Fee for HMNS members: $135
Fee for Rice alumni: $125
Lectures on February 17 and March 17 will be held on the Rice campus;
all others will be held at HMNS

Charles Darwin as a young scientist in the late 1830s, painted by George Richmond. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth.

In 2009, the scientific community and individuals around the world will celebrate two major milestones – the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, “On the Origin of the Species.” In this course, part of a city-wide collaborative entitled Darwin 2009 Houston, experts from the worlds of theology and science will discuss how Darwin’s theories continue to influence the world and will explore the concepts of natural selection, intelligent design, evolutionary psychology, biological anthropology and the recent work in human genome sequencing to learn how a theologian and scientist born 200 years ago still lives on in today’s cutting-edge research.

Course Schedule:

February 17. On the Origin of Theses: Locating Darwin in Victorian Science. Darwin, one of the best-researched figures in the history of science, left behind a mountain of letters, journals, articles, pamphlets, speeches and notebooks. An examination of the familial and intellectual backdrop that informed his theories, the practical and often tedious experimental and field research through which he pieced together his ideas, and the network of supporters who championed his thesis and ensured its survival. Cyrus Mody, PhD, assistant professor of history, Rice University.

February 24. Darwin’s Gift to Science and Religion. Darwin’s most important discovery was that of natural selection, the process that accounts for the evolution of organisms and their ability to adapt to diverse environments. Rather than being “intelligent,” the design of organisms is imperfect, making Darwin’s theory of evolution a gift to religion by attributing the imperfections to natural processes rather than the design of a creator. Francisco J. Ayala, PhD, University Professor and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine.

March 3. The Dance of the Fertile Universe: Evolution or Intelligent Design. The development of humans is not just the result of chance or necessity but also of the “fertility” of the universe, an element that offers the opportunity for success of both chance and necessary processes and which must be included in the search for our origins. Modern scientific understanding of the universe and a look at whether there is intelligent design. Fr. George V. Coyne, director emeritus of the Vatican Observatory, Tucson.

March 10. From Genes to Genomes: Evolution or Revolution in Medicine. The history of the gene from Gregor Mendel through the discovery of the structure of DNA, the human genome sequencing project and the completion of our reference genome. Prospects for using an individual’s genome sequence in medical diagnostic testing. David A. Wheeler, PhD, director of bioinformatics and genomics, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine.

March 17. Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior. Humans carry genes in common with animals which have led to common behaviors. How humans are functionally adapted for the contemporary environment, and a look at studies using evolutionary psychology to make predictions about human behavior. David Schneider, PhD, professor of psychology, Rice University; Rick Wilson, PhD, chair of political science, Rice University.

March 24. How Savanna Chimpanzees Inform Our Understanding of Human Evolution. Fongoli chimpanzees in Senegal exhibit unique behaviors related to their extremely hot, dry and open habitats. From hunting with tools to using caves as shelters and water to cool off, their response to a savanna environment provides clues to how our ancestors may have responded to similar environmental pressures. Jill Pruetz, PhD, National Geographic explorer, professor of biological anthropology, Iowa State University, and primatologist.

Additional keywords: personal development, science, sociology

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