Evolution has long been a topic of controversy in the United States and has been the target of laws and public policies.
As part of the Origins Science Scholars series, Kenneth Miller of Brown University will give a lecture on human evolution titled “The Human Difference: How Evolution Fashioned the Earth’s Most Extraordinary Creature.”
His lecture will be Tuesday, Nov. 12, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Tinkham Veale Center University Center ballroom.
About the talk
Beginning with the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, Miller, a renowned cell biologist, will review the data that form our current understanding of the evolutionary process, and show how it has produced the diversity of living things around us.
Next, he will discuss the specific question of human evolution, reviewing the abundance of pre-human fossil forms that have come to light in recent years, and then moving to the marks that evolution has left in the human genome. Particular DNA sequences and unique chromosome markers demonstrate the ancestry of our species, and link us to a number of other close animal relatives.
Finally, Miller will conclude by asking what the scientific evidence means in human terms. Does the scientific story of our ancestry minimize, dehumanize, or even trivialize the significance of human life? He will argue this view is based upon a profound misunderstanding of the actual nature of evolution. An authentic review of the actual science does quite the opposite, confirming human exceptionalism, and validating the idea that the human experiment matters for ourselves, the planet, and even for the Cosmos.
About the event
The event will be sponsored by the Institute for the Science of Origins and Siegal Lifelong Learning Program in collaboration with CWRU’s Department of Philosophy and Emeriti Academy.
The event schedule will be:
- 5:30 to 6—Coffee and sign-in
- 6 to 7—Lecture and Q&A
- 7 to 8—Dinner with speaker, faculty and fellows, with more Q&A with Miller during dessert.
Register for this event online or call Felicia Westbrooks at 216.368.2090 for more information.