UNIFI to host third annual Darwin Week

The University of Northern Iowa's Freethinkers and Inquirers, an organization dedicated to advancing science and reasoning, will be hosting their third annual Darwin Week Feb. 7-11. The week will feature various lectures taking place in Maucker Union that center around a daily theme. The weeks themes include sexuality on Monday, religion on Tuesday, evolution on Wednesday and critical thought on Thursday.

Trevor Boeckmann, a senior majoring in general economics and the president of UNIFI, is anxious for Darwin Week to commence.

"Darwin utilized the scientific method and went where the evidence took him," Boeckmann said. "He represents the intellectual pursuits and growth by daring to challenge conventional wisdom, and our event and group are dedicated to doing the same."

Darwin Week has filled nearly 1,750 seats, in the last two years and this year's attendance is expected to rise. The 2011 Darwin Week features more speakers than its predecessors including 17 experts on four different themes.  

"The amount of knowledge and expertise these presenters bring to the table is astonishing. I hope these talks make attendees start asking questions," said Boeckmann.

    Darwin Week will consist of four keynote speakers, the first being Greta Christina, who spoke on Monday. Christina an author, editor and blogger, gave a presentation called "Atheism and Sexuality." Her talk consisted of how atheists can view sexual morality without a belief in God and how we can view sexual transcendence without a belief in the supernatural.

    "Sexuality is the one of the most powerful, most deeply-rooted drives we have – right up there with hunger and survival – and it touches almost every aspect of our lives," said Christina.

    Tuesday's keynote speaker will be Hector Avalos, a professor at Iowa State University who used to be a fundamentalist preacher but is now an openly atheist biblical scholar. He will be giving a lecture called "Can Science Prove that Prayer Works?" Avalos believes "the conflict between science and religion is more important than most people realize, and affects issues ranging from stem cell research to the teaching of creationism in schools." He is a strong advocate of the separation of religion and government, and his lecture is meant to allow audience members to make informed choices about the debate on science and religion.

    On Wednesday, Mark Blumberg's talk will be based on his most recent book, "Freaks of nature: What anomalies tell us about development and evolution." Blumberg is a professor at the University of Iowa and hopes his presentation "Developing Creations and Creating Development: Monsters Matter," leaves his audience members with a few new ways to think about how we develop and how we have evolved.

    "These are big, complex issues that can't be entirely absorbed in one evening. So my aim is to inspire people to want to learn more – I view book writing and public speaking as another way to promote education and dialogue," said Blumberg.

    Also on Wednesday, Jim Demastes, a professor from the UNI biology department who has been conducting research in the field of coevolution for more than 20 years, will be speaking about "Evolution Times Two: Co-evolutionary Research at UNI."

    "Darwin Week is one of the top intellectual events on campus each year and it is completely put together by students – very cool," Demastes said. He enjoys seeing how Darwin Week has evolved from being about Charles Darwin to becoming a celebration of critical thinking.

    "In such a complex world, it is not easy to wade through the flood of information (and misinformation) to correctly judge the ‘facts' for yourself," said Demastes. His goal is to show what real evolutionary biologists actually do.

    "Some friends of mine just used lice to show when people started wearing clothes – how cool is that?" Demastes said.

    Finally, Thursday will feature Dan Barker from the Freedom from Religion Foundation giving a lecture titled "America Doesn't Have a Prayer." Barker chose to talk about this topic because of the importance of the First Amendment and how it protects the liberty of religious conscience. His aims his talk to be educational – not confrontational.

     "I hope the audience will see that millions of good Americans do not believe in a god, or in prayer, and that we value reason and kindness over superstition and divisiveness," Barker noted.

    The university recognized Darwin Week as the Education Event of the Year last year and the year before, and it was named the best on-campus event among secular student organizations in the country by the Center for Inquiry. For a complete list of speakers, times, and dates, visit http://darwinweek.com/wordpress/.