Evolution and Instructor ReligiosityElizabeth Petsios (Geosciences)
Thursday, November 3, 2:00-3:00 pm

Many students perceive a conflict between their faith commitments and the theory of evolution, potentially weakening their engagement with STEM fields that deal with evolutionary concepts. While theologians argue that faith and evolution are not mutually exclusive, research into how people make judgments suggests that, often, more than facts and rationale are necessary for helping change students’ minds. Students’ perceptions of their instructors—and in particular, their perception of their instructors’ religiosity—may play an important role in mediating students’ sense of conflict between their faith and evolutionary concepts. In this session, participants will learn about ongoing research into this correlation, brainstorming and discussing ways to increase comfort levels with evolutionary concepts among students who identify as religious.