Behaving Like Animals
Have you ever wondered just how much you have in common with your pet? During his lecture as part of the Great Works Symposium series, Josh Dubnau of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory addressed behaviors common in all animals. These behaviors included the ability to sense stimuli from the environment, court members of the opposite sex, and forage for food, among other abilities.
The presentation also featured some videos of Mr. Dubnau’s research with fruit flies. The audience watched as he showed the similar ways in which flies and humans react to drug and alcohol use. He then continued to explain why those reactions are the same and the evolutionary implications of such similarities.
While Mr. Dubnau openly expressed that he is not an evolutionary scientist, he said, "Evolution is a unifying theme in biology." Because of this he sees that because we share basic behaviors with animals, it is likely that we all are descendants of an organism with the same learning structure.
This lecture also brought out the fundamental idea behind the Great Works series, debating opposing views. During the question and answer portion of the presentation students, as well as professors like Stacey Ake and Don McEachron, expressed conflicting opinions about the validity of the information presented.
Deep Time, Darwin, and the Fossil Record
Before students disappeared for Thanksgiving break, the Great Works Symposium invited students to hear Kenneth Lacovara, director of the geology program at Drexel University, speak on the history of geological research and its impact on evolutionary theory.
Lacovara’s presentation started with a chronological explanation of how scientists like Charles Lyell and James Hutton helped further evolutionary theory by studying rock formations and their composition. He then continued with photographs and other images from his own explorations with Drexel students in South America. Lacovara showed how some of the fossils discovered on his expeditions may help to prove the relationship between dinosaurs and birds based on similarities in their bone structure.
One of Lacovara’s final important points was that the lesson to be learned from all of this is that science is self-correcting. He pointed out how theories are always being questioned and disproved by new discoveries.
Eugenics in America
Daniel Kevles, a professor of History at Yale University, made his way to Philadelphia to give a recent installment of Drexel’s Great Works lecture series on evolution. Professor Kevles’s presentation focused on the development of the eugenics movement based on evolutionary theory in America, and the human rights violations that ensued because of it.
Kevles explained that throughout history there has been a difference between positive eugenics, which looked to promote positive genetic traits and healthy living and negative eugenics, which focused on the isolation of (and in some cases removal of) what were seen as weaker genetic traits. According to Kevles, eugenics has historically been an important social issue, especially since the early 20th century with the rediscovery of Mendel’s genetic research and the rise of social Darwinism in America.
The role of eugenics in society today was also discussed during the lecture. Kevles explained how many people fear that a rise in negative eugenics will result from the human genome project, which works to document and understand all of the genetic code that makes up a human being. He continued to say that without further regulation of the medical and health care system, the breakthroughs made by the human genome project will only be affordable for the very wealthy.
This is just a Lecture, Not a Fact
December 5th was the final, and clearly one of the best, lectures in Drexel University’s Great Works Symposium on Evolution. The honor of the final presentation went to Ed Larson, a University of Georgia professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.
Professor Larson’s lecture focused on the controversial history of the teaching of evolution here in the United States. The audience listened as he gave a brief recap of what happened in the famous Scopes Trial and then continued through the decades until the most recent trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. Larson explained that throughout history the anti-evolution movement has emphasized one of three goals: The removal of evolution from the classroom like in the Scopes Trial, the teaching of alternative ideas such as Intelligent Design like in Dover, or the inclusion of a disclaimer emphasizing that evolution is just a theory and not a fact.
At the conclusion of his lecture, Larson moved over to the Paul Peck Alumni Center for some dinner and discussion with professors, undergraduates, and graduate students from Drexel University. At the dinner Larson entertained questions about his lecture and continued exploring new topics about evolution issues around the world today.
The Greats Works Symposium Series featured many interesting discussions and new ideas about evolution in both historical and modern terms. Next term the University hopes to find similar success with two new Great Works classes: Global Warming and the European Union.
Reporting Live from the Home of Intelligent Design
Journalist Aries Keck has spent most of the last five years covering health and science stories for WHYY-FM, Philadelphia’s National Public Radio station. She visited Drexel University to share her experiences reporting on the intelligent design controversy in the United States as part of the Great Works Symposium series.
Keck’s lecture to students and faculty in the Ruth auditorium focused less on the scientific issues involved with debating intelligent design and biological evolution and more on how the media handled covering such a divisive topic. She explained how important locations, sound bites, and balanced coverage were throughout the story. Keck also stressed how central the state of Pennsylvania has been to this topic.
"From the school board trial in Dover to former Senator Rick Santorum’s additions to the No Child Left Behind Act to Lehigh University Biology professor Michael Beehey’s open support of intelligent design, Pennsylvania really has become a home of the intelligent design debate," said Keck.
While the school board trial in Dover has ended and Keck has moved on to new projects, the intelligent design issue remains a relevant argument in the United States today.
The Great Works Symposium series will continue with a presentation by speaker Josh Dubnau. He will continue to address relevant issues in evolution today as he reviews the research being done today on animal behavior at the Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory.
Walking Upright in 90 Minutes
Dr. Barbara Hornum, a professor of Anthropology at Drexel University, was challenged by the Great Works Symposium to condense the content of her ten-week class on the human past into one 90-minute lecture. Dr. Hornum used her time to highlight the most important changes in human evolution over the last six million years, from walking on two feet to opposable thumbs.
The audience of students and faculty received more than just a presentation of the facts. Dr. Hornum enhanced the lecture by looking at the limitations of scientific research, because fossils do not provide us with details about pigment or hair, and the impacts of human evolution on our future.
Dr. Hornum suggested that, because our culture has allowed for the creation of things like glasses and medicines, "We have people thriving today who historically would be dead by now. We certainly haven’t stopped natural selection, but perhaps we’ve slowed it down."
Students interested in the human past can take the full Anthropology 110 class with Dr. Hornum during the winter term. She is also offering a class on worldviews of science, religion, and magic (Anthropology 210).
A New Approach to Genetics
"Genetics, From Mendel’s Peas to Evolutionary Synthesis," was the topic of a recent installment of Drexel University’s Great Works Symposium on evolution. Dr. Lloyd Ackert, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ History and Politics department, addressed both students and faculty when he presented the history of genetics from a biographical perspective.
This approach, according to Ackert, "Brings [scientists’] personalities together with their creative work and shows how their work reflects the world and culture they lived in."
Throughout the presentation, Ackert discussed some of the significant discoveries in genetics made over the last 150 years. He also detailed how world events have either facilitated or impeded the development of genetic research numerous times. To learn more about Ackert’s studies visit www.lloydackert.com.
The Great Works Symposium is presenting a series of lectures on evolution throughout the fall term. While this series is offered as a course, students and faculty are encouraged to attend all of the lectures presented by the Great Works Symposium. Lectures are held on Tuesdays in Nesbitt Hall, room 125, from 3:30 to 4:50 p.m.
Chris Bertone is a pre-junior majoring in Communications with minors in Business Administration and International Area Studies. He is interested in global journalism.