Students in SCI 201: Natural Science presented concluding research projects this week, covering topics that ranged from environmental ethics to artificial intelligence and the human person, and from educational reform to the cultural consequences of the Scientific Revolution. The evening reflected the course’s emphasis on the Catholic Church’s integrated view of nature, integral ecology, and its relationship to both the human person and the creation.
SCI 201 frames science and nature as the pursuit of truth through careful engagement with a holistic and integrated view of “nature”, encouraging students to analyze contemporary problems not only conceptually but morally.
Several presentations addressed the implications of artificial intelligence from environmental, psychological, and ethical perspectives. One student examined the environmental burden of large-scale computing, citing research showing significant water use in data-center cooling and the repurposing of energy infrastructure toward computational output rather than research and public welfare.
Another presentation investigated deepfake technologies, referencing incidents in current news where individuals faced harm through digitally manipulated images. The question posed was whether technological power alters anthropological stability or merely amplifies preexisting problems.
Class discussion included whether AI improves human problem-solving or substitutes it. Students evaluated the distinction between accelerating tasks and changing cognitive formation, an issue that extended beyond utility into a fundamental question of human ecology and Catholic anthropology.
“Love being educated. Pursue it passionately, and with it, fall in love with your faith. Dress well, speak elegantly, be kind, and remember to appreciate the acorns. Beauty is necessary in order for our world to be worth living in. Reason has no fear of beauty, but it seeks it out and has trust in it.”
“Looking for good schools, community schooling, and family schooling may be part of the solution.”
The exchange that followed explored what constitutes genuine formation versus credential acquisition, and how scientific literacy emerges.
Another research focus involved how natural systems demonstrate equilibrium through interdependent parts, whereas modern economic behavior frequently fragments elements of the natural law and the dignity of the human person. Students considered in the class that true scientific knowledge demands not merely data interpretation but an understanding of what constitutes flourishing natural systems.
At the end of the session, Prof. Esparza affirmed students’ development not only in content mastery but also in scholarly comportment:
“You began this class as wide-eyed students, and you are now scholars. You not only have done the readings, but you’re also able to engage in serious discussion every week. Please, get your work out there; all of you should publish this research.”
“I’m very impressed with the class as a whole, and the spectrum of issues covered… The papers were all wonderful.”
He also encouraged publication, noting that several of the presentations rose to the level of formal submission.
SCI 201 serves early-level students, yet the presentations displayed scholarly virtue, confidence, conceptual maturity, and a willingness to debate modern culture’s assumptions with Catholic truth. Students treated questions about nature as not merely as problems requiring conclusions, but as occasions for moral formation.
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