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UC’s Taft Research Symposium Takes a Darwin Twist, Oct. 30–31
The University of Cincinnati’s annual Taft Annual Research Symposium will be held Oct. 30–31 at the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center. In this, the Darwin Sesquicentennial year, the theme is "Darwinism, Science, Religion and Society."
Charles Robert Darwin was born on Feb. 12, 1809 — the same day as Abraham Lincoln was, an ocean away. Fifty years later, on Nov. 24, 1859, Darwin published his seminal work, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life."
Throughout 2009, the University of Cincinnati, along with its external partners in the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities, has been celebrating Darwin2009 — Evolution: Evidence & Impact. Now the annual Taft Research Symposium draws together some of the philosophers from inside and outside UC’s borders to discuss "Darwinism, Science, Religion and Society."
| Francisco Ayala will be the keynote speaker. |
Francisco Ayala, chair of the Committee in Science, Evolution and Creationism for the National Academy of Sciences and University Professor and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, will be the keynote speaker on Friday. (Note: the keynote speech will be held at a larger venue, room 450 of the Richard E. Lindner Center of Varsity Village, at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 30.)
"Opposition to Darwin’s theory of evolution never seems to fade away in religious-minded America," says George Franklin Bishop, professor of political science and one of the organizers of the conference, along with Lawrence Jost, professor of philosophy. "Over 80 years ago, the Scopes 'monkey trial' in Dayton, Tenn., marked the beginning of a long battle for the American mind, pitting the worldview of biblical creationism against Darwinism and the teaching of human evolution in the nation’s public schools."
| George Bishop, professor of political science at UC. |
Bishop says that evolutionary biologist Kenneth Miller, in his book, "Finding Darwin's God," has summarized the essence of this "culture war" issue as a clash of worldviews, contending that the philosophical worldview of scientific materialists represents a powerful threat with wide-ranging implications to non-materialist, religious and spiritual value systems in American society. "This clash of two cultures extends over a battle line encompassing every moral, ethical, and legal issue of modern life," Miller says.
"Conceptually, this clash of cultures and values," Miller argues, "can best be understood as a conflict between two fundamental worldviews, two sources of ultimate authority: the authority of science vs. the authority of religion."
"With a focus on contemporary controversies in the USA, the symposium is designed to generate an interdisciplinary probe of this ongoing clash of ultimate authority and cultural worldviews represented by Darwinism, science, biblical creationism, 'intelligent design' and the like—drawing out its implications for the relationship between religion, science, politics and society," says Bishop.
| Larry Jost, professor of philosophy at UC. |
The symposium brings together political and social scientists, philosophers, biologists and Darwin scholars, each of whom will make a 50-60 minute presentation addressing one or more aspects of the ongoing "cultural war" of worldviews regarding human origins and their implications for the role of religion, scientific development and politics in American society.
The symposium is being sponsored with funding from the Ohio Humanities Council, the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center and the Office of the Provost at the University of Cincinnati.
University of Cincinnati Taft Annual Research Symposium Program Details
Friday, Oct. 30
Venue: Taft Research Center: 2625 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0369
8:30–8:45 a.m. Welcoming Remarks: Anthony J. Perzigian, senior vice president and provost, University of Cincinnati
Panel I: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Opinions in the United States
8:45–10 a.m. “Evolution, Creationism and the Battle for the Nation's Classrooms,” Eric Plutzer, professor of political science, Penn State University
10–10:15 a.m. break
10:15–11:30 a.m. "Social, Religious, and Psychological Roots of Americans’ Knowledge and Beliefs about Human Evolution," George Bishop, professor of political science, University of Cincinnati
It was Sigmund Freud who probably best argued that the scientific worldview would eventually replace the “religious stage” of superstitious modes of thinking in the evolution of human civilization. In Austria, where he spent much of his career, in the land of Darwin and Huxley, where he spent his final years, and in much of the modern world, the religious worldview seems to have declined significantly, as he would have predicted. But the decline has yet to materialize in America where the scientific worldview has still, as Stephen Jay Gould put it, to “complete Darwin's revolution.” — Bishop
Discussant: Steve Mockabee, associate professor of political science, University of Cincinnati
noon–1:15 p.m. lunch break
Panel II: Perspectives from Philosophy, Biology and History
1:30–2:45 p.m. "Darwin and Divine Providence vs. Creationism's Divine Deceit," Patricia Princehouse, Lecturer in Philosophy and Evolutionary Biology, Case Western Reserve University
Public understanding suffers because evolution is not taught much. People hear more about it from preachers on the radio. — Princehouse
2:45–3 p.m. break
3–4:15 p.m. “The Postmodern Sins of Intelligent Design Creationism,” Robert T. Pennock, professor of history and philosophy of science, Michigan State University
Particularly powerful theories are like searchlights that shed a broad, bright, and sharply focused beam upon the world, allowing us to clearly see and distinguish its features. Evolutionary theory is such a searchlight…. It is the great explanatory power of evolutionary theory — that it accounts for so much data so well - that testifies to its truth. — Pennock
Discussant: Lawrence Jost, professor of philosophy, University of Cincinnati
4:30–6 p.m. Keynote Lecture “Science, Evolution and Creationism,” Francisco J. Ayala
Venue: Richard E. Lindner Center, Room 450 (Varsity Village, Uptown Campus)
Introduction of Keynote Speaker (in English and Spanish) by Professor Alvaro Puga, Department of Environmental Health, Division of Environmental Genetics and Toxicology, University of Cincinnati
Symposium Reception
6:30–7:30 p.m., Philip M. Meyers Gallery
Steger Student Life Center
MainStreet, UC Uptown Campus
Day Two of "Darwinism, Science, Religion and Society"
Saturday, Oct. 31
Venue: Taft Research Center: 2625 Clifton Avenue | Cincinnati, OH 45221-0369 | Phone: 513.556.0675 | Fax: 513.558.7136 | Email Taft Secretary at taftcenter@uc.edu
Panel III: Humanities and Political Science Perspectives
8:45–9 a.m. “The Politics of Evolution,” Jon Miller, John A. Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies and Political Science, Michigan State University
“There is no major political party in Europe and Japan that uses opposition to evolution as a part of its political platform,” Miller said. “In the United States, there are people who think it is a political advantage to discount evolution.”
9:10–10:05 a.m. “Hemingway, Darwin and the Problem of God," Michael Roos, professor of English, University of Cincinnati
10:15–11:00 a.m. “When It Was Fashionable (and Reasonable) to Be a Young Earth Creationist,” Bob Richardson, Charles Phelps Taft Professor and University Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy, University of Cincinnati
11:10–11:50 a.m. Roundtable Discussion: Future of the Evolution Controversy in the USA
noon–1:15 p.m. lunch and farewells
Optional Activities:
1:30–4:45 p.m. Creation Museum, Petersburg, Ky.
8 p.m.–midnight Evolution Ball at SunRock Farm, Wilder, Ky. (one of the GCCCU partners)
All symposium lectures will be Webcast live over UC Vision and on http://www.uc.edu/video.
The Internet simulcast URLs for the Darwiniana Symposium lectures on Friday (10/30/09) and Saturday (10/31/09) are as follows:
- FRIDAY: 10/30/09 – morning session lectures from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon: https://www.uc.edu/ucvision/event.aspx?eventid=235, Panel I: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Opinions in the USA
- FRIDAY: 10/30/09 – afternoon session lectures from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m.: https://www.uc.edu/ucvision/event.aspx?eventid=236, Panel II: Perspectives from Philosophy, Biology, and History
- FRIDAY: 10/30/09 – Prof. Francisco Ayala’s keynote speech from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: https://www.uc.edu/ucvision/event.aspx?eventid=237, “Science, Evolution, and Creationism”
- SATURDAY: 10/31/09 – morning session lectures from 8:45 to 11:50 a.m.: https://www.uc.edu/ucvision/event.aspx?eventid=238, Panel III: Humanities and Political Science Perspectives
Archived lectures will be available later at http://www.uc.edu/darwin/.
The symposium is being sponsored with funding from the Ohio Humanities Council, the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center and the Office of the Provost at the University of Cincinnati.
For more information about the Taft Research Center: 2625 Clifton Avenue | Cincinnati, OH 45221-0369 | Phone: 513.556.0675 | Fax: 513.558.7136 | E-mail the Taft secretary at taftcenter@uc.edu.
Links
Darwin2009 — Evolution: Evidence & Impact
Evolutionists Visit the Creation Museum During NAPC at UC: VIDEO: University of Cincinnati Rocks NAPC 2009!
Paleontologists gathered at UC to talk about evolution and creation, mass extinction and climate change. Topics from millions of years ago are still plaguing us in the 21st century. What lessons can we learn from the past?
The “Darwinism, Science, Religion and Society” symposium is being sponsored with funding from the Ohio Humanities Council, the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center and the Office of the Provost at the University of Cincinnati.
