Events

Panels/Talks

Come celebrate Darwin’s birthday and bold ideas that change worlds. ASU hosts a wide range of activities, lectures, workshops, panel discussions, films, teacher’s workshops and performances, including a birthday tea party and Darwin look-alike contest. Free and open to the public.

Wednesday-Thursday, February 4-5, 2009
Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: Randy Olson

: Wednesday, February 4, 5:30-8 p.m.
Movie: Flock of Dodos
Panel Discussion

Thursday, February 5, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Talk: Don’t be such a Scientist!
Location: Pima Auditorium 230, Memorial Union, Tempe Campus

Thursday, February 5, 5-8 p.m.
Movie: Sizzle
Panel Discussion
Location: Murdock Hall 201, Tempe Campus

Friday, February 6, 2009

: 2-3 p.m.
Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: Michael Ruse
Is Darwinism past its “Sell By” date?
Location: Life Sciences E wing, Room 104, Tempe campus
Many people think that 150 years after Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution through natural selection in his Origin of Species his work must surely be outdated. Through a comparison of the theory then and the beliefs that active evolutionists have today, Michael Ruse argues that not one part of Darwin’s thinking remains standing and yet unmistakably Darwin’s ideas live triumphantly today. The right analogy is with the “People’s Car” of late 1930s Germany. Today, not one part of that car is manufactured or used in a new automobile, and yet the Beetle of today is unmistakably the car of the 1930s. That is what evolution is all about: continuity and change. “Nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution.”

Monday, February 9, 2009

: 3-5:30 p.m.
Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: Bernard Wood
On the Origin of Our Species: Darwin and Human Evolution
Panel Discussion
Location: PIMA Auditorium, ASU Memorial Union 230

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

: 3-4 p.m.
Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: Nina Jablonski
Darwin’s Birthday Suit: The Evolution of Human Skin and Skin Color
Location: Union Stage, ASU Memorial Union 085
Discussion to follow moderated by Mark Spencer

: 5-6:30 p.m.
What’s Changed for Women in the Sciences since Darwin?
Panel Discussion
Location: Union Stage, ASU Memorial Union 085
The numbers of women attaining science and engineering doctorates have increased substantially over the last 20 years. However, in most fields, the proportion of women falls with each successive educational and professional level. When it comes to calling on the scientific leadership of our time, women are seriously underrepresented, leading us to answer the above question with “Not enough.” This panel will investigate the past and present reasons for the inequity of women in the sciences.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

: 12:30-7 p.m.
Looking for Life: Adventures and Misadventures in Species Exploration Symposium
Location:Turquoise Ballroom at the Memorial Union
Each year the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University holds a public symposium on its work and, with the Linnean Society of London, announces the winner of the Linnaean Legacy Award. This year´s symposium–held on the eve of Darwin´s two hundredth birthday–will focus on the joys and pains of finding new species.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

: 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Radical thinkers: The origins & evolution of novel approaches in science and medicine
Panel Discussion
Location: PIMA Auditorium, ASU Memorial Union 230
This minisymposium focuses on paradigm shifts in science, medicine, technology. Darwin was a radical thinker. What are some of the mind-bending approaches coming out of ASU and what are the origins of such creative leaps?

Friday, February 13, 2009

: 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Teaching and Learning Evolution in America: Darwin’s Role in the Classroom
Panel Discussion
Location: PIMA Auditorium, ASU Memorial Union 230
ASU’s Darwin Days draws to a close with an insightful and lively panel on teaching and the future pitched toward educators

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

: 7:30-9 p.m.
Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: Daniel Dennett
Darwin’s strange inversion of reasoning
Beyond Center For Fundamental Concepts annual lecture will be given by Daniel Dennett who will speak about Darwin’s strange inversion of reasoning. Daniel Dennett is a Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. Among his books are Consciousness Explained; Darwin’s Dangerous Idea; and Freedom Evolves.
Sponsors: Beyond Center For Fundamental Concepts
For more information, contact: megan.fisk@asu.edu, (480) 965-3240

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

: 7:30 p.m.
2009 Annual Eugene Shoemaker Memorial Lecture: Jay Melosh
in coordination with Beyond: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science and The Origins Symposium. Download PDF for more information.