UA Evolution Lectureship Series Continues with Philosopher Barbara Forrest

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The third in a series of public lectures on evolution will continue at The University of Alabama with philosopher Barbara Forrest. Forrest will speak on “The Wedge Strategy: The Political Relevance of Intelligent Design Creationism” Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Biology Building auditorium, room 127, on the UA campus.

Forrest will speak about the political and legal strategies of the Intelligent Design movement. She is the co-author, with Paul R. Gross, of “Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design,” which details the political and religious aims of the intelligent design creationist movement.

She served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the first intelligent design legal case, Kitzmiller et al. vs. Dover Area School District, which was decided in favor of the plaintiffs in December 2005. She is a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Science Education and the National Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Forrest has appeared on Larry King Live, ABC’s Nightline, and a documentary on intelligent design for the BBC Horizon series. Her radio interviews include NPR’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow and Americans United’s Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn. She is a professor of philosophy in the department of history and political science at Southeastern Louisiana University. She is also the co-recipient, with cell biologist Kenneth Miller, of the 2006 Public Service Award from the American Society for Cell Biology.

The department of religious studies is sponsoring her lecture.

The Alabama Lectures on Life’s Evolution (ALLELE) is a series of lectures and will continue with lectures on

• Feb. 22: Yousif Shamoo, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice University, will speak on the molecular basis of evolution.

• March 22: Douglas Crews, professor in the department of anthropology and the school of public health at Ohio State University, will speak about the evolutionarily unusual nature of human longevity and aging.

• April 19: Philip Gingerich, professor of geological sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, will speak about the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale.

The ALLELE series is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, and by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education. The lectures are designed for a non-technical audience and are free and open to the public.