Darwin Day
Charles R. Darwin was born on February 12,
1809, a birth date he shares with Abraham Lincoln. Darwin's work
has had a profound and ongoing effect on our views of humankind's place
in nature, and it forms the very core of biological science. Or,
as the late geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky put it, "Nothing in
biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution."
SIUC, like many other universities, recognizes
Darwin's birthday as an occasion
to educate the public as well as to celebrate his legacy. Future
events will be posted here.
For Darwin Day 2009, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles
Darwin, our guest speaker was Dr. Barbara
Forrest, Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University.
Dr. Forrest is coauthor of Creationism's Trojan Horse and was
a key witness for the plaintiffs in the 2005
Kitzmiller vs. Dover intelligent design trial that led to
Judge Jones' comprehensive demolition of the case for teaching intelligent
design in science classrooms.
Dr. Forrest presented a public lecture at SIUC entitled "Slam Dunk
for Science and the Constitution: Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School
District 2005". We hosted a free public showing of the evolution/creationism
documentary, Flock of Dodos: The Evolution - Intelligent Design Circus,
followed by a panel discussion where we were joined by a very special
surprise guest.
Our principal speaker for Darwin Day 2008 was Dr.
Sean B. Carroll, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and
an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University
of Wisconsin, Madison.
Our speaker for Darwin Day 2007 was scheduled to be Dr.
Massimo Pigliucci, Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution,
SUNY at Stony Brook, but alas, winter weather intervened and Massimo's
trip was canceled. Our speaker for the inaugural SIUC Darwin Day
celebration in 2006 was Dr.
Tim Berra, Emeritus Professor, Department of Evolution, Ecology
and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University.
Darwin Day
at SIUC is sponsored by the Departments of Zoology, Geology, Plant Biology
and Microbiology, by the College of Science, and by Sigma
Xi.
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