One World Lecture Series: Prof. Mary-Jane Rubenstein (NWL)

ONE WORLD LECTURE: “GOD AND THE MULTIVERSE: A MELODRAMA”

SUMMARY: Just half a century since the widespread acceptance of the big bang hypothesis, cosmologists are suggesting that our universe might be just one of an infinite number of other universes. The collection of all these hypothetical universes is called "the multiverse." For many physicists, the multiverse is a compelling hypothesis because it seems to get rid of the need for a creator-God. But as this lecture will explain, God and the multiverse are similarly extravagant answers to what is perhaps an unanswerable question: why does the universe seem so well suited to the existence of planets, stars, plants, and animals? Ultimately, Rubenstein will suggest that "religion" and "science" can be brought into a much more collaborative relationship if their adherents come to see the battle over "God" as an unproductive one.

REGISTER BELOW for “GOD AND THE MULTIVERSE: A MELODRAMA” - This lecture is expected to "sell out" - names will be checked at the door - no entry without registration.

MARY-JANE RUBENSTEIN is Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University; core faculty in the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program; and affiliated faculty in the Science and Society Program. She holds a B.A. in Religion and English from Williams College, an M.Phil. in Philosophical Theology from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from Columbia University. Her areas of research include continental philosophy, gender and sexuality studies, science and religion, and the history and philosophy of physics, ecology, and cosmology. Professor Rubenstein is the author of Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe (2009) Worlds without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse (2014), and Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, Monstrosities (forthcoming).

SUPPORT: This series is made possible with a grant from the Stanley D. and Hinda N. Fisher Foundation, administered by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

LINKS to ONE WORLD LECTURE Dates:
• Oct. 25, 2018 [Thur., 7PM] - Prof. Cheryl Greenberg
     “Why Not Restrict Hate Speech? (An Historical Perspective)”
• Nov. 14, 2018 [Wed., 7PM] - Prof. Fiona Vernal
     "How Did West Indians Become the Largest Foreign-Born Population in Connecticut?”
• Dec. 6, 2018 [Thur., 7PM] - Prof. Okey Ndibe
     “The Seduction of Silence: Five Reasons Not to Surrender!”
• Jan. 9, 2019 [Wed., 7PM] - Prof. Mary-Jane Rubenstein 
     “God and the Multiverse: A Melodrama” 
• Feb. 10, 2019 [Sun., 2PM] - Prof. Thomas S. Harrington
     "Is Resurgent Nationalism a Threat or a Renewal?: Exploring the Case of Catalonia"
• March 12, 2019 [Tues., 7PM] - Prof. Edward Stringham
     "How Markets and the Invisible Hand Creates Order in Society: From PayPal to the Blockchain"  
• March 26, 2019 [Tues. 7PM] - Prof. Elizabeth R. Nugent
     "The Politics of Repression in the Middle East"
• May 9, 2019 [Thur. 7PM] - Prof. Ian Shapiro
     "Democratic Competition: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

PARKING: There is ample library parking in the nearby Isham Garage. Please bypass the garage payment kiosks and come directly to the lecture in the Noah Webster Library Meeting Room, 20 South Main Street, where you may validate your parking with your license plate number.