Dwight H. Terry Lectureship
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The Dwight H. Terry Lectureship, also known as the Terry Lectures, was established at Yale University in 1905 by a gift from Dwight H. Terry of
Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...
. Its purpose is to engage both scholars and the public in a consideration of religion from a
humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...
point of view, in the light of modern science and philosophy. The subject matter has historically been similar to that of the Gifford Lectures in Scotland, and several lecturers have participated in both series.


Establishment of the Lectureship

The 1905 deed of gift establishing the lectureship states: Although commitment to the gift was made in 1905 it did not mature until 1923, which is when the first Terry lectures were held.


Lecture format

The lectures are free and open to the public. A single installment generally consists of four lectures by the same visiting scholar, given over the course of a month or less. Many of the lectures have been edited into books published by the Yale University Press, and remain in print to this day (see below). From 1999 to 2009 the lectures were recorded and posted on th
Terry Lectures website
as audio and/or video streams. Starting in 2008, recordings of the lectures have been made available via Yale's YouTube channel and
Terry Lectures playlist


Past Terry Lectureships

*2019 Karen Barad *2018
Thomas E. Lovejoy Thomas Eugene Lovejoy III (August 22, 1941December 25, 2021) was an American ecologist who was President of the Amazon Biodiversity Center, a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and a university professor in the Environmental Science a ...
''The World of the Born and the World of the Made: A New Vision of Our Emerald Planet'' *2017 Judith Farquhar ''Reality, Reason, and Action In and Beyond Chinese Medicine'' *2016-17
Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is a philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah wa ...
''The Anatomy of Religion'' *2015 Janet Browne ''Becoming Darwin: History, Memory, and Biography'' *2014 Wendy Doniger ''The Manipulation of Religion by the Sciences of Politics and Pleasure in Ancient India'' *2013 Philip Kitcher ''Secular Humanism'' *2012 Keith Stewart Thomson ''Jefferson and Darwin: Science and Religion in Troubled Times'' *2010
Joel Primack Joel R. Primack (born July 14, 1945) is a professor of physics and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and is a member of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics. Primack received his A.B. from Princeton University in ...
and
Nancy Ellen Abrams Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...
''Cosmic Society: The New Universe and the Human Future'' : *2009 Marilynne Robinson ''Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self'' : *2008
Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Donald Sewell Lopez Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished university professor of Buddhist and Tibetology, Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Life Lopez was born in Was ...
''The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future'' : *2008 Terry Eagleton ''Faith and Fundamentalism: Is Belief in Richard Dawkins Necessary for Salvation?'' : *2007 Ahmad Dallal ''Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History'' : *2006
Barbara Herrnstein Smith Barbara Herrnstein Smith (born 1932) is an American literary critic and theorist, best known for her work ''Contingencies of Value: Alternative Perspectives for Critical Theory''. She is currently the Braxton Craven Professor of Comparative Lite ...
''Natural Reflections: Human Cognition at the Nexus of Science and Religion'' " *2006 (Centennial Conference) Robert Wuthnow ''No Contradictions Here: Science, Religion, and the Culture of All Reasonable Possibilities'' *2006 (Centennial Conference)
Lawrence M. Krauss Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project, now cal ...
''Religion vs. Science? From the White House to Classroom'' *2006 (Centennial Conference) Alvin Plantinga ''Science and Religion: Why Does the Debate Continue?'' *2006 (Centennial Conference)
Kenneth R. Miller Kenneth Raymond Miller (born July 14, 1948) is an American cell biologist, molecular biologist, and former biology professor. Miller's primary research focus is the structure and function of cell membranes, especially chloroplast thylakoid membra ...
''Darwin, God, and Dover: What the Collapse of 'Intelligent Design' Means for Science and for Faith in America'' *2006 (Centennial Conference)
Ronald L. Numbers Ronald Leslie Numbers (born 1942) is an American historian of science. He was awarded the 2008 George Sarton Medal by the History of Science Society for "a lifetime of exceptional scholarly achievement by a distinguished scholar". Biography N ...
''Aggressors, Victims, and Peacemakers: Historical Actors in the Drama of Science and Religion'' *2004 David Sloan Wilson ''Evolution for Everyone'' *2003
Mary Douglas Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkhei ...
''Writing in Circles: Ring Composition as a Creative Stimulus'': *2003
H.C. Erik Midelfort Hans Christian Erik Midelfort (born 1942), is C. Julian Bishko Professor Emeritus of History and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is a specialist of the German Reformation and the history of Christianity in Early Modern Europe. ...
''Exorcism and Enlightenment: Johann Joseph Gassner and the Demons of 18th-Century Germany'': *2001
Francisco J. Ayala Francisco José Ayala Pereda (born March 12, 1934) is a Spanish-American evolutionary biologist, philosopher, and former Catholic priest who was a longtime faculty member at the University of California, Irvine and University of California, Dav ...
''From Biology to Ethics: An Evolutionist's View of Human Nature'' *2000 Peter Singer ''One World: The Ethics and Politics of Globalization'': *1999 Bas C. Van Fraassen ''The Empirical Stance'': *1998
David Hartman David Hartman is the name of: *David Hartman (rabbi) (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi *David Hartman (TV personality) David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He ...
''Struggling for the Soul of Israel: A Jewish Response to History'': *1996–1997 Rev.
John Polkinghorne John Charlton Polkinghorne (16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021) was an English theoretical physicist, theologian, and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of ma ...
''Belief in God in an Age of Science'': *1993–1994
Walter J. Gehring Walter Jakob Gehring (20 March 1939 – 29 May 2014) was a Swiss developmental biologist who was a professor at the Biozentrum Basel of the University of Basel, Switzerland. He obtained his PhD at the University of Zurich in 1965 and after two ...
''Genetic Control of Development'': *1988–1989 Joshua Lederberg ''Science and Modern Life'' *1986–1987
Eric R. Kandel Eric Richard Kandel (; born Erich Richard Kandel, November 7, 1929) is an Austrian-born American medical doctor who specialized in psychiatry, a neuroscientist and a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surge ...
''Cell and Molecular Biological Explorations of Learning and Memory'' *1985–1986
Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould sp ...
''Darwin and Dr. Doolittle: ‘Just History’ as the Wellspring of Nature’s Order'' *1979–1980
Hans Jonas Hans Jonas (; ; 10 May 1903 – 5 February 1993) was a German-born American Jewish philosopher, from 1955 to 1976 the Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Biography Jonas was born ...
''Technology and Ethics: The Imperative of Responsibility'': *1978–1979 Adin Steinsaltz *1977–1978 Hans Küng ''Freud and the Problem of God'': *1976–1977
Philip Rieff Philip Rieff (December 15, 1922 – July 1, 2006) was an American sociologist and cultural critic, who taught sociology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1961 until 1992. He was the author of a number of books on Sigmund Freud and his legacy, ...
*1975–1976
David Baken David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
''And They Took Themselves Wives: Male Female Relations in the Bible'' *1973–1974 Father
Theodore M. Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Not ...
''The Humane Imperative: A Challenge for the Year 2000'': *1971–1972 James Hillman ''Re-Visioning Psychology'': *1968–1969
Albert J. Reiss Jr. Albert John Reiss Jr. (December 9, 1922 – April 27, 2006) was an American sociologist and criminologist. Career He served as the William Graham Sumner Professor of Sociology at Yale University from 1970 until his retirement in 1993. He is reco ...
''Civility and the Moral Order: The Police and the Public'': *1967–1968
Clifford Geertz Clifford James Geertz (; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades. ...
''In Search of Islam: Religious Change in Indonesia / Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia'': *1966–1967 Loren Eiseley *1964–1965
James Munro Cameron James is a common English language surname and given name: * James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambigua ...
''Images of Authority: A Consideration of the Concept of Regnum and Sacerdotium'': *1963–1964
Walter J. Ong Walter Jackson Ong (November 30, 1912 – August 12, 2003) was an American Jesuit priest, professor of English literature, cultural and religious historian, and philosopher. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality ...
''The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History'': *1962–1963 Michael Polanyi ''Man and Thought: A Symbiosis / The Tacit Dimension'': *1961–1962
Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher i ...
''Prolegomena to Theology'' *1961–1962 Paul Ricoeur ''The Philosopher Before Symbols'' (published as ''Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation'': ) *1958–1959
Hermann Dörries Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Mis ...
''Constantine and Religious Liberty'': *1957–1958 Margaret Mead ''Continuities in Cultural Evolution'': *1956–1957
Errol Eustace Harris Errol Eustace Harris (19 February 1908 – 21 June 2009), sometimes cited as E. E. Harris, was a South African philosopher. His work focused on developing a systematic and coherent account of the logic, metaphysics, and epistemology implicit ...
''The Idea of God in Modern Thought / Revelation Through Reason: Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy'': *1955–1956 Rebecca West ''The Court and the Castle: Some Treatments of a Recurrent Theme'' *1954–1955
Pieter Geyl Pieter Catharinus Arie Geyl (15 December 1887, Dordrecht – 31 December 1966, Utrecht) was a Dutch historian, well known for his studies in early modern Dutch history and in historiography. Background Geyl was born in Dordrecht and graduated ...
''Use and Abuse of History'': *1953–1954 Gordon Willard Allport ''Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality'': *1951–1952 Jerome Clarke Hunsaker ''Aeronautics at the Mid-Century'': *1950–1951
Paul Johannes Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theolog ...
''The Courage to Be'': *1949–1950
Erich Fromm Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the U ...
''
Psychoanalysis and Religion ''Psychoanalysis and Religion'' is a 1950 book by social psychologist and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, in which he attempts to explain the purpose and goals of psychoanalysis in relation to ethics and religion. Forward In the forward to the first e ...
'': *1948–1949 George Gaylord Simpson ''The Meaning of Evolution'': *1947–1948 Alexander Stewart Ferguson *1946–1947 Charles Hartshorne ''The Divine Relativity: A Social Conception of God'': *1946–1947
Henri Frankfort Henri "Hans" Frankfort (24 February 1897 – 16 July 1954) was a Dutch Egyptologist, archaeologist and orientalist. Early life and education Born in Amsterdam, into a "liberal Jewish" family, Frankfort studied history at the University of Amster ...
*1945–1946
James Bryant Conant James Bryant Conant (March 26, 1893 – February 11, 1978) was an American chemist, a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Conant obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard in 1916 ...
''On Understanding Science'': *1944–1945 Julius Seelye Bixler ''Conversations with an Unrepentant Liberal'': *1943–1944
George Washington Corner George Washington Corner FRS FRSE (12 December 1889 – 28 September 1981) was an American physician, embryologist and pioneer of the contraceptive pill. He received an outstanding ten honorary degrees from various universities. He played a criti ...
''Ourselves Unborn: An Embryologist's Essay on Man'': *1942–1943
Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...
''Education at the Crossroads'': *1942–1943 Alexander Dunlop Lindsay ''Religion, Science, and Society in the Modern World'': *1941–1942 Reinhold Niebuhr *1940–1941 Alan Gregg ''The Furtherance of Medical Research'' *1939–1940 Henry Ernest Sigerist ''Medicine and Human Welfare'': *1938–1939 Te Rangi Hīroa ''Anthropology and Religion'': *1937–1938 Carl Gustav Jung ''Psychology and Religion'': *1936–1937
Joseph Barcroft Sir Joseph Barcroft (26 July 1872 – 21 March 1947) was a British physiologist best known for his studies of the oxygenation of blood. Life Born in Newry, County Down into a Quaker family, he was the son of Henry Barcroft DL and Anna Richar ...
''The Brain and Its Environment'' *1935–1936
John Macmurray John MacMurray (16 February 1891 – 21 June 1976) was a Scottish philosopher. His thought both moved beyond and was critical of the modern tradition, whether rationalist or empiricist. His thought may be classified as personalist, as his wri ...
''The Structure of Religious Experience'': *1934–1935
Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...
''Order and Life'': *1933–1934
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
''A Common Faith'': *1932–1933 Herbert Spencer Jennings ''The Universe and Life'': *1931–1932 Arthur Holly Compton ''The Freedom of Man'': *1930–1931
Hermann Weyl Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl, (; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, he is assoc ...
''The Open World'': *1929–1930 William Pepperell Montague ''Belief Unbound: A Promethean Religion for the Modern World'': *1928–1929 James Young Simpson ''Nature: Cosmic, Human, and Divine'': *1927–1928 William Brown ''Science and Personality'': *1926–1927
Robert Andrews Millikan Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for the measurement of the elementary electric charge and for his work on the photoelectric e ...
''Evolution in Science and Religion'': *1925–1926 William Ernest Hocking ''The Self: Its Body and Freedom'': *1924–1925
Henry Norris Russell Henry Norris Russell ForMemRS HFRSE FRAS (October 25, 1877 – February 18, 1957) was an American astronomer who, along with Ejnar Hertzsprung, developed the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (1910). In 1923, working with Frederick Saunders, he deve ...
''Fate and Freedom'': *1923–1924
John Arthur Thomson Sir John Arthur Thomson (8 July 1861 – 12 February 1933) was a Scottish naturalist who authored several notable books and was an expert on soft corals. Life He was born at Pilmuir east of East Saltoun, East Lothian, the second son of Is ...
''Concerning Evolution'':


References

{{reflist Philosophy events Philosophy of religion Terry Lectures on religion and science