CORVALLIS, Ore. – The controversy about the teaching of evolution and creationism is the subject of a lecture by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author as part of the 2006-07 Horning Lecture Series at Oregon State University.

Edward Larson, a history professor with the University of Georgia, will give the lecture at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18, in LaSells Stewart Center’s Construction and Engineering Auditorium. The lecture, “From Dayton to Dover: A Brief History of the Evolution Teaching Controversy in America,” is free and open to the public.

Larson will discuss the American controversy over creation and evolution, and how it is primarily fought over what is taught in public high school biology classes. This lecture will trace the history of the three phases of the evolution-teaching controversy, culminating in a discussion of the current state of the law governing the teaching of evolution in American public schools.

Larson holds the Talmadge Chair in Law at the University of Georgia. He is the author or co-author of nine books and more than 100 published articles. His 1997 book, “Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion,” received the Pulitzer Prize in History. Larson’s recent books include “Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory” (2004), “Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science in the Galapagos Islands” (2001), and a new edition of “Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution” (2002).

He is editing a volume of Clarence Darrow’s writings for the Modern Library and writing a book on the presidential election of 1800.

The theme for this year’s Horning Lecture series is “The Cultural Politics of Evolution.”

Source: 

Mary Jo Nye,
541-737-1308

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