course for university and sixth form college chaplains to aid pastoral discourse with students and other college members.
The course comprises six virtual sessions and an optional one day, in-person workshop at Ripon College Cuddesdon on Wednesday, 18 June 2025.
BOOK VIRTUAL SESSIONS ONLY £80
BOOK VIRTUAL SESSIONS AND IN-PERSON WORKSHOP £150
VIRTUAL SESSIONS:
 | Wednesday, 23rd April 2025, 9am-11am Virtual session 1: Revd Prof Mark Harris, University of Oxford: conflict myth and alternative ways of looking at science and religion |
 | Monday, 28th April 2025, 4pm-6pm Virtual session 2: Revd Prof Charlotte Sleigh, University College London: TBC |
 | Monday, 5th May 2025, 4pm-6pm Virtual session 3: Revd Dr Shaun Henson, University of Oxford: science and theology and chaplaincy |
 | Monday, 12th May 2025, 4pm-6pm Virtual session 4: Dr Sarah Qidwai, University of York: relationship of science and Islam |
 | Monday, 19th May 2025, 4pm-6pm Virtual session 5: Revd Dr Buki Fatona, (course convenor) University of Oxford & Ripon College Cuddesdon: issues in science and theological ethics |
 | Monday, 26th May 2025, 4pm-6pm Virtual session 6: Dr Nathan Bossoh, University of Southampton: globalising the science and religion discourse |
OPTIONAL IN-PERSON WORKSHOP
Wednesday, 18th June, 9am-6pm, at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Nr Oxford, OX44 9EX
Topics include:
- SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY IN LEADERSHIP
- THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUAL WELLBEING AND CHAPLAINCY
- ECOTHEOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY
- USING SCIENCE IN SERMONS
- PANEL Q&A
Some of the workshop speakers include:
Professor David Wilkinson
David Wilkinson, FRAS, is a Methodist minister, theologian, astrophysicist and academic. He was the Principal of St John's College, Durham (2006-2023), and is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. He remains at St John's College, having been appointed, in September 2023, Director of Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS), an international project based at St John’s College, Durham University. He is the author of several books on the relationship between science and religion and a regular contributor to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4. He has a PhD in astrophysics and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Reverend Professor Mark Harris
Professor Mark Harris holds the position of the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford, which is attached to a Professorial Fellowship at Harris Manchester College. As a physicist working in a theological environment, he thinks of himself as a theologian of science, interested in the complex ways that the natural sciences and religious beliefs relate to each other.
Active in physics for many years, Professor Harris is known (with Steve Bramwell of University College London) as the discoverer of 'spin ice' in 1997, currently a major research area in the physics of magnetism. A little after this original breakthrough, Professor Harris also discovered theology, and began to broaden his interests beyond magnetism into the Science and Religion area. His research interests include the relationship between the physical sciences and theology, and the impact of science on modern views of the Bible, especially in thinking on miracles, divine action, and the environmental crisis. He is currently working on a critical study of the theological reception of quantum mechanics.
Professor Harris is the Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Oxford, and he serves as President of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT).
Reverend Dr Buki Fatona
Dr Buki Fatona is MA Programme Director and Tutor in Christian Ethics at Ripon College Cuddesdon. She has a Doctor of Philosophy in Science and Religion from the University of Oxford. Her doctoral research brings together her degrees in Microbiology (BSc); Theology (BA); and Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science (MSc). She is a council member and Publicity Officer for the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. She is ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England. Prior to her ordination, and during her ordination training, she served as Assistant Chaplain at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. She is an Associate Member of Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, and Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford.
She is the convenor of the Resourcing Chaplains in Science and Theology Engagement Course.
Refreshments and lunch are included.
BOOK VIRTUAL SESSIONS ONLY £80
BOOK VIRTUAL SESSIONS AND IN-PERSON WORKSHOP £150
For any queries, please email [email protected]