Research Efforts
A group of scientists, theologians, and artists whose purpose was to explore the meaning and implications of the Epic of Evolution formed the Epic of Evolution Society in 1997. It was led by Brain Swimme, co-author with Thomas Berry of The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era--A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos (1992). DeBoer, founding board member and editor of EarthLight: The Magazine of Spiritual Ecology, in 1998 founded an international group.
In 1996 the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science held a conference on the Epic of Evolution. In 1997 the American Association for the Advancement of Science organized a conference on the Epic of Evolution as part of their program on Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. In July 1999, The Forum on Religion and Ecology with special support from the Center for Respect of Life and Environment sponsored a conference titled The Epic of Evolution and World Religions. It consisted of a small invitational gathering of scholars of the world’s religious traditions as well as a number of scientists and educators. It explored how the creation stories of the world’s religions intersect with or react to the epic of evolution. An Evolutionary Epic conference was held in Hawaii in January 2008. It was attended by scientists, artists, educators, and spiritual and religious leaders. The objective was to weave together many otherwise disparate areas of study into one coherent Epic of Evolution tale (a consilience).
An Epic of Evolution Journal was published from 1998 until 2000 with articles by noted authors Brian Swimme, Thomas Berry, Ursula Goodenough, Jennifer Morgan, and Connie Barlow. Washington University in St. Louis offers a course on the Epic of Evolution. The Epic has also been taught at Northern Arizona University. The course engaged the task of formulating a new epic myth that is based on the physical, natural, social, and cultural sciences for which there are as yet few textbooks. The course was presented in three segments: the cosmos before humans appeared, the human phenomenon, and scenarios for the future of evolution. Dr. Eric J. Chaisson, Professor of Physics, Tufts University teaches a course at Harvard University on the Epic of Evolution. California Institute of Integral Studies also offers a graduate course on the Epic.
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