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I thought when I was solemnly first introduced to it at the age of thirteen, that “science” had fully explained the motions of planets, the law of gravity, and the mysteries of time. Anything that had not yet been explained would no doubt soon be discovered. There were no mysteries.

Because we could observe gravity in action, we somehow knew what it was. Nobody then mentioned that its operation, especially in empty space, simply cannot be explained. All was settled. Just learn the Table of Elements, your species, your elementary biology, and your formulae, and that was that. The fact that the “laws” dealt with in this subject are all accounts of what did happen, rather than rules about how things should happen, was passed over in silence. Why and how were silently but inextricably confused. The use of the majestic word “laws” curiously turned the mind away from speculation about whose laws they might conceivably be or why they might have been made. Science, summed up as the belief that what could not be naturalistically or materialistically explained was not worth talking about, simply appropriated them.

. . . . But I should stress that I was not actually taught these articles of the materialist faith, let alone the arguments that continue to rage around them. I was simply given the impression by adults that these things were the case, and that this was all settled forever.

It was the faith of a faithless age. I had no idea, then, quite why so many of the older generation had set their faces so hard against religious belief. I was quite shocked when I later discovered the true state of affairs. They did not know half the things they claimed to know. Their faith in science was an attempt to replace the Christina faith, ruined by wars and disillusion, with a new all-embracing certainty.

–Peter Hitchens, “The Rage Against God: How Atheism Let Me to Faith”

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Career Resources for the Cultural Influence Professions

Comedy Studies at The Second City

Anyone can tell a joke – but making great comedy is not so easy. What sets the comedic genius apart from the jokester? Technique: compelling content, strong point of view, comic timing, and the ability to harness creativity.

The Second City and Columbia College Chicago know this. They know comedy, theater, and creative process better than just about anyone. That’s why these two great Chicago institutions have joined forces and created the Comedy Studies program. Unlike any other course of study in content, scope, or resources, it provides a unique opportunity to study full-time at The Second City, the nation’s center of comedy and satire, for an entire semester.

Comedy Studies is developed and taught by the experts in comedy at The Second City Training Center in Chicago, with college credit provided by Columbia College Chicago. It’s a semester abroad right in the heart of Chicago’s world- famous theater scene. And you won’t just take classes. You’ll also attend shows at a variety of improvisation and comedy venues, network with theater artists, explore Chicago’s unparalleled theater and arts world, and present your work in a showcase.

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