Events Information and Suggestions
Universities and Colleges
Some Universities and Colleges have already developed rather elaborate annual programs to Celebrate Darwin for a number of years and their websites are great sources of information. Perhaps you would like to review some of them before starting to plan your own Celebration. At the more enthusiastic level there is Salem College, Mass. where they started to celebrate Darwin and Science in 1980 and have had an annual program ever since. They refer to their Celebration as the Darwin Festival and it runs for a whole week. Their website can be found here. Another example can be found at the University of Tennessee, where they began their Darwin Day Program in 1997. It takes place over a two-day period on, or near, Darwin’s birthday on Feb.12th. To review this website, go here.
Baruch College maintains a Darwin website and their ‘Darwin recognition events’ have taken several form -- some times as a Faculty Development Colloquium and at other times as a Seminar and still at other times in the form of interesting classes, some open to the public.
Perhaps the most traditional way for a university or college to communicate with their respective communities is to have an evening seminar with one, to three speakers -- featured as an educational seminar or as a debate. We suggest that the Darwin Day Celebration could take this form at any time during the first half of the month of February.
A Celebration that is simpler to develop is one that has a single speaker deliver an appropriate lecture in a large auditorium. Have the speaker introduced by someone familiar with the reasons for producing this International Celebration, so that an appropriate perspective is set for the lecture. Open the event to the community and if necessary sell tickets for an amount to cover the expenses. You can augment this type of an event with a reception for the speaker or a ‘Darwin Day’ party, with a Birthday Cake so that everyone has a chance to discuss the presentation and the reason for the Celebration. Make it a community social event and everyone will enjoy it and express their appreciation.
An extremely rewarding way to become familiar with Darwin and begin your quest for greater knowledge about the science of evolution is to plan a Faculty-Student-Community tour to the sites in England that are closely associated with Darwin’s life. This fascinating genius was born in a small town close to the Northern boarder with Wales. The name of the town is Shrewsbury and it is one of the most delightful and friendly villages in all England. The Old Town is almost surrounded by a horse-shoe-shaped bend in the River Severn and the numerous sights associated with Darwin are all within a 10-minute walk from the center of this intriguing town. In addition this town is proud of its most famous son and has taken steps to anticipate your visit. In February there is a week-long Darwin Festival and in 2005 they hope to make this into a month-long affair. The festival is supported by the Government and also, by the Chamber of Commerce.
The most significant location that is directly associated with Darwin’s work is the Family home near the small village of Downe referred to as Down House. The home and, 18 acre estate, is now a museum and is owned and maintained by English Heritage. The bottom floor of the home has been restored to the condition that it was in when the Darwins lived there and the second floor is devoted to displays important to Darwin’s lifeand the development of his scientific theory of evolution. Each of these sites is rewarding in their own right but the two of them together makes for an education that one should not miss!
Darwin also spent his college years at Edinburgh and a Cambridge Universities from 1821 to 1826. These two sites are also important to Darwin’s life but are also important as locations to visit in there own right. (back to top)
Secondary Schools
Secondary school science teachers and /or science clubs have a wide variety of options on how to Celebrate Science and Humanity by using Darwin as a symbol. Most people are not aware of how much Darwin’s scientific theory of evolution, published only 145 years ago has changed the way everyone thinks about the world and about themselves today. A marvelous way to explore this topic is to have the students write a paper on the subject and then set aside a class or two to talk about their ideas. A great reference to initiate this entire project with, is a short article in Scientific America,. July 2000, by Ernst Mayr, entitled Darwin’s Influence on Modern Thought. This publication can be found online at Darwin's Influence on Modern Thought, and makes it an easy way to get started. This topic is so important at the beginning of the 21 st Century that it would be interesting and productive to involve the School Community in it. Perhaps the science teacher and / or the science club could sponsor an evening event in the school auditorium where aspects of evolution and human genetics could be presented along with the revolution in human thought that has occurred during the past 150 years, i., e., since Darwin’s publication of, On The Origin of Species.
You may also decide to ask your local School Board or even the Mayor and / or the City Council to pass a resolution in support of your activities.
Of equal or even more importance is to have students at the secondary level begin to wrestle with the subject of ‘knowledge.’ Scientific knowledge is obtained through the application of the ‘scientific method’ – a process of testing our assumptions that results in the discovery of truths about the material world and universe. This process was discovered through the application of human curiosity and ingenuity and has resulted in the complex development of our most dependable "knowledge system." If you think about it, you can see the rudiments of this system in the development of agricultural methods in the ancient world. When people recognized that they could increase their food-supply by taking the seeds of a plant and planting them in the ground so that they could grow more food – this was a result of scientific thinking and it could be tested year after year to verify that it could be depended upon. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians where famous for the development of philosophy which led to advanced scientific thinking and the discovery of the scientific method however this mode of thinking was overshadowed by religious thinking during the first couple of centuries CE and lasted for abour 1500 years. It was not until the Middle Ages however, that Sir Francis Bacon began to encourage the return to scientific research. Over time the scientific method became more and more reliable but it was not until the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries that scientists developed the theory of atomic structure to the point of realizing that the fundamental building blocks of the universe were subatomic particles, atoms and molecules. This information changed forever our ideas about ‘basic or fundamental, scientific knowledge.
Perhaps the clearest way to look at all human knowledge today is to think of it as a continuum, with basic scientific knowledge at the left and pure imagination at the right. Basic scientific knowledge is our most reliable and fundamental knowledge about how the natural world and universe works, and it has been obtained thought the rigorous demands of the scientific method. In other words, it inform us as to how the natural world and universe functions. Next to basic science along the continuum of knowledge is the first step into applied science. As soon as we introduce the idea of putting science to work for us we introduce the element of subjectivity. It is often difficult to know if the application to which we are putting the scientific knowledge will, in the long run be beneficial or detrimental to our world and we should take this in to consideration. As we continue to move to the right along this continuum, additional subjectivity creeps into our decision-making process and the more uncertain we become of the wisdom of making the decision. We should always be cognizant of the fact that we may need to reverse some of our decisions to prevent irreversible damage to our planet. At some point along this continuum of knowledge we leave scientific knowledge behind and enter into the realm of intuition or educated guessing and finally into pure guessing and pure imagination about what we may think of as ‘knowledge.’ To make decisions using this information as our basis of action is very questionable and should be avoided. (David --- this needs to be look at again)(back to top)
Elementary Schools
Celebrations are always exciting and fun for elementary school students so teachers should involve their classes in the planning of these events. Appropriate activities obviously will vary from the lower grades to the junior high school level. In some cases it’s enough to settle for a Birthday Cake for Charles Darwin on or about the 12 th of February each year. Art projects about the subject of evolution are also popular. Teachers can talk to the upper grade levels about the genetic relationship between both animals and plants and between lower animals and primates including humans. Costume parties with an evolutionary theme can bring out the imagination of the students and produce a learning environment together with some light-hearted activities and genuine fun.
A different area for discussion and ‘event development’ is that, of the importance of Scientific Knowledge to our lives in the 21 st Century.(back to top)
Libraries and Museums
Most Libraries and Museums have special displays that change on a monthly basis so we encourage every Library and Museum to devote the month of February to the Celebration of Science and Humanity by emphasizing Darwin’s influence on scientific interpretation and the role humans in the discovery of verifiable scientific knowledge. Genetics, especially the human genome brings about a specific interest in evolution and the connectedness of all living things on our planet.(back to top)
Civic Celebrations
Municipal districts, including the Mayors and City Councils, as well as State Representatives and Governors can encourage the Celebration of Science and Humanity by passing a formal resolution each year that encourages everyone within their jurisdiction to participate in activities developed for the purpose of joining the Celebratory Count Down to 2009. Councils could sponsor a film fest or speakers forum that would educate the general public about the role of humans in the development of verifiable scientific knowledge. We would like all celebrations to emphasize the desirability of using scientific knowledge only for purposes beneficial to humankind and to discourage their use for destructive applications such as additional weapons of mass destruction. It is time to realize that wars are extreemly counterproductive and that most modern-day war-fair is far beyond that which anyone is prepared to endure on the front lines. Our Civic leaders should take a stand on our behalf and lead the entire world away from self distruction.
The most elaborate Civic Celebration for Science and Humanity that we are aware of, takes place in Darwin’s birth place – Shrewsbury England. This week-long festival has grown each year for the past 4 years and in 2005 it will be extended to a full month. To become acquainted with there activities you can go to their website, where everyone is invited to register as a Darwinite. While we would not expect many municipal districts to sponsor a month-long Celebration of Science and Humanity a shorter celebration is certainly an excellent idea. (back to top)
Private Celebrations
At the individual level one can plan a festive occasion such as a dinner at your own home or in a restaurant for slightly larger groups. We have found that an interesting activity that will peak the enthusiasm of each guest is to have them bring a book on science that they have enjoyed reading. At some point during the evening give each guest five minutes or less, as required by time constraints, to describe what the book was about, and why they enjoyed it. At the end of the evening each guest can chose a book to take with them other than the one they brought. This activity has been tried repetedly and is both fun and educational. Each person should sign their book and include the occasion that they attended. The use of book will give pleasure to those in attendance and have a lasting value as well.
At larger private event such as those developed by clubs, free thought groups or churches, one can arrange for a local university or college science professor to speak to the group. Don’t forget to have a good question and answer period so that the audience has a opportunity to interact. This portion of the event is often the most enjoyable for the attendees. (back to top)
Media Participation
The Media at all levels; international, national, state and local, can play an important role in assisting all members of every culture to seriously recognize the importance of science and to Celebrate Science and the role of humans in acquiring our most reliable and valuable knowledge system – verifiable scientific knowledge.
By joining the count down to 2009 the Media can be very influential in assisting all civilizations to nurture and appreciate what the discovery of the scientific method has permitted humans to accomplish by interviewing almost any qualified scientist and asking them, what it is about the scientific enterprise that make it worthy of being ‘celebrated.’ Certainly any scientist that does research in the area of evolution and /or genetics would be likely candidates to respond expansively about the nature and benefits of modern science and to explain the role that Darwin played in changing the way modern people think.
It would be wonderful for investigative reporters to look into the many websites referred to, in this website and produce a scholarly article to assist the general public to understand the extraordinary value of science both from an intellectual as well as a practical point of view.
In addition, if they care to contact us we would be honored to discuss the origins and purpose as well as our enthusiasm about the timeliness of our efforts. (back to top)
