Leading critic of intelligent design to speak

Eugenie Scott, a leading critic of creationism and intelligent design and the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, will speak at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 17, in Lewis Laboratory (Room 270) and at 7 p.m. in Packard Laboratory (Room 101).
The first lecture is designed for those who teach about biological evolution. The second is intended for a general audience and will address the controversy surrounding teaching biological evolution.
The lectures, which are free and open to the public, are part of a semester-long series on biological evolution sponsored by the earth and environmental sciences department, the biological sciences department, the College of Education, the Office of the Vice-Provost for Research, and the Visiting Lecturers Committee.
Scott has earned a national reputation for her work promoting a science-based approach to educating the public about evolution, and has participated in various forums and interviews on mainstream media outlets such as MSNBC and Fox News. In 2003, she was one of the signers of “Humanism and Its Aspirations,” the third humanist manifesto.
Scott’s honors include the Bruce Alberts Award of the American Society for Cell Biology, the Isaac Asimov Science Award from the American Humanist Association, the First Amendment Award from the Playboy Foundation, the James Randi Award from the Skeptic Society, and the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Missouri College of Arts and Science.
Scott received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. From 2000-2002, she was the president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. She was awarded an honorary D.Sc. by McGill University in 2003 and by Ohio State University in 2005, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
For more information on Scott’s talk, please call (610) 758-3660 or click on the “seminars” link at the earth and environmental sciences department Web site.