This is the first and final call for papers for the 2009 200 Years of Darwin Conference at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Abstract submission is open to all who are interested, including interested students. We encourage all who are interested in the conference topic to attend the meeting, even if your abstract is not selected for presentation and even if you do not submit an abstract.
The 2009 200 Years of
1. Stephen J. Gould noted that a presentation in 1959 (MULLER, H. J., 1959 One hundred years without Darwinism are enough. School science and mathematics 59: 304–316) dealt with the idea that 100 years after the publication of On the Origin of the Species even scientists still don’t fully understand the implications of natural selection in that, for example, they still cling to ideas of progress. Of course religion and spirituality continue to influence our ideas about science in general and evolution in particular. As Gould himself noted on many occasions – ‘evolution is just adaptation to a local environment’. There is no progress. Humans are not better than their ancestors – just differently adapted in response to different environmental circumstances. People, including many scientists, still resist this idea. Progress and a hierarchical structure of organisms are, of course, dominant themes in many mainstream religions as well. The conflict that we see today with regard to teaching science in the classroom and the question of should ideas such as Intelligent Design be taught as science is strong evidence of resistance to the impartiality of natural selection. So, how far have we come? What needs to be done? How do we approach the 21st century as evolutionary scientists?
2. Many scientists from different fields argue that the human species has stopped evolving. The basis for this argument lies in the idea that since the adoption of agriculture some 10,000 years ago, the human ability to modify the environment combined with our rapidly changing cultural environments has effectively put an end to human evolution. Is this true? What is the evidence for and against such ideas?
So, the overriding theme of the conference is: Are we still evolving, both literally and metaphorically?
Potential topics include, but are not limited to
a. Cultural evolution – the impact of this idea on areas other than biology - what are the new approaches?
b. Religion and science – what are the cultural reasons driving the difficulty we have in accepting ideas like natural selection, what role does religion play?
c. Comparison
of cultural differences between cultures like ours and that of
d. Human evolution since the adoption of agriculture – microevolutionary changes
e. Animal evolution given the impact of human activities since the adoption of agriculture and domestication of animals
f. Behavioral evolution – are behaviors genetically encoded and therefore subject to forces such as natural selection
i. Evolutionary psychology
ii. Genetics of addiction
iii. Other possibilities
g. Evolutionary medicine – how does evolution shape our knowledge and practice of medicine – how can it help? Or hurt? Mismatches from our evolutionary past to our modern environment etc…
h. Scientific methodology – its application to evolutionary questions
i. State of the debate between science and creationism
i. What approaches are we taking?
ii. What approaches should we be taking?
j.
State of the Union – the
k. How important is to understand the concepts of evolution for scientists
l. What should be taught K-12?
m. How can we educate the general public?
n. What are the strategies in place now?
o. What do kids need to know for careers in science?
The conference will take place on Thursday and Friday,
February 12 and 13, 2009 in
Please note that all papers will be limited to a maximum of 15 – 20 minutes per presentation. (Presentation lengths will be finalized once all abstracts have been reviewed and participants notified). We also will ask that participants submit summaries and drafts of their papers prior to the conference.* A panel discussion will take place following the presentation of papers for each topic area (i.e. cultural topics, physical topics, behavioral topics, general science topics, education topics)
Abstract submissions are due on December 20, 2008. Please submit abstracts electronically, via e-mail, to Catherine Gaither at gaither@mscd.edu. There is a 300 word maximum limitation to abstract length, excluding titles, authors or information about funding. Do not include graphics in the abstracts. Abstracts noticeably exceeding 300 words will not be reviewed. Submissions should be sent either as a PDF file (which is preferred) or as a Microsoft Word file.
We look forward to your submissions and hope that you will take the opportunity to attend this interesting conference!
*Details concerning these drafts will be sent to participants upon the acceptance of their abstracts.
Any questions or inquires can be directed to Catherine Gaither at gaither@mscd.edu