University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
MEDIA ADVISORY :	July 9, 1997
Contact: Marcie Lens, 808 956-4818, Robert Herrmann, Templeton Foundation, 610-687-8942

John Templeton Foundations Awards UH $10,000 Grant The John Templeton Foundation of Radnor, Pa., has awarded Professor David Alethea and UH West O'ahu $10,000 for a course that examines the relationship between science and religion. Entitled "Cosmic Questions: The Dialogues of Science and Religion" and to be offered this fall at UH West O'ahu, the course focuses on the nature of science and religion, environmental science and religion, mysticism and science and recent developments in feminist science and theology. Since 1994, the foundation's Science and Religion Course Program has identified nearly 300 outstanding science and religion courses around the world. This year UH, along with 96 other universities, colleges and seminaries, received one of the $10,000 grants ($5,000 to the institution and $5,000 to the professor). This year's winners represent academic institutions in 36 states and 10 countries. Institutional departments awarded grants included biology, philosophy, religious studies and physics. "Award winning programs must provide course content and curricula focusing on current developments in the study of science and religion relationships," stated Robert Herrmann, 1997 Science and Religion Course Program director. "They must give equal weight to both scientific and religious perspectives and emphasize both historical and philosophical viewpoints." The John Templeton Foundation was established in 1987 to encourage discovery and use of scientific evidence to reveal knowledge about God and the natural laws that govern the universe.