Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, will speak on "Why Evolution is Taught in North Carolina Schools" at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29, at the Burney Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Scott is widely considered to be a leading expert on creationism and intelligent design, as well as one of its strongest opponents. The North Carolina Science Education standards have been commended by curriculum specialists for demanding that science education include those subjects that scientists and teachers consider the most important for students to learn, including evolution. Scott will discuss why teachers and scientists feel so strongly that evolution should be part of the curriculum, and why some parents object to their children learning it.

Scott is the author of Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction and the co-editor, with Glenn Branch, of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools. In 2005, Scott and other NCSE staff members served as scientific and educational consultants for the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, which originated in Dover, Pa. In that case, Judge John Jones ruled against teaching intelligent design in the public schools.

The UNCW Evolution Learning Community welcomes Scott as part of its campus-wide initiative to encourage interdisciplinary study and discussion about Charles Darwin, evolution and related issues. The 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth fall in 2009, which is being celebrated worldwide as "The Year of Darwin."

A complete listing of UNCW Evolution Learning Community events can be found at www.library.uncw.edu/web/outreach/evolution. More information about the National Center for Science Education and its positions on evolution can be found at www.ncseweb.org/evolution.

Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, manager of news and media relations, 910.962.7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu