New Interior | New Program | New Partner
DIRECTOR William Storrar ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Joshua Mauldin DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL RESEARCH Clifford Anderson DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY Karin Morse ADMINISTRATION Jade Talag DESIGNERS Ryan Kaminski Debra Trisler CONTRIBUTORS Clifford Anderson Andrew Davison Kathy Dy Joshua Mauldin Karin Morse Gayle Robinson Tom Rowe William Storrar
ACADEMIC ADVISORY PANEL John Bowlin Peter Casarella Francis Clooney David Fergusson Agustín Fuentes Tammy Gaber Eric Gregory Michael Hecht Jan-Olav Henriksen Jennifer Herdt Cathleen Kaveny Nico Koopman Ian McFarland Friederike Nüssel Peter Ochs Peter Paris Esther Reed Susan Schneider Mona Siddiqui Jeremy Waldron Leslie Wingard
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Roy Lennox, Chair Gayle Robinson, Vice Chair Jon Pott, Secretary Robert Wedeking, Treasurer Fred Anderson Darrell Armstrong Bette Jane (B.J.) Booth Brian Fix Robert Gunn Carter Karins Douglas Leonard Judith McCartin Scheide William Storrar Jay Vawter Charles Wall HONORARY TRUSTEES Craig Barnes Robin Lovin Richard Mouw Krista Tippett EMERITUS/EMERITA TRUSTEES Robert Hendrickson Judy Wornat Ralph Wyman
OUR MISSION We convene leading thinkers in an interdisciplinary environment where theology makes an impact on global concerns, and we share our research to inform public thinking.
OUR PROGRAM Thriving in Diverse Contexts
CONTENTS 2
22
Casting Light
On a New Research Floor
From the Director
Resident Inquiry in the Colloquy Room
4
26
Transforming Luce Hall
On a New Public Floor
Meet the Architects
Public Inquiry in the Garden Room
14
30
With a New Interior
In a New Landscape
Casting Light over Three Floors
Our Geothermal Garden
16
32
For a New Research Cycle
Convening Leading Thinkers
Casting Light on Questions that Matter
Our New Partner Didier Queloz
18
Back Cover
On a New Global Floor
Call for Applications
Virtual Inquiry in the Digital Studio
Thriving in Diverse Contexts
34
36
Powering Fresh Thinking
Thanks to Our Friends
Our Community of Inquiry
Our Donors 2021-2022
ON THE COVER: The New Atrium at CTI’s Luce Hall, Michael Graves Architecture & Design
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
1
— FROM THE DIRECTOR —
Casting Light
W
hat’s in a name? I treasure the three key words in CTI’s name. Each one is important for understanding our mission. Together they convey our calling.
Theological The discipline at the heart of our mission too often appears in print as a synonym for irrelevance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Theology matters because of its subject matter, God and all else in relation to God. As I was taught as a divinity student, theology is the science of thinking about God. Our founders knew such thinking called for dialogue with the natural sciences. It also required a new kind of setting for doing theology, a research center that was interdisciplinary in character.
That center is at the heart of our mission. Luce Hall was purpose-built for theology’s dialogue with other disciplines. Our founders knew the importance of location. They set it on historic Stockton Street in Princeton, New Jersey, one of the world’s intellectual capitals, and named it after Henry Luce, the founder of Time magazine.
Inquiry The activity at the heart of our mission is inquiry. To inquire about something means to ask the right questions and not rush to answers. Our founders saw devotion to scholarship, openness to evidence, and generosity of spirit as the hallmarks of the Center’s approach to asking questions that matter.
2
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
PHOTOGRAPH: NUCHAO / ADOBESTOCK
Center
Asking the Right Questions The Center began with a question. Can theology keep pace with science? Our founder James McCord said yes. Theology and science were co-workers in exploring the wonders of the universe. We see the fruit of McCord’s conviction in CTI’s collaboration with the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe. Its founder is Didier Queloz, the astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for discovering exoplanets. But what is the Center’s most pressing question now in a world exhausted by the pandemic and haunted by the future? A strategic review of our priorities concluded it is the same question facing the sciences. How can we inform public thinking? Creating the Right Environment In 1984, CTI opened Luce Hall as an environment for fresh thinking. As our work with Professor Queloz shows, that environment flourishes today in our enduring mission to foster theology’s dialogue with those at the leading edge of inquiry in the sciences and humanities. CTI is first and foremost an interdisciplinary research center. But like our founders, we are rising to the challenge of our day, going public. In 2024, Luce Hall will reopen as an environment for public thinking. CTI is not only a research center. We also perform a public benefit as a nonprofit corporation of the State of New Jersey. We inform public thinking on the global concerns we study. We aim to bring theology’s wisdom into the public conversation. Designing the Right Spaces With that goal of going public, our visionary Board of Trustees decided that the necessity of refurbishing Luce Hall’s interior was rather the opportunity for an architectural renovation, where beauty in design would lead to creativity at work. With that design brief, our architects at the world-renowned Michael Graves company have
“Our renewed Center is designed for one great purpose, casting light on questions that matter.”
transformed the interior of our building at Luce Hall into light-filled spaces for global communication, research collaboration, and public conversation: the perfect home for our new research cycle of virtual, resident, and public inquiry. As you will see in these pages, each renovated floor has a specially designed forum for the exchange of ideas. On the Global Floor, the new Digital Studio is a forum for communication between scholars in the room and around the world. On the Research Floor, the new Colloquy Room is a forum for collaboration among our resident scholars. And on the Public Floor, the new Garden Room is a forum for conversation with leading thinkers.Natural light will cascade through all three floors from a skylit atrium. Casting Light on Questions That Matter What’s our mission at CTI? The atrium at the heart of the renovation says it best. We cast light. We cast light on questions of global concern. The first question we shall ask in the renovated building could not be timelier for a world in turmoil—What makes for human thriving? Our renewed Center is designed for one great purpose, casting light on questions that matter. —William Storrar
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
3
TRANSFORMING LUCE HALL
Luce Hall’s new Front Entrance and Reception on Stockton Street in Princeton
4
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
5
MEET THE ARCHITECTS Michael Graves Architecture & Design
T
he Center commissioned architects at the worldrenowned Michael Graves Architecture & Design firm in Princeton to develop a design for the interior renovation of Luce Hall, CTI’s main building which opened in 1984. Drawing on the design philosophy of the firm’s founder, the late Michael Graves, the architects Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe and their colleagues have transformed Luce Hall’s interior into light-filled spaces for research collaboration, global communication, and public conversation. Here CTI’s Director William Storrar interviews Dy and Rowe on how they approached the design brief to transform Luce Hall for CTI’s mission today.
Kathy Dy, AIA Principal, Michael Graves Architecture
6
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
Thomas (Tom) P. Rowe, AIA Principal, Michael Graves Architecture
William Storrar Kathy and Tom, it is a great pleasure to reflect with you on how you have approached the design brief that we gave you for the renovation of Luce Hall. First, please tell us something about the design philosophy of your architectural practice, drawing as it does on the design philosophy of your founder, the late Michael Graves.
“Working together with a client that has clear and very well-thought-out ideas for the building and the future of the institution has been very rewarding for us, reinforcing the possibilities of architecture.”
Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe Design is a way of life. Everything that surrounds us in our daily lives is a design puzzle waiting to be examined—from a skyscraper to a library to a single-family home, to your teakettle, to the route you decide to take to work in the morning, to the way we engage with others in shared experience. Design is a wonderfully endless set of challenges we create for ourselves. Michael had such a strong and very personal design vision, but his true legacy for me (Kathy) personally was empowering and motivating others to engage in the challenge of collaborative design. The office culture he established was that of a family, a safe space for all of us to suspend disbelief and embrace the “why not.” Our colleague Karen Nichols characterizes Michael’s legacy similarly (and more poetically) as the “desire to create joy.” “Telling stories” is another pivotal phrase that alludes to an understanding of architecture and design as a language where communication and connection are paramount to the success of a project. This idea has buoyed the office for decades. It was also the name of Michael’s lecture that he took with him around the globe.
— Kathy Dy & Tom Rowe, Michael Graves Architecture
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
7
8
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
The South side with its new Colloquy Room on the Research Floor, balanced on a bridge
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
9
MEET THE ARCHITECTS Michael Graves Architecture & Design
William Storrar You have both been central to our design project. Tell us about your own professional backgrounds and roles in the Luce Hall renovation project as the lead architects. Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe We have both spent most of our careers at Michael Graves Architecture working on a wide range of project types, from single-family residences to large institutions and masterplans. Representative projects pertinent to CTI include the Mitchell Physics Buildings at Texas A&M, the Arts Council of Princeton addition and renovations, Alter Hall for the Fox School of Business at Temple University, and the residential colleges and masterplan at Rice University in Houston. This diversity keeps it interesting and helps us to approach each design challenge with a fresh eye. On this CTI project, Tom is the architect who developed the initial design concept and Kathy is the project architect, leading the design process for the client. William Storrar What did you make of CTI as a client? Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe Inspirational! At this very moment in time, when our local and global society is whirling toward extremes and obsessed with mistrust and all the things that divide us, CTI invited MGA to begin a conversation focused on the design of a facility whose singular purpose was bringing people together, an “Environment Conducive to Fresh Thinking,” as your founder James McCord described it. Listening to you (Will) describe for the first time who CTI is, was truly affirmational. That fundamental belief in the desire to create connection and foster collaborative environments resonates very strongly with our own approach to design.
10
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
William Storrar How did you approach the design brief that we gave you for the renovation of Luce Hall? Tell us about the creative process at the start of a project like this one, developing the design concept. Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe The creative process always begins with listening to our clients and trying to understand their “why.” The client’s “why” is the beginning melody around which the greater orchestral symphony is composed. In this particular instance, CTI has an existing facility in a location of historical significance where regulatory approvals have been known to be challenging. Given CTI’s “why,” along with the programmatic aspiration to stay “small local” and “go global/digital,” the desire to “transform and reimagine” over “discard and start over” seemed natural. Besides, the existing building was in pretty good shape on the whole, just a little tired. William Storrar What were the biggest design challenges in the course of this project and how did you meet them in the final design? Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe It is important to us that the design physically embodies and supports CTI’s mission. The story we tried to tell centers on the representation of discussion and debate. This is most clearly seen on the Second Floor in the placement of the Colloquy Room for collaboration, surrounded by private study rooms and balanced on a bridge between the exterior and interior, between CTI and the wider world. The introduction of natural light and the transparency among the public spaces further this narrative and contribute to a sense of community for the Center.
William Storrar I have learned that an important part of your work as the project architect, Kathy, is to coordinate the range of services that go into Michael Graves’ work on the client’s behalf. Can you tell us about this key aspect of the project in realizing CTI’s goals? Kathy Dy It is essential that the spirit of collaboration, envisioned for the finished building and evident in the initial design process, would extend to the entire project team—from our specialty design consultants to CTI’s talented project and construction management teams and the contractor and experienced trades performing the renovation. The thorough integration of the audiovisual and information technology systems into the design is one example of the detailed discussion and coordination necessary to arrive at an appropriate solution.
“It is important to us that the design physically embodies and supports CTI’s mission. The story we tried to tell centers on the representation of discussion and debate.” — Kathy Dy & Tom Rowe, Michael Graves Architecture
William Storrar Finally, Kathy and Tom, what has given you the most professional satisfaction in working on this renovation project with CTI? Kathy Dy and Tom Rowe Working together with a client that has clear and very wellthought-out ideas for the building and the future of the institution has been very rewarding. Being able to help support these goals and design a facility that both satisfies programmatic and practical needs and expresses the commitment and idealism of the Center, reinforces for us the possibilities of architecture as a collaborative effort that inspires the notion of community both during the design and construction process as well as during its lifetime for the user moving forward.
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
11
The East side of Luce Hall with its new Garden Room and patio for public events
12
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
13
WITH A NEW INTERIOR Casting Light over Three Floors
T
he interior renovation of Luce Hall has been designed for CTI’s new research cycle of virtual, resident, and public inquiry. The Global Floor will connect us digitally to scholars around the world. The Public Floor will welcome visitors for public events. The Research Floor will foster collaboration among resident scholars. A skylight and atrium will cast light over all three floors.
B
“CTI’s new research cycle will transform how we all do research. The interior renovation of Luce Hall makes this innovation possible.” —Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University
14
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
A
A. Garden Room B. Private Study C. Atrium D. Colloquy Room E. Digital Studio
Research Floor
D
C
Public Floor
Global Floor E
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
15
FOR A NEW RESEARCH CYCLE
Casting Light on Questions that Matter The Research Cycle The Center is introducing an innovative approach to interdisciplinary inquiry on global concerns. We are building on our core resident program for visiting scholars and learning from our positive experience of convening scholars in virtual research workshops during the pandemic. We are giving added value to researchers around the world by running a virtual study program on our theme in the semester prior to coming into residence at CTI for a semester’s full-time research. And we are offering opportunities for public engagement, casting light on questions that matter. All researchers accepted into our program will participate in this research cycle of virtual, resident, and public inquiry on the research theme for the academic year. Selected peer groups of six members will pursue collaborative research on the interdisciplinary theme in three phases.
Phase One: Virtual Inquiry First, the group will meet virtually for a semester to discuss research papers relevant to the theme, becoming conversant with new disciplinary fields that will inform their work while in residence at CTI. This virtual study phase will be run from the Digital Studio on the Global Floor. Phase Two: Resident Inquiry Then the group will come into residence for a semester in Princeton, New Jersey, to pursue research on the theme. The group will work a four-day week together on the Research Floor, Monday to Thursday, doing their research in adjacent studies and discussing the theme in a weekly colloquy. Phase Three: Public Inquiry Throughout this research cycle of virtual and resident inquiry, group members will have opportunity to engage wider publics with their research in local and livestreamed events in the Garden Room on the Public Floor and in podcasts from the Podcast Studio on the Global Floor. A Continuing Cycle Research groups that have participated in this cycle of virtual, resident, and public inquiry over two semesters will have the opportunity to reconvene in a virtual workshop at a later date, completing the research cycle by discussing published work from their time in residence at CTI.
16
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
2
Resident Phase The second phase takes place on the Research Floor when the research group comes into residence for a semester’s full-time study on the research theme, discussing work in progress.
Public Phase The third phase of public inquiry happens in the new Garden Room on the Public Floor, where researchers discuss their projects on our theme with local and livestreamed public audiences.
1
3
Virtual Phase The research cycle starts with the virtual phase on the Global Floor. Our new Digital Studio will enable CTI to convene researchers around the world in a virtual study program for a semester.
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
17
ON A NEW GLOBAL FLOOR
Virtual Inquiry in the Digital Studio The Digital Studio on the Global Floor is where our visiting scholars will start their research cycle. As the base for the opening phase of virtual inquiry, the studio will enable CTI to convene researchers around the world in state-of-the-art hybrid meetings. Those taking part virtually in the research conversation will enjoy an equality of experience with those in the room. The studio is part of a new suite of digital facilities, including a Podcast Studio and Digital Staff Office.
Digital Studio
18
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
“As the Center enters into its new research cycle, the digital spaces on the Global Floor will position CTI to become a leader in the digital humanities.” —Clifford Anderson, CTI’s Director of Digital Research, and Chief Digital Strategist, Vanderbilt University Libraries
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
19
THE GLOBAL FLOOR Home to a Digital Community
20
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
As more research in the arts and sciences becomes digitally-enabled, the Center is constructing new spaces to enable computational discovery and virtual collaboration.
The Digital Revolution in Theology The digital humanities is an interdisciplinary field that draws on cutting-edge methods in computer science, information science, and data science to advance the state of research in the humanities, including theology. In the digital humanities, scholars may explore connections between authors and texts by exhibiting latent linkages with network graphs, natural language processing toolkits, or geospatial applications. Theologians are increasingly drawing on such techniques in their scholarship. During a recent inquiry, members of the Center of Theological Inquiry carried out pioneering investigations into the nexus of theology and artificial intelligence by, for example, exploring the potential of video games to achieve greater inclusion of persons with disabilities. As more research in the arts and sciences becomes digitallyenabled, the Center is constructing new spaces to enable computational discovery and virtual collaboration.
The Digital Revolution at Luce Hall The Global Floor of the renovated Center will feature a Digital Studio to foster hybrid exchanges between scholars. Researchers at the Center in Princeton will use the studio to interact seamlessly with colleagues in other regions of the world, increasing the pace of research while diminishing our carbon footprint. The nearby Podcast Studio will provide high-end acoustic equipment in a soundproof environment. A Digital Officer will be stationed in an adjacent office to instruct members in these technologies and to keep the Center current with the latest trends in computational analysis. As the Center of Theological Inquiry enters into its new research cycle of virtual, resident, and public inquiry, the digital spaces on the Global Floor will form an essential linkage between these phases of knowledge production, promoting greater collaboration and creativity, while positioning CTI to become a leader in the digital humanities. —Clifford Anderson, Director of Digital Research
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
21
ON A NEW RESEARCH FLOOR
Resident Inquiry in the Colloquy Room Everything CTI does comes to fruition in this light-filled Colloquy Room on the Research Floor. Here the resident scholars meet face to face to discuss their work in progress, fostering fresh thinking on questions of global concern. As they think aloud together in this phase of the research cycle, they draw on their earlier studies in the virtual phase, before coming into residence.
Colloquy Room
22
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
“This is the kind of opportunity I’ve been hoping for since I began my career.” —Elise Edwards, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics, Baylor University
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
23
THE RESEARCH FLOOR Home to a Collaborative Community
Study
Study Library
Study
Study
Study
Study Open to Below
Study
Study
Office Colloquy
CTI was founded as an environment for fresh thinking. Our redesigned building fosters that environment for a new generation of scholars, who will see their work enriched as they take part in CTI’s mission of informing public thinking.
24
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
The individual study rooms on the Research Floor circle around a new central meeting room, to be known as the Colloquy Room; its name is inspired by the dictionary definition of a colloquy as “a gathering for discussion of theological questions.” Here CTI scholars exchange work in progress with colleagues, thinking aloud together on the questions raised by each colleague’s work on the common research theme.
A
t a time when many educational institutions are turning to remote working, CTI has reaffirmed its commitment to in-person collaboration in its resident program, even while creating the technological capabilities for virtual and hybrid collaboration in its new Digital Studio. That reaffirmation of the centrality of face-to-face dialogue is clear on Luce Hall’s new Research Floor, which provides an ideal environment for scholarly collaboration as well as concentrated study. On this floor, CTI scholars will work daily in adjacent studies to foster deep interdisciplinary conversations. The Research Floor is restricted to the participating resident members of the research group, in order to ensure uninterrupted time and a quiet environment for scholars working in their studies, and to build up mutual understanding of each other’s projects and disciplines as a research community.
The experience of CTI scholars extends beyond the Research Floor to informal conversations in the Atrium Lounge over coffee from the adjoining Cafe, as well as in outdoor areas in the newly landscaped garden. The conversations continue on the Global Floor in the new Podcast Studio, where CTI scholars join me in conversation to share our research with wider academic and public audiences. Our resident scholars also take part in public conversations with local and livestreamed audiences in the new Garden Room on the Public Floor. Overall, our visiting scholars will work in one integrated research cycle across all three floors: virtually on the Global Floor, residentially on the Research Floor, and publicly with the wider community on the Public Floor. CTI was founded as an environment for fresh thinking. Our redesigned building fosters that environment for a new generation of scholars, who will see their work enriched as they take part in CTI’s mission of informing public thinking. —Joshua Mauldin, Associate Director
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
25
ON A NEW PUBLIC FLOOR
Public Inquiry in the Garden Room The Garden Room on the Public Floor is the new venue for public events at the Center. As the name suggests, the Garden Room looks out on the Center’s landscaped grounds with its terrace for outdoor gatherings and geothermal wells for sustainability. Here local public audiences in Princeton and livestreamed audiences around the world will enjoy conversations with leading thinkers on questions of global concern. Here a global public can join our community of inquiry.
Garden Room
26
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
“The Center is designed to be the environment most conducive to fostering fresh thinking on a host of problems facing religion and society.” —James McCord, founding Chancellor of the Center of Theological Inquiry
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
27
THE PUBLIC FLOOR Home to an Inquiring Community
A New Testament scholar and a psychologist in conversation on the moral life at a public event in Luce Hall
“CTI brings people together in unlikely combinations which are in fact the shape of the future.” —Krista Tippett, public broadcaster
28
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
W
hat does it mean for the Center to go public? CTI is a research center, not a think tank on public policy or an advocacy group on current affairs. What we offer the concerned public are civil conversations with leading thinkers who can put these public concerns into broader perspective, beyond the narrow view of the news headlines. We also bring policymakers and practitioners into conversation with our researchers with no agenda beyond the rare opportunity to think freely together on seemingly intractable problems, confident this mutual exchange of expertise can inform public thinking for the global good. As we prepare to open our new Public Floor in 2024, this is an opportunity to bring the research insights of our researchers and their exchanges with practitioners into the public conversation. This is not a new endeavor for CTI as the following examples will show. It is a new commitment to make public engagement a regular phase of our research cycle, not an occasional activity. We have not yet begun to see the long-term impact of CTI’s strategic commitment to going public, bringing the insights of theology’s dialogue with other disciplines into the public conversation. But I have had the privilege of seeing some harbingers of that future at CTI.
On the eve of the Arab Spring in 2011, the International Bar Association and the Salzburg Global Seminar held a week-long seminar on seeking common ground between International Law and Islamic Law on human rights. Senior legal officers from Muslim-majority countries, the United Nations, and the European Union gathered with scholars of law and religion and human rights activists in Salzburg. This was the second such seminar under the auspices of these two organizations. After the first seminar, it was recognized there was a lack of literature to inform this exchange between the two legal traditions. A rare kind of academic venue was needed where legal scholars in both traditions could exchange papers on human rights in an atmosphere of trust. CTI offered that environment, convened that dialogue, and generated that literature, informing public thinking on a global concern that months later spilled out into the public square. The invitation to CTI to convene such a publicly sensitive dialogue did not come out of thin air. It was prompted by CTI’s record of engagement on such questions in our own Inquiry on Religion and International Law in the years before the Salzburg Global Seminar turned to such questions. What was true of our work on religion and law is equally true of our work on religion and science. The Library of Congress in Washington DC is one of the great research libraries of the world. As its name indicates, its primary purpose is to inform the United States Congress on questions of public concern. CTI has had a long association with the Library. The late James Billington served as a Trustee of the Center before becoming Librarian of Congress. And more recently and modestly, I have served on the selection committee advising the Librarian of Congress on the NASA Chair in Astrobiology and Space Exploration. Again, this invitation did not come out of the blue. CTI was commended for this role as a place where the dialogue between theology and science flourishes. Inspired by NASA’s initiative in promoting the public understanding of astrobiology, CTI ran its own three-year Inquiry on the Societal Implications of Astrobiology. With that research record, CTI has now been invited to join with the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe at the University of Cambridge as a partner institution in theology and the humanities. As you can read in these pages, the Leverhulme Centre’s founder, astronomer Didier Queloz, considers
Theological inquiry can inform public thinking. We are turning that premise into a program, integrating public inquiry into our new research cycle of virtual and resident inquiry. the dialogue with the arts and humanities to be a vital part of this scientific endeavor. CTI will be one of the partners convening the conversation between scientists studying the origins of life and theologians and humanists studying the meaning of life. This is an exciting new round in an ancient and perennial conversation on our place in the Cosmos, where the world’s religious traditions have been among the carriers of humanity’s awe under the night sky. Space research catches the public imagination. We shall bring considered reflection to that public conversation. I cite these two examples of our public engagement with global concerns because they demonstrate a founding premise of CTI: theological inquiry can inform public thinking. We are turning that premise into a program, integrating public inquiry into our new research cycle of virtual and resident inquiry. But such fresh thinking on public concerns does not happen in an ivory tower. It happens best in environments designed to include the public in the conversation. This was the design brief we gave the architects at Michael Graves for the first floor of Luce Hall. They have turned it into a welcoming Public Floor. Visitors will now be greeted at a new Reception Desk on entry, before gathering in the new Atrium Lounge and meeting in the new Garden Room for face-to-face conversation with leading thinkers, joined by global audiences online. CTI has a record of public engagement on global concerns. We are now hardwiring that public engagement into our new research cycle. And we are renovating Luce Hall to welcome the public. This is what we mean when we say, CTI is going public. Whether in person or on screen, I look forward to welcoming you to the Public Floor in 2024. —William Storrar, Director
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
29
IN A NEW LANDSCAPE Our Geothermal Garden
Responding to the pandemic and climate change, the landscaping of Luce Hall’s grounds has been just as important as the interior design in creating a sustainable environment for fresh thinking at the Center. Rather than simply taking a “more is more” design approach to building, we have chosen to enhance the quality of the existing outdoor space, further expanding the area supporting the Center’s future users and providing greater visual communication and physical engagement between indoor and outdoor spaces.
30
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
We are therefore proud to announce our new geothermal garden, a field of vertical geothermal wells that will serve to heat and cool Luce Hall. The new geothermal system will remove the use of natural gas from the facility and significantly reduce carbon emissions, while new patios with native plantings will provide pleasant open air spaces for social gatherings.
The landscaping of Luce Hall’s grounds has been just as important as the interior design in creating an environment for fresh thinking at the Center.
Diagram is an illustrative representation
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
31
CONVENING LEADING THINKERS Our New Partner Didier Queloz
F
rom its foundation, the Center of Theological Inquiry has been striking up conversations between theologians and scientists on the topics of the day. By the nature of things, that often has the theologians catching up with the scientists. When it came to founding a Centre on Life in the Universe at the University of Cambridge, however, CTI was ahead of the game, and I am a beneficiary of that.
One of the stunning new images of Deep Space made possible by the James Webb Telescope
32
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
We at the new Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe believe that combining the arts and sciences must be part of our fresh way of thinking. —Didier Queloz, Nobel Laureate
The idea of a new Centre was put together by my colleague in Cambridge, Professor Didier Queloz. His profile could hardly be more prominent. Back in 1995, when he was still a PhD student, he and his supervisor, Michael Mayor, discovered the first planet around another star. For this, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2019. Queloz wanted his Centre to be as broad in scope as possible, and arranged for it to span two large divisions of the University—physical sciences and biological sciences—but his goal was for something still more ambitious and, thanks to CTI, that could happen. I was the one person in the School of Arts and Humanities at Cambridge working on life beyond Earth, building on my time at CTI on the Societal Implications of Astrobiology Inquiry (2015-18). Slightly delayed by the pandemic, the book I started back then, Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, is coming out with Cambridge University Press in early 2023. Around a dozen of us worked on a bid to the Leverhulme Trust in the UK for a £10 million ($11.5 million) grant, with CTI as one of five founding partners working with the University of Cambridge. The others are the ETH in Zürich, Harvard University, University College London, and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Much to our delight, the application was succesful, and the new Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe was launched on 27 June 2022, where I represented CTI.
There has never been a better time to be working on these questions. The James Webb Space Telescope was only launched on Christmas Day 2021, but it is already sending images and data. Its equipment is honed for finding evidence of life given away by the balance of gases in the atmospheres of other planets. The launch of the new Centre was also happily timed because I was already due to join CTI as a visiting fellow from September 2022. Based here for two years, I will be coordinating a program with two goals: not only to bring the findings of science to scholars of arts and humanities, but—just as much—to see how arts and humanities disciplines can help the scientists think about the nature and origin of life from new perspectives. We hope that an early fruit of that will be a series of podcasts exploring those resources in an accessible way. As Professor Queloz put it in a recent interview, “For the whole history of mankind, literature, culture and art have addressed these questions. We at the new Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe believe that combining the arts and sciences must be part of our fresh way of thinking.” Keep your eyes on the next issue of Fresh Thinking for that interview in full. Andrew Davison, CTI’s Distinguished Fellow in Theology & Science, 2022-24, and the Starbridge Associate Professor of Theology and Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
33
POWERING FRESH THINKING Our Community of Inquiry
T
he Center of Theological Inquiry has been an environment providing a framework for continuing intellectual curiosity for me and others. A world-class research center, CTI is dedicated to the study of theology in relation to other disciplines. From each lecture or podcast, I discover a new way of thinking or a new question to consider about global issues including violence, racism, immigration, and the environment. Perhaps more importantly, I have come to appreciate how others in the world consider many important global issues through their theological lenses. Since its founding in 1978, the Center has fostered an environment of rigorous academic research for theologians, scholars, and practitioners. As we embark on this exciting Michael Graves renovation of our building, we are committed to sharing the insights from our academic workshops on a global scale. Like all nonprofits, CTI depends upon the broader community to sustain and advance our mission: “We convene leading thinkers in an interdisciplinary environment where theology makes an impact on global concerns, and we share our research to inform public thinking.”
A Personal Invitation from the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
The generosity of donors, the Friends of CTI, sustains and enhances CTI’s distinctive program and brings our community together in support of advancing theology’s wisdom. Make your gift to CTI today, joining me and the Friends of CTI on an intellectual adventure of theological inquiry. —Gayle Robinson
34
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
Join the Friends of CTI
W
hat is a community? A group of people with a common interest. What is the common interest that binds the CTI community? Theology. Indeed, theology itself is a natural “connector” interested in all of human life and human activity. Theology helps us to interpret our world, our place in it, and the global issues that affect all of us.
“If you long for a reasoned reflection on God and what is going on in our world, then join CTI.”
Supporters of the Center, “the Friends of CTI” are lifelong inquirers. We seek a better and more informed understanding of humanity, and the study of theology is integral to that pursuit. A Friend of CTI recently commented, “If you long for a reasoned reflection on God and what is going on in our world, then join CTI.” It is at the heart of what we do: sharing the research and insights of our scholars with policy makers and the wider public to help answer the fundamental questions we wrestle with daily and globally. As a Friend, you have the opportunity to engage in robust conversations with our scholars and fellow supporters. CTI offers webinars, lectures, podcasts, and our magazine, each offering fresh insights and new questions for us to consider. Last year’s webinar highlights include our three-part series Architecture After Abraham, Ukraine in Perspective, and The Science of Belief. With your support, we can expand our programming and outreach to reach new audiences for CTI. When you make an annual gift and become a Friend of CTI, you join our entire community— our theologians, scientists, scholars, and supporters—in helping to spread the wisdom of theology to a global audience. Your contributions to our Annual Fund ensure the Center is a dynamic educational resource now and for future generations. Your gift powers our fresh thinking.
Become a Friend of CTI! Make a Gift to the CTI Annual Fund visit ctinquiry.org/support
IRA Charitable Rollover If you 70 1/2 or older, you can instruct your plan administrator to make a direct transfer from your individual retirement account of up to $100,000 to the Center of Theological Inquiry. Contact Director of Philanthropy Karin Morse for help and to explore ways you can support CTI. 640.203.1422 | karin.morse@ctinquiry.org
—Karin Morse, Director of Philanthropy
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
35
Honoring Our Donors to the 2021-22 CTI Annual Fund Your gift powers our fresh thinking on global concerns. Your financial support makes it possible for CTI to pursue its mission of informing public thinking. For your steadfast commitment to and investment in our work, thank you.
$50,000 and above FOUNDER CIRCLE Roy Lennox Judith McCartin Scheide Chuck & Nancy Wall $25,000 - $49,999 LEADER CIRCLE Fred Anderson Robert Hendrickson William & Joanna Storrar $10,000 - $24,999 ADVISOR CIRCLE Robert Gunn Gayle Robinson Robert & Stephanie Wedeking $5,000 - $9,999 PUBLISHER CIRCLE Kevin & B.J. Booth Brian Fix Lawson Valentine Foundation Jay & Harriet Vawter $1,000 - $4,999 DIALOGUE CIRCLE Mark & Victoria Eaton Kanan Kitani Douglas Leonard Karin Morse Peter Paris Hank & Jean-Marie Peterson Jon & Gwen Pott The Reading Group, Princeton Alison & James Zimmerman Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC
$500 - $999 SPONSOR CIRCLE William & Gail Brown John Burgess David Fergusson Sam Hamill ST Kimbrough Robin Lovin Joshua & Yan Mauldin Oye Olukotun Anne Marie Reijnen Devin & Nicole Singh Eric Springsted Jade Talag $25 - $499 INQUIRER CIRCLE Johannes Anderegg Ulrike Auga Thomas Barrie Wayne Becker Julio Bermudez Clifton Black Hendrik Bosman James Bratt Hank & Susan Bristol Janet Brittain Shirah Brown James Buckely Gordon Burghardt Samuel Calian Shin Chiba Robert Comizzoli Richard Crocker Eliot & Patti Daley Marie-Helene Davies Celia Deane-Drummond Jane Egbert
Dick Fenn & Juliana McIntyre Silvio Ferrari James Ferry Stephen Fitzpatrick Joan Fleming Edmund & Debbie Freeborn Roland Frye & Susan Pettey Robert Gascoigne Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska James Haire Louis-Clarence Hammond Michael Hecht Jan-Olav Henriksen Jennifer Holloway George Hunsberger Paul Jones Cathleen Kaveny Allan King Torrance Kirby Wesley Kort John & Nancy Kuykendall Howard Louthan & Andrea Sterk Michael Lukens John McCarthy Gerald McKenny Daniel Migliore Jan Muis Peter Ochs Dennis Olson Douglas Ottati Wolfgang Palaver Panwy Foundation Helen & Grant Parr Elizabeth Parr-Johnston Herman Paul Ralph Peterson*
*We honor the memory of the late Ralph Peterson.
36
fresh THINKING
FALL 2022
McCord Fellow Giving Society Named in honor of CTI’s founder James McCord, the McCord Fellow Giving Society recognizes CTI Members, our scholars, who support the Center with a gift to the CTI Annual Fund.
Stephen Pope Andreas Prindl Martin Radermacher Murray Rae Calvin Ratcliff Mary Reath Esther Reed Barbara Reid Janice Riley Frank Rosenzweig Warren Savage Daniel Schipani Christine Schliesser Susan Schneider Robert Seaman Jayakiran & Mrinalini Sebastian Byron Shafer Louis Slee Michael Solomon Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner John Sturges Hans-Martien ten Napel David Tombs Derek Tovey Gijsbert van ben Brink Robert Vichnevetsky Stanley Webb Barbara Williams Charles Wood Ralph Wyman
Johannes Anderegg Ulrike Auga Clifton Black Hendrik Bosman James Bratt William Brown James Buckley John Burgess Gordon Burghardt Samuel Calian Shin Chiba Celia Deane-Drummond Mark Eaton David Fergusson Silvio Ferrari Robert Gascoigne James Haire Jan-Olav Henriksen George Hunsberger Brick Johnstone Paul Jones ST Kimbrough Torrance Kirby Kanan Kitani Wesley Kort John Kuykendall Howard Louthan Robin Lovin Michael Lukens
Joshua Mauldin John McCarthy Gerald McKenny Daniel Migliore Jan Muis Peter Ochs Dennis Olson Douglas Ottati Wolfgang Palaver Peter Paris Herman Paul Stephen Pope Martin Radermacher Murray Rae Esther Reed Anne Marie Reijnen Frank Rosenzweig Daniel Schipani Christine Schliesser Susan Schneider Kiran Sebastian Devin Singh Eric Springsted Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner William Storrar Hans-Martien ten Napel David Tombs Derek Tovey Gijsbert van ben Brink
Corporate Sponsor Leading Thinkers LIVE $5,000 – $9,999
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy in our listing of gifts received July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. If any error is noted, please accept our sincere apologies and kindly notify Karin Morse, Director of Philanthropy at karin.morse@ctinquiry.org
FALL 2022
fresh THINKING
37
PO Box 2072 Princeton, NJ 08543
Visit ctinquiry.org for the latest news and events.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Thriving in Diverse Contexts A Study Program on Psychological Science for Researchers in Christian Theology
June 2023 – May 2025 The Center of Theological Inquiry (CTI) is a research center for visiting scholars, founded in 1978 and located in Princeton, New Jersey. We study basic questions of global concern that call for cross-disciplinary exchange between theology and the natural and human sciences.
This Call for Applications is for theologians who are asking the question:
“What makes for human thriving?” This question about the concept and conditions of human flourishing around the world is at the core of the Center’s new cross-training program in the psychological sciences for researchers in any branch of Christian theology, including systematic, philosophical, moral, practical, biblical, and postcolonial theologies. CTI invites theologians who are conducting research on human thriving in their context, or on related themes, to apply for a two-year study program on psychological science and its critical evaluation and application in theologies of thriving.
For more information and to apply go to ctinquiry.org/apply This program is made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.