Creationism usually is considered an American (or North American) controversy, but it is spreading internationally, as conservative Christian missionaries use creationist literature in their missionary activities. Its spread, as one might expect, is also influenced by idiosyncrasies of culture, politics and national pride.


Sponsored by
the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry,
the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP,
and The European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO)

2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Edwards v. Aguillard and the 30th anniversary of the trial court decision in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education. These decisions were the culmination of a legal battle over the place of creation-science in public schools and significantly shaped Establishment Clause jurisprudence.

This all-day symposium on the history of creation-science legal disputes and the legal implications of Edwards features participants from the ACLU, Louisiana, Wisconsin, N.Y Law School, Columbia University, and, of course, Stanford Law School.

A joint project of the
Stanford Constitutional Law Center
and the
National Center for Science Education

Free and open to the public

After the failure of creation science and intelligent design to survive legal tests of their constitutionality, the creationist movement evolved new strategies. These call for teaching the “strengths and weaknesses of evolution” or the “critical analysis of evolution” which are creationism in disguise. In lieu of policies promoting the teaching of creation science or Intelligent Design, modern creationists try to change state science education standards or pass state legislation to promote these “softer” and less-obvious approaches. Such “Academic Freedom Act” legislation has popped up in several states already, and reflects the creationism du jour.

Presentation sponsored by
The Victorian Skeptics

The dictionary definition of reason is “the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences”, or “sound judgment; good sense.” The intersection of reason and creationism is understandably a small one, when viewed in this manner. But reason is also defined as the basis or cause of something, as when we speak of the reason for doing something. A reason can also be a statement explaining a belief or action. Viewed this way, of course creationists have reasons for their beliefs – but the beliefs rarely have much to do with the other kinds of reason, reflecting empirical evidence and science. Using examples from creation science and intelligent design, I will explore “reason and creationism”.

A presentation in the
SkepTalk Speaker Series
sponsored by the
Bay Area Skeptics

This free public
Theodosia Hadley Lecture
is sponsored by the
Department of Biological Sciences

This is a free public talk

The subject of origins – of where we, Earth, and the universe come from – is one that has been considered by many religions since time memorial. Science, as a relatively recent actor on the intellectual stage, also considers these topics, coming up with answers at variance with those of most religions, including Christianity. How do these two approaches differ? Are there similarities? And is there an uncrossable divide between the two? The answer is not just philosophically interesting, but directly relevant to decisions being made about what to teach in public school science courses.

A lecture in the
C.P. Snow Lecture Series
sponsored by Ithaca College

Many topics in the curriculum of American schools are controversial, but perhaps the one with the longest tenure is evolution. Politics plays a role in this controversy in a number of ways. Politicians have keen antennae for cultural values, and the "fairness" argument (i.e., it is only "fair" to "balance" evolution with creationism) regularly is exploited, regardless of the appropriateness of its application to science education. Variants of the fairness argument such as balancing evolution with "scientific alternatives to evolution" or balancing evolution with "strengths and weaknesses of evolution" have in fact become the current predominant antievolutionist strategy, partly in response to a series of legal decisions that have excluded the advocacy of creationism in public schools. Tennessee currently is wrestling with a bill in its legislature that would compromise the teaching of evolution in exactly this fashion.

Keynote Address for
Scholars Week
at
Middle Tennessee State University

A lecture sponsored by the
Biology Department
Saginaw Valley State University