LAKELAND (Oct. 5, 2011) – A significant collection of books on one of the most important fields of study has been awarded to Florida Southern College by a prestigious international society.

Thanks to a collaborative effort from several faculty and staff, Florida Southern will receive a set of 250 books about the interdisciplinary field of science and religion from the International Society for Science and Religion at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

The books, which will become part of the College’s Roux Library collection, represent foundational texts in the field, as compiled by the Society. They encompass many faith traditions and will provide a comprehensive foundation for study, teaching and research in science and religion for students and faculty.

The award was the result of an application to a competition held by the Society. Biology Professor Nancy Morvillo and Religion Professor Sara Fletcher Harding, who co-direct the Florida Center for Science and Religion at Florida Southern, prepared the application with assistance from Randall MacDonald, Director of the Roux Library; Dr. Kyle Fedler, FSC Provost; and Dr. James Byrd, Dean of Arts and Sciences at FSC. Florida Southern is one of just 150 institutions which the Society selected to receive the collection.

“From my understanding, most of the awards go outside the U.S. The awards are based on the library’s need to enhance its circulation and collection,” said Dr. Harding.

The books include works on evolution, cosmology, environmental ethics and perspectives on science from such religious traditions as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

“It’s very interdisciplinary. There are texts from a social science perspective and not just the hard sciences. Folks from the History and Sociology departments, students and faculty alike, working on any of those disciplines, are going to have better resources,” Dr. Harding said.

The books arrived at the library earlier this week, and the staff is in the process of cataloging them, said MacDonald. They are all bound in matching bindings, and they will be shelved together, which was the intention of the ISSR. The books should be placed on the shelves within a week or so, and they can be accessed through the library’s online catalog under a common heading, MacDonald said.

The Florida Center for Science and Religion was established through funding provided by the Local Societies Initiative Grant of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science and is currently funded by Florida Southern College. The FCSR promotes the engagement of issues in science and religion throughout central Florida. The center sponsors annual lectures and meetings on a wide range of topics.