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Events

Beginning in Fall 2008, the Year of Darwin celebration will host regularly scheduled events pertaining to Charles Darwin, evolution and associated science topics. Additional events, sponsored by departments across campus, will also be held throughout the year.

If your campus department or organization is holding a Darwin/Evolution-related event, please fill out our event submission form so that we may include it in our list of activities. Inclusion in the list is subject to the discretion of the Year of Darwin committee.

All events are open to the public unless otherwise specified. Additional details forthcoming.

Year of Darwin Speakers & Events
August 28, 2008—David Quammen (Fall Convocation)

Severance Hall: 4:30 p.m. - Online registration is now open.

David Quammen is a journalist and his book "The Reluctant Mr. Darwin," will be assigned to incoming students as part of the 2008 Common Reading Program.

September 9, 2008—Gary Litman (Ecker Lecture)

Wolstein Research Building, Auditorium (Rm. 1413): noon

Professor Litman (University of South Florida) is an authority on the evolution of the immune system. Hosted by the Department of Pathology.

September 11, 2008—Sean B. Carroll

Strosacker Auditorium: 6:30 p.m.

Professor Carroll (University of Wisconsin) is a highly regarded investigator who studies animal development in an evolutionary context. He is supported by the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute for his experimental work, and he has written a number of popular books on biological development and evolution. Hosted by College Scholars and SAGES.

September 18, 2008—Robert Richards—Darwinian Moral Theory

Wolstein Research Building, Auditorium (Rm. 1413): 5:00 p.m.

Professor Richards (University of Chicago) is a noted historian of science and medicine who has published several books relating to evolutionary thought. Hosted by the Inamori Center.

September 19, 2008—Robert Richards—Evolution and Politics

Inamori Center Rooms 9 & 11: 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Professor Richards will join the Public Affairs Friday Lunch Discussion Group to discuss Evolution and Politics

September 25, 2008—Judge John E. Jones III

Strosacker Auditorium: Lecture 5:00-6:00 p.m., Q&A 6:00-6:30 p.m.

Judge Jones is the federal judge who presided in the controversial trial pertaining to the teaching of intelligent design in Dover, PA. Hosted by the School of Law.

September 26, 2008—Richard Katskee and Lauri Lebo—The Devil in Dover and elsewhere: the personal side of the Creationism controversy

Clark Hall, room 309: 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

Richard Katskee is an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Lauri Lebo is a journalist who covered the Dover, PA intelligent design trial. Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies.

October 9, 2008—Dr. Thomas Near

312 De Grace Hall: 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Thomas Near (Yale University) will discuss climate change and diversification of Antarctic fishes. Sponsored by the Biology Department. Contact Professor Oldfield for additional information.

October 14, 2008—Neil Shubin

Cleveland Museum of Natural History: 7:00 p.m.

Admission is free, but tickets—available from the museum box office, 216.231.1177—are required for entry.

Professor Shubin (University of Chicago) is a well-known paleontologist who studies the morphological and developmental origins of the tetrapod limb. He recently discovered Tiktaalik, a species linking aquatic "lobe-finned" fishes with early terrestrial tetrapods. Held in conjunction with the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting in downtown Cleveland.

October 16, 2008—Edward J. Larson—From Dayton to Dover: A History of the Evolution Teaching Legal Controversy in America

School of Law, Moot Court Room: 4:30 p.m.

Professor Larson (Pepperdine University) is a noted historian and legal scholar and Pulitzer Prize winner who has written on the controversies relating to the teaching of evolution in the United States. William A. Brahms Lecture on Law and Religion presented by the Center for Professional Ethics

October 22, 2008—Jerry Coyne

School of Medicine E401: 4:00 p.m.

Professor Coyne (University of Chicago) is a leading evolutionary geneticist and authority on speciation. Hosted by Pathology and Genetics.

October 30, 2008—John Holland

1. White 411: 11:30 – 12:30 p.m.
A research-based talk entitled, "Agent-based Models of Language Acquisition and Evolution." Hosted by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, School of Engineering.

2. Peter B. Lewis Bldg., Room 258: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
A talk for a general university audience entitled, "Modeling Complex Adaptive Systems." Hosted by Department of Operations, Weatherhead School of Management.

Professor Holland (University of Michigan) is a pioneer in computer science and the originator of genetic algorithms.

November 6, 2008—Robert Hazen—Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origins

De Grace Hall 312: 4:30 p.m.

Professor Robert Hazen (Carnegie Institution and George Mason University) is a respected and widely published geochemist who studies chemical evolution and the origin of life and has a mineral “hazenite” named after him. Hosted by the Case Western Reserve University chapter of Sigma Xi the Scientific Research Society.

December 4, 2008—Dr. Hans Hofmann

De Grace Hall 312: 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Hans Hofmann (U. Texas) will speak about Molecular Systems Analyses of Plastic Brains Engaged in Social Behavior. Sponsored by the Biology Department. Contact Professor Oldfield for additional information.

February 13-14, 2009—Floyd Sandford (Darwin Day)

Professor Sandford is an emeritus member of the Biology Department at Coe College. He performs a one-man "Darwin show" and lectures on Darwin. Hosted by John Orlock of the Theater Department.

February 27, 2009—Hayagreeva Rao—Darwin, Democracy, and Organizations

Professor Hayagreeva Rao is the Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at Stanford University where he studies the social and cultural causes of organizational change. Sponsored the by Weatherhead School of Management.

March 3, 2009—E. O. Wilson (Distinguished Lecture)

Professor Wilson (Harvard University) is an emeritus faculty member and an eminent evolutionary biologist and popular writer who has won two Pulitzer Prizes.

March 17-19, 2009—Angela Belcher (Van Horn Lecture Series)

Locations and times to be determined

Professor Belcher (MIT) is a highly regarded young investigator who exploits the principles exemplified in biological structures to design new materials. She will give three presentations:

  • From Nature and Back Again: Giving New Life to Materials for Future Technology
  • Genetically Engineered Materials for Energy Applications
  • Bacteriophage as a Toolkit for Nanomaterials

Hosted by Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

April 8, 2009—Sarah Tishkoff—The genetic basis of human adaptation in Africa

Clapp Hall 108: 4:30 p.m.

Professor Tishkoff (University of Pennsylvania) is a highly respected geneticist and anthropologist who has made significant contributions to the understanding of human evolution through studies of genetic variation with particular emphasis on the genetic history of East African populations. Hosted by the Departments of Anthropology, Biology, and Evolutionary Biology.