Evolution And Education In The 21st Century

Dr. Erik Scully, Professor of Biology at Towson University, gave a presentation on the Creation/Evolution controversy in public education, with a focus on the concept of Intelligent Design. His talk was on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 at 7:30 PM, in Kaufman Hall, Room 224, on the Old Dominion University Campus. The presentation was sponsored by Science and Reason in Hampton Roads (SRHR), and the Old Dominion University Biology Department.
 
While evolutionary biology is the foundation of the contemporary biological sciences, its inclusion in K-12 public education has been attacked repeatedly. Initially, attacks seemed to be motivated by perceived conflicts between Evolution and fundamentalist Christian religious doctrine. Creationists were successful in causing a few states to even bar the teaching of evolution completely.
 
Because restricting the teaching of Evolution on religious grounds was finally ruled to be unconstitutional, anti-Evolution activists attempted to have various forms of what they called "Creation Science" introduced into the public school school curriculum, to either replace the teaching of naturalistic Evolution, or at least taught alongside naturalistic Evolution as an equally plausible explanation of the creation and development of the universe and life on Earth.
 
The most recent efforts of the Creation Science Movement has advocated the inclusion of the concept of Intelligent Design. This presentation will offer a brief history of the Creation/Evolution controversy, and will focus on the claims and recent activities of the supporters of Intelligent Design.
 

Professor Erik Scully, Towson University.

Erik Scully is a member of the faulty at Towson University, where he teaches courses in Evolution, Marine Biology, and Population Biology. He has been active in Creation/Evolution controversy since 1978, and is currently the Maryland Liaison for the National Center for Science Education. His current research includes developing bioassay techniques for stress in reef-building corals, studying terrestrial isopods as a model system of animal aggregations, and ecosystem network analysis.
 
Science and Reason in Hampton Roads (www.ScienceAndReason.org) is an organization devoted to the critical examination of dubious or extraordinary claims. It has organized haunted house investigations, Superstition Celebrations, and talks on topics from UFOs to alternative medicine.
 
For more information, contact Larry Weinstein, Professor of Physics and SRHR President, at 757-683-5803 or at weinstei@physics.odu.edu.