Faraday Institute for Science and Religion Summer Course

By Izzy Russo

My experience at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion this summer was transformative. As a student in the Medical Humanities program, I thrived in an environment that could be described as interdisciplinary heaven. This year’s summer course theme was “The Art and Science of Human Health and Spirituality” which drew upon many of our program’s disciplines: philosophy, literature, history, art, sociology, and theology. Perspectives formed across global borders unified to examine the synergy between science and religion as it relates to personal experience with health and illness and the future of the field. 

The course’s lectures and experiential activities ranged from discussions about the consciousness of AI, particularly as this relates to the technology’s future in health care, to a poetry reading of John Stone’s 1982 commencement speech to medical school graduates. Equipped with my Medical Humanities background, I was eager to immerse myself in these varied conversations, sharing my perspective and absorbing those of the luminaries around me. The intentionally collaborative nature of the Faraday Institute that enabled

 such discourse was evident in all facets of the course, including during meals: long, banquet-style tables in a dining hall encouraged fellowship and conversation beyond the content of the lectures. At the conclusion of the course, I had the opportunity to present about the potential impact of the growing Spiritual but Not Religious (SBNR) identifying group on the U.S. health care system, as well to learn about the individual project of each PhD student in the course’s cohort. Relationships formed on personal and academic levels enriched the learning experience as a whole. 

While in Cambridge, I also had the opportunity to visit the Cambridge University Library’s collection of Darwin papers, narrated by an expert in the ever-growing project. Among the documents were a second edition of On the Origin of Species as well as letters from the public asking Darwin to reconcile his theories with Christianity, evidencing even a great scientist’s pondering of how to unite science and religion. The city and university boast a multitude of other scientific visionaries: Isaac Newton, Rosalind Franklin, Stephen Hawking, and Alan Turing, among others. Yet, religious foundations underpin many of the resulting scientific advancements and their progenitors, leading to the existence of a place like the Faraday Institute that works to explore this complex relationship.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have participated in the summer course at the Faraday Institute. I know that my future medical practice will be forever influenced by my short time in Cambridge, and I recommend that everyone pursue an opportunity to experience this unique place while at Baylor.