Participating Scholars and Keynote Speakers Bios
Dr. Alister McGrath is a renowned scholar of theology and intellectual history and the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. Much of his current research concerns the potential for fruitful dialogue between Christian theology and Critical Realist philosophy of science. He will be providing a keynote address through high definition video.
Personal website: www.alistermcgrath.weebly.com
Dr. Margaret Archer is Professor of Sociology at l'Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. She is one of the foundational scholars within critical realism. Among many other works of critical realist sociology, she co-edited Transcendence: Critical Realism and God (2004), a volume dealing directly with conversations between critical realist philosophy and theistic paradigms.
Personal webpage: http://www.socialontology.org/
Dr. Andreas Losch is a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for the Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, and also has an affiliation with the Department of Theology. His research concerns the relationship between theology and science and his talk for the Notre Dame conference is entitled: “On the Relationship of Ian Barbour and Roy Bhaskar’s Critical Realism.”
Personal webpage: https://andreaslosch.info/
Dr. Andrew Wright is Professor at the University College London Institute of Education. His research focused on the development of public religious literacy through education in schools and faith communities. His work also draws heavily on the insights of critical realism, Trinitarian theology, critical hermeneutics, and variation theory.
Personal webpage: http://www.rpi.se/pdfer/Educators/22.%20Wright.pdf
Dr. Paul Allen is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, CA. His work concerns the study of human nature in light of Christian theology, as well as method in theological study and the history of Christian thought. He is the author of Ernan McMullin and Critical Realism in the Science-Theology Dialogue (2006).
Personal blog: http://allen-theology.blogspot.ca
Personal webpage: https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/theology/faculty.html?fpid=paul-allen
Dr. Douglas V. Porpora is Professor of Sociology at Drexel University. He has published widely on topics related to human rights and social theory, including several recent articles on public debates over war and terrorism. His theoretical work bridges Marxist sociology with critical realist philosophy, and along with Margaret Archer he is a co-editor of the volume Transcendence: Critical Realism and God (2004).
Personal webpage: http://drexel.edu/now/experts/Overview/porpora-douglas/
Dr. Philip Gorski is Professor of Sociology at Yale University. He is a comparative-historical scholar of religion and politics, who also has theoretical interests in the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences and the nature and role of rationality in social life. He has also published articles on the use of critical realist philosophy in sociological explanation.
Personal webpage: http://sociology.yale.edu/people/philip-gorski
Dr. Kevin Schilbrack is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Appalachian State University. He has published numerous articles pertaining to philosophy and the study of religion, as well as the recent book Philosophy and the Study of Religions: A Manifesto (2014). He has also published on the case for critical realism as a philosophical basis for the study of religion.
Personal webpage: https://appstate.academia.edu/KevinSchilbrack