The Center for Inquiry, in its flagship venue in Amherst New York, as well as across the country and abroad,  provides educational opportunities that help explain the development of the modern worldview, particularly the human journey from basing reality on religious beliefs to relying on evidence, inquiry, and evaluation. The Institute's Summer Session 2008 is a guided tour along this route, raising such questions as, "What are the origins of religion?",  "How do we assess the truth claims made by major religions on the basis of their sacred writings?",  "Is it possible to be good without God?" and  "What is modern science telling us about how we come to know ourselves and the world beyond us?"   The courses offered in 2008, organized around the theme From Religion to Science, examine the "future" of the Enlightenment, secular and religious dominion in public policy, the new atheism, and other topics of vital concern for humanists and non-humanists alike.

Instruction at The Institute at the Center for Inquiry is organized into modules, each an intensive exploration of some aspect of the theme.  Modules are carefully interwoven to convey the richness of the theme as a totality, but they also serve as stand-alone courses. Participants may take one, two, or three modules depending on their sphere of interest.