Administering the 2005 Templeton Research Lectures initiative is William Grassie, executive director of the Metanexus Institute. Commenting on the significance of the lectures, Grassie notes, "The challenges of the 21st century require new interdisciplinary collaborations, which place questions of meanings and values on the agenda. We need to put questions about the universe and the universal back at the heart of the university."

Grassie, a sometime visiting lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies, notes that Metanexus and the University of Pennsylvania have many informal connections. Metanexus was originally incorporated with four faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania. "Precisely because of this intimate history, Metanexus is particularly pleased to award this grant to this dynamic interdisciplinary committee for their important three year project."

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Contact: Julia Loving
loving@metanexus.net
215-789-2200
Metanexus Institute
8-Apr-2005