For immediate release
Further information: contact Joseph Giomboni
Public Relations office, (570) 208-5957
January 16, 2018 – Dr. Christiana Zenner Peppard, associate professor of theology at Fordham University, will deliver the annual Science and Humanities Lecture at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Burke Auditorium at King’s College.
Titled “The Shape of Ignorance: Science, Values, and Collective Responsibility in the Anthropocene,” the free public lecture is sponsored by the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at King’s. In case of inclement weather, the lecture will be held in the same location at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13.
In an era where matters of opinion compete with contemporary scientific consensus, the general public is faced with difficult decisions about what constitutes reliable knowledge in the sciences. Zenner Peppard will discuss how scientists chart the known world of the Anthropocene, the Earth’s most recent geologic time period. She will discuss the moral category of ignorance, rooted in the philosophies of Aristotle and Aquinas,and consider the ramifications of “fake news” in political discourse and public discussion on social media.
Zenner Peppard’s research includes religious ecological ethics at the intersection of Catholic social teaching, ecological anthropology, natural law theory and developments in the earth sciences. She provides analysis of contemporary topics in ecological ethics and religion and science in venues such as Public Radio International, “The New Republic,” “TheWashington Post,” TED-Ed, and MSNBC.
She is the author of “Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and the Global Water Crisis” and co-editor of “Just Sustainability: Ecology, Technology, and Resource Extraction” and “Expanding Horizons in Bioethics.” Her peer-reviewed articles are published in venues such as the “Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences,” “Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion,” “Journal of Catholic Social Thought,” “Journal of Moral Theology,” and the “Journal of the Society for Christian Ethics.”
Zenner Peppard earned her doctorate in religious studies from Yale University, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
The Burke Auditorium is located in the William G. McGowan School of Business on North River Street. Parking will be available in on-campus lots. For more information, please contact Dr. Bernard Prusak, director, McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, at (570) 208-5900, ext. 5689.
Dr. Christiana Zenner Peppard, associate professor of theology at Fordham University, will deliver the College’s annual Science and Humanities Lecture at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Burke Auditorium at King’s College.