Way back when, while I was still an active grad student, I was a student representative on the departmental seminar committee for about four years (going through four faculty members rotating through the position). So, I pushed for a Darwin Day seminar – inviting someone to give a talk that is not all about data, a historian or philosopher, for instance.
So, I managed to get Bob Brandon, from the Philosophy Departament at Duke one year. He talked about multi-level selection, which was great introduction to a couple of more speakers (including David Sloan Wilson himself – that was one of my big scoops) who came later in the semester. Brandon’s talk managed to “soften up” some of the core Dawkinsians in the department to be more receptive to the notion of group selection.
One year, we got Matt Cartmill, from the Biological Anthropology and Anatomy Department at Duke, who explained why Creationism – of any stripe – is bad theology, not just bad science.
And of course, we used our local talent, William Kimler, a biologist turned historian and a Darwinian scholar (student of Will Provine) who gave two lectures while I was there. I can’t wait for his new book to come out. It is “…a book on how Charles Darwin has been used as a symbol of science and the idea of evolution.”
Apparently, Will gave another one this year – I am so glad that the tradition took and that they are continuing with Darwin Day special speakers after all these years.
The first year we did it, we actually had the speaker blow the candles on the cake inscribed (with frosting) with “Happy Birthday, Chuck”.
I wish I could still manage to go to the seminars, but they are at the time of day when I can never go (even when they finally managed to get some speakers that I worked for years, unsuccesffuly, to invite, I had to miss it).
Perhaps next year….

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