The ASA invites submissions for ASA 2023, our Annual Meeting on July 28–July 31, 2023, at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, in Toronto, Ontario. This year, we have two, separate calls for abstracts:

1. Regular Conference Call for Abstracts
• Non-Students: Oral/Poster Presentation Deadline: Feb 28th
• Students Only: Poster Presentation Deadline: May 31


2. Friday Workshop Call for Poster Abstracts
• Poster Presentation Deadline: June 9

Greetings from ASA 2023 Program Chairs Robert Mann and Janet Warren

We are looking forward to ASA 2023, our Annual Meeting on July 28–July 31, 2023, at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, in Toronto, Ontario. It is especially exciting as the CSCA will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year!

The conference theme is “Moving Forward Together: The Future of Science and Faith,” and participants will have the opportunity to learn and dialogue on multiple related issues.

We invite meeting registrants to contribute oral or poster presentations to traditional parallel session tracks on a range of topics at the intersection of science and faith. You may propose an abstract as either:

1. An oral presentation: this is a 20-minute presentation (plus 5-minute Q&A) on a topic of importance to the science-faith dialogue, or
2. A poster presentation: this is a conference-style poster for viewing; it should include scientific data and analysis as well as some discussion about its theological significance. We will also be having a student poster contest!

Details:

Submitted abstracts will be evaluated and peer-reviewed for both technical and theological content as well as overall quality and applicability. Since accepted presentations will need to show an adequate understanding of both science and faith, it may be helpful to collaborate in your presentations. Please remember not to speak outside your field of expertise, double-check your facts, consider multiple possible interpretations, and be appropriately tentative in your conclusions.

Additionally and as is our custom, we will have a designated track for Students and Early Career Scholars.

Abstract Submission Deadline: February 28, 2023.

1. Abstracts must be 50–250 words.
2. Indicate whether you are proposing an oral presentation or a poster, and whether you are open to the reviewers’ suggestion of format.
3. Indicate which topical area the abstract supports.
4. Emphasize what your oral or poster presentation offers that is new and important for the topic chosen. Provide sufficient detail to be informative, but use language that will be intelligible to a non-specialist or a scientist from outside your field.
5. Append one to three recent or particularly significant bibliographic references pertinent to your topic.
6. You may submit only one abstract for which you are the primary author. Additional abstracts listing individuals as secondary coauthors may also be submitted.
7. All abstracts must be submitted online using the Call for Abstracts form.
8. Upload your abstract as a Word or rich text format file. Please begin your abstract with (a) type of submission—oral, poster, or reviewers’ choice, (b) the topical area, and (c) the title and name of author(s). Then save it with the filename, ASA2023YourLastName.
9. Notification of abstract acceptance is planned by March 24, 2023.
10. All presenters must register for the meeting no later than April 30, 2023.

1. Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Based on past and current knowledge, what does the future hold for the physical sciences—physics, chemistry, earth sciences, astronomy? What may challenge our thinking on issues related to the science-faith dialogue?

2. Health and Life Sciences

How are topics such as disease, death, and healthy living informed by a Christian perspective? What are some bioethical implications of cutting-edge biotechnology?

3. Environmental Sciences

What are some issues impacting the future of our environment? How can we be good stewards and good shepherds of God’s creation? How can we bequeath to future generations the good earth that God blesses us with?

4. Psychological, Behavioral and Neurosciences

The behavioral sciences continue to expand rapidly. What insights from these fields might support or challenge a Christian view of the human person? How might they inform and challenge the science-faith dialogue?

5. Technology and Information Science

Artificial Intelligence and related disciplines of machine learning and computational neuroscience are increasingly embedded in everyday life. How might Christians think more deeply and act more responsibly in light of developments in these areas? What kinds of theological implications might follow from our investigations in these subdisciplines?

6. Theological Perspectives

What are some future directions in the science-faith dialogue? Are there new insights that might inform ongoing controversy surrounding biblical accounts of creation and scientific concepts of evolution, astronomy, and geology? Are there new insights that contribute to the topic of divine action?

7. Communicating Science through the Lens of Faith

What are some future challenges, opportunities, and ideas for scientists who are Christians with respect to communicating effectively from the classroom to the public square?

Deadline: May 31, 2023, midnight Pacific Time

We are hosting a workshop for Christians in artificial intelligence and related fields. Our goals include 1) inspiring & sharing ongoing/new research ideas that can be further expanded, 2) launching an AI-related affiliate group in ASA/CSCA, and 3) bringing Christian AI researchers together in an interdisciplinary community.

To foster these goals, we will have a special poster session for the workshop, designed to accelerate new research ideas, share interdisciplinary insights, and develop further conversations. To bring together a diversity of perspectives and ideas and to launch new directions, we invite poster abstracts presenting both new ideas for future research and completed research. Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

• Ethical AI (Data Ethics, Ethical Algorithm Design)
• Explainable AI and AI Safety
• ML Fairness and Bias in Language and Other Models
• Responsible AI and AI for Social Good
• Bible translation and faith-based AI applications

We acknowledge that AI is a rapidly evolving field, so we welcome interdisciplinary submissions that do not fit neatly into existing categories, as well as work that addresses the social impact of machine learning. We welcome poster submissions from scholars and professionals in computer science, social science, and relevant humanities disciplines, among others.

Abstracts should be 150 words describing your proposed workshop poster in one of the categories below.

Abstract Categories for Posters

Because we want to launch new research and expand interdisciplinary conversation on work in progress and published research, we encourage you to identify your work based on the type of feedback you are looking for. Please use the following categories:

Brainstorm (Investigate New Work): This category is for participants beginning to develop a new idea connecting faith & AI research and looking for conversation within and beyond their discipline on directions to explore. Examples might include sharing research you have done in secular settings and beginning to explore whether there is a connection to your Christian faith or sharing initial ideas for how a new research project might connect faith and your field area.

Develop (Deepen Ongoing Work): This category is for participants who have done considerable development of an idea connecting faith and their research and are looking for conversation partners who can help deepen work in progress.

Translate (Reinterpret Published Ideas): This category is for participants presenting published or forthcoming work and looking for interdisciplinary conversation on how to translate the findings of their work for those in adjacent fields or launch new interdisciplinary ideas based on the published work.

Deadline: June 9, 2023

We know that money can be tight for students. The ASA would like to help make your attendance at ASA 2023 a possibility. Registration for student members is FREE (a $295 value). Scholarship awards will cover 50% of meals and lodging (double occupancy, shared bath). If the student is presenting either a poster or oral presentation, the award increases to cover 75% of meals and lodging.

Important Notes:

• Please join the ASA as a student member if you wish to apply for scholarships, even if you have already graduated. This allows us to grant scholarships within the technical infrastructure of our registration system.
• For the purpose of scholarship awards, we define “early career” as in a postdoc or less than 3 years out from your most recent degree.

ASA Student Membership
Not an ASA student member? No problem! Annual membership is FREE for students (a $114 value). Benefits of membership include, access to our online journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, and networking opportunities at local chapter meetings.