SCS 2024 Conference Program and Schedule   

FRIDAY, JUNE 7

6:30 PM – 10:00 PM:  Registration Desk Open  (Living Room, 1st floor of Conference Center Lodging = Building E on map)

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM:  DINNER (Dining Hall = Building B on map)                       

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM:  OPENING RECEPTION & POSTER SESSION I (Dining Hall) (Open Bar. Snacks)  Poster Session Begins at 8:30 PM.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8

7:00 AM – 7:45 AM:  Saturday Mass (Optional)  (Chapel, 2nd floor of Conference Center Lodging/Building E)   

7:45 AM – 8:45 AM:  BREAKFAST  (Dining Hall – Building B)                                                                                  

8:45 AM – 9 AM:  Welcoming remarks  (Conference Center, Room 202 = Building D)

[All lectures are in Room 202 of the Conference Center,. All breaks between talks are in Room 202 as well as in the break room on 1st floor of the Conference Center.]

9:00 AM:  Lecture: "Does Evolution Lead to God?"  Martin Nowak  (Harvard University)

9:50 AM:   Break

10:10 AM:  Lecture: "The Problem of Evil and Childhood Cancer"  Craig Mullen (University of Rochester)

10:40 AM:  Lecture:  "Conscious Intention Returns (and overturns Libet’s conclusion that the brain decides before you decide)"  E.J. Neafsey (Loyola University Chicago)  

11:10 AM:  Break

11:30 AM:  Lecture: “Conversion Among the Educated; the Nature of Assent for the Modern Scientist” Suzanne Bohlson (University of California at Irvine)

12 Noon – 1:15 PM:  LUNCH  (Dining Hall)

1:15 PM:  Lecture:  “What Large Language Models Can and Can't Do”  David Chiang (University of Notre Dame)

2:05 PM:  Break                                                                                                                              

2:20 PM:  Lecture: "Where is the human in AI? Thoughts on the state of strong AI research"  Walter Scheirer (University of Notre Dame)  

3:10 PM:  Lecture: "Hallucinations and Homilies: Large Language Models and their implications for our lives"  Alexander R, Webber (University of Florida)

3:40 PM:  Break    

3:55 PM:  Lecture: "Why Humans are not Machines"  Alexander Pruss (Baylor University)

4:45 PM:  Break

5:00 PM:  Lecture: “Harnessing AI for Scientific Discovery: Achievements, Opportunities, and Ethical Reflections” Kevin Greenman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Catholic Institute of Technology)

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM:  COCKTAIL HOUR  (Dining Hall)  (Open Bar)                                                   

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM:  CONFERENCE BANQUET (Dining Hall)                                                         

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM:  SOCIALIZING & POSTER SESSION II (Dining Hall) (The bar will reopen from 8:00 to 9:30.) Poster Session begins at 8:30 PM.

SUNDAY, JUNE 9

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM:  CONFERENCE MASS  (Chapel, 2nd floor, Conference Center Lodging)

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM:  BREAKFAST (Dining Hall)

[All lectures are in Room 202 of the Conference Center. All breaks between talks are in Room 202 as well as in the break room on 1st floor of the Conference Center.]

10:00 AM:  Lecture:  "With the Future in Mind: Catholic Women Pioneers in Science"  Berta Moritz (Pharmaceutical R&D)

10:50 AM:  Break  

11:00 AM:  Lecture: "The beginning of a 'new human organism' and the beginning of 'personhood'”  Carlo Avignolo (UNITRE – Università delle Tre Età)      

11:30 AM:  Lecture: “How much am I culpable? Living our Catholic faith as scientists”  Dcn. Gregory K. Webster (Brother In The Stole Ministries)

12:00 PM:  Lecture: "Time and Eternity: Physics, Theology, and Reflections for any Catholic Audience” Fernanda Psihas (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM:  LUNCH (Dining Hall)        

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM:  2024 SCS Membership Meeting  (Room 202, Conference Center)

2:30 PM:   Conference ends