Journalist Presents “The Science of Why We Deny Science” in UA’s ALLELE Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Science and political journalist Chris Mooney will present “The Science of Why We Deny Science,” as part of the 2014-2015 Alabama’s Lecture on Life’s Evolution, or ALLELE, series at The University of Alabama.

The lecture will be held Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Biology Building Auditorium, ­­­­­room 127, on the UA campus. Mooney’s lecture will focus on the reasons people do not accept the facts and research that scientists put forth, looking at the intersection between science and politics and how they correlate and develop public understanding and acceptance of science.

William Evans, professor and interim chair of UA’s department of telecommunication and film in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, the sponsor for this lecture, said Mooney’s constant monitoring of the science realm separates him from other journalists.

“No other journalist has taken care to follow the scholarship on this topic,” Evans said. “Mooney has made it his job to keep up with scholars and their work in their field … and keep in touch with them. He’s probably the single best science journalist ALLELE could bring to campus.”

Evans said that in order to advance the public’s understanding of climate change and evolution, it is important to understand why people don’t accept science. As part of his work, Mooney looks at why people deny science in relation to politics, religion and other cultural perspectives.

In the lecture, Mooney will address global warming, evolution and other theories accepted by the scientific community, the public’s opinion on these matters and why these opinions exist.

“Journalists can help us understand what kinds of messages the public is getting about evolution, why the public might resist these messages, and the public’s source of resistance to these messages,” Evans said.

Mooney is a correspondent for “The Climate Desk,” a contributing writer at “Mother Jones Magazine” and co-host for the podcast “Inquiring Minds.”

He has written four books, including the New York Times bestselling “The Republican War on Science.” Mooney has made national appearances on media such as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report,” “The Last Word” and others.

The 2014-2015 ALLELE series is supported by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Alabama Museum of Natural History and UA’s departments of anthropology, biological sciences, communicative disorders, geological sciences, philosophy, religious studies and others. Learn more about the series at evolution.as.ua.edu.

The ALLELE lecture series is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships and Goldwater Scholarships.