Program

Day 1: Opening of the program

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Theme leader: Professor Keith Christian, Charles Darwin University, Australia

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Day 2: Theme one

Brave new world? What is Darwin’s legacy in the era of modern medicine and technology-based societies?

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Since Charles Darwin established the basis for the scientific understanding of the natural world, there has been an explosion in our ability to manipulate and transform the biological world. In the modern era, where will this take us? And who will benefit? Theme one considers a range of frontier sciences, and their ethical implications.

Topics include: the molecular genetic basis of evolution; the role and implications of genetic engineering; the arms race between medical advances and evolution of disease; the unravelling of the genetic code and deconstruction of what makes life; and the extent to which humanity has moved past natural selection, and the extent to which the actions of humankind now replaces natural selection as the force governing evolution of the earth’s biota.

Theme leaders: Professor Chris Austin, Professor Bart Currie and Professor Karen Gibb, Charles Darwin University, Australia, and Dr John Woinarski, Northern Territory Government, Australia
MC: Professor Ross Crozier, James Cook University, Australia

Cambridge Festival

Professor Sarah Hrdy will bring with her, the experiences and content of the debate generated at the Cambridge Festival, which was held in the UK from July 5-10, 2009.

Professor Sarah Hrdy will be speaking in the morning talk and debate, Health and society, which will consider race, gender and social behaviour.

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Day 3: Theme two

Understanding the controversy between Darwinian science and religion

Thursday, 24 September 2009

In the decades immediately following the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species by Natural Selection, the topic of evolution became as much a religious topic as a scientific one.

The previously existing religious vision of creation included the idea that nature exhibits a divine design. With the introduction of Darwin's theory of descent with modification, however, no design or guiding purpose within nature could be scientifically discerned. In the century and a half since, we have seen the rise of anti-Darwin forms of religion, anti-religious forms of Darwinism, and religious forms of Darwinism.

The implications of evolutionary theory for the concept of divine design in nature is an intersection between science and religion that fuels controversy and conflict on the one hand, but also provides a starting point for scholarly endeavors and philosophical debate. Just how should we understand the various positions taken in this worldwide controversy? Are the bounds of science and religion clearly defined? Is there scope for compatibility between science and religion? These issues will be discussed in a historical context, and in the social and political context of the modern world.

Theme leader: Professor Keith Christian, Charles Darwin University, Australia
MC: Professor Tim Berra, The Ohio State University, USA

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Day 3: Theme three

Social Darwinism and indigenous nations: The origin of socio-political policy

Thursday 24, September 2009

This theme is an examination of how Darwin's Origin of Species alongside his later work, The Descent of Man were used to construct policies in relation to indigenous peoples.

Social Darwinism was a re-interpretation of Charles Darwin’s theories by Herbert Spencer whose focus was ‘survival of the fittest’. Social Darwinism, ‘survival of the fittest’, became the fabric upon which colonial and modern government policies, legislation, and social controls were constructed. The speakers in this theme will consider how social Darwinism has impacted upon Indigenous Australians in the past and present.

Theme leader: Professor Wendy Brady, Charles Darwin University, Australia
MC: Steve Larkin, Charles Darwin University, Australia