| View All |
September 14, 2009
For Immediate Release
For more information: Daniel Fairbanks (801) 863-6440
University Marketing & Communications: Erin Spurgeon, (801) 863-6807
Written by: Alex Strickland (801) 863-6351
The Utah Valley University College of Science & Health will host acclaimed anthropologist Dr. Eugenie Scott for the inaugural presentation in the 2009-2010 Science and Health Symposium Series later this month.
Dr. Scott, who is widely known for her promotion of science education, will give a lecture titled "Evolution and Creationism: Historical, Scientific and Religious Perspectives" at noon on Sept.17 in the UVU Library Auditorium.
"UVU is very fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Dr. Scott coming here," said Dan Fairbanks, associate dean of the College of Science & Health and one of the speaker series’ organizers.
Dr. Scott is the executive director of the National Center for Science Education and a distinguished academic, having served as president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. She has been a high-profile figure both in court and in the media when it comes to teaching evolution in public schools around the country. She has been a guest on nearly every major news network and was a consultant in a high-profile trial in Dover, Penn. in 2005 that led to a judge ruling that intelligent design is not science and could not be taught as such in the local school’s science classes.
Fairbanks said that Scott is the first of four high-profile evolution experts who will speak this school year in Utah Valley. Jointly hosted with Brigham Young University, the quartet of presenters focus on evolution during a special year for this branch of science, as 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.
"For a number of reasons, this really is the year of evolution," Fairbanks said.
A geneticist himself, Fairbanks said that in recent years scientific discoveries in the field of genetics have led to incredible advances in understanding evolution. With that in mind, he said, polls show some 45 percent of Americans still reject evolution, which puts the U.S. near the bottom of the list in acceptance of evolution.
"Opponents of evolution have ramped up their work," he said. "And the battle ground is about what can be taught in public schools."
In addition to Scott, who was a consultant at the Dover, Penn. trial, the series will host three additional experts on evolution, including that trial’s lead witness and professor at Brown University, Kenneth Miller; the judge who presided over the case, John E. Jones III; and Francisco Ayala, a prominent evolutionary geneticist and former Dominican priest. UVU will host two of the presentations – Scott and Jones – and BYU will host Miller and Ayala in between.
Fairbanks said that not only is creationism an affront to science, but that he considers it an affront to religion as well, something Scott has focused on in her career and will argue on Sept. 17.
"(Creationists contend) it’s either God or evolution, but Scott argues that’s not the case," he said. "You can have both."
All of the presentations are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit the UVU College of Science & Health’s lecture schedule online at http://www.uvu.edu/csh/involved/lecture.html.
###