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In August 1999, the Kansas State Board of Education adopted a new set of science standards that de-emphasized the teaching of evolution in Kansas public schools.
The constitutional issues related to this decision will be explored by a panel of nationally recognized authorities during a special roundtable discussion, "Creation, Evolution and the First Amendment," set for 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 4 in White Concert Hall on the Washburn University campus. This presentation will be unique in that equal representation will be afforded to all perspectives, with panelists being drawn from the disciplines of science, philosophy and law. Also participating will be two members of the Kansas Board of Education.
Participants will be:
Serving as moderator will be Topeka attorney Pedro Irigonegaray. The Honorable Harold Herd, Justice Kansas Supreme Court, retired, and presently professor at the Washburn University School of Law, will provide historical perspective of the First Amendment and analyze issues presented regarding the separation of church and state.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. No admission will be charged, but a ticket is required for admission. Seating will be first come, first served; therefore, ticket holders will not be guaranteed a seat. Latecomers will not be admitted. Persons leaving the auditorium any time during the event will not be readmitted.
Tickets may be obtained from Facts and Snacks in the Washburn University Memorial Union. Limit four tickets per person.
Security will be present. All persons entering the building will be screened by a metal detector. No cameras, recording devices, cellular telephones or other electronic devices will be allowed in White Concert Hall.
For more information regarding the event, call the Washburn office of informational services, (785) 231-1010, ext. 1154 or visit the event website at www.washburn.edu/creation-evolution.
David K. DeWolf
David K. DeWolf received his juris doctorate from Yale Law School. A professor
at Gonzaga University Law School, Spokane, Wash., he has co-authored a number
of books on legal matters, including Washington Tort Law and Practice
and Washington Contract Law and Practices, as well as several technical
and popular articles inpublications, such as National Review and The Wall Street
Journal. DeWolf has done much research on the constitutional issues surrounding
the teaching of origins in public schools and recently completed a law review
article and a guidebook on the subject.
Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer received his doctorate in the history and philosophy of science
from the University of Cambridge in 1991. He is currently director of
the Center for Renewal of Science and Culture at Discovery Institute and an
associate professor of philosophy at Whitworth College. Meyer has contributed
articles to several scholarly books and anthologies including The History
of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition: An Encyclopedia, Darwinism:
Science or Philosophy, Of Pandas andPeople: The Central Question of Biological
Origins, The Creation Hypothesis: Scientific Evidence for an Intelligent
Designer and Facets of Faith and Science: Interpreting God's Action in
the World. He is currently working on a book formulating a scientific theory
of biological design, which looks specifically at the evidence for design in
the encoded information in DNA.
Timothy Miller
Timothy Miller is a professor of religious studies at the University of Kansas.
He received a doctorate in American studies from The University of Kansas and
in 1991 received research honors from RQ and Choice for his book American
Communes,1860-1960. Other books published by Miller include The
Hippies and American Values, Following in His Steps: A Biography
of Charles M. Sheldon and The Quest for Utopia in Twentieth-Century America.
He serves as a member of the steering committees of the new religious movements
group and the consultation of millennial studies of the American Academy of
Religion.
Robert M. O'Neil
Robert M. O'Neil, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection
of Free Expression at the University of Virginia and an authority on the First
Amendment, teaches constitutional and commercial law. After earning a
law degree from Harvard, O'Neil clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William
J. Brennan Jr. before beginning his law faculty career, holding posts at the
University of Cincinnati, Indiana University and University of Wisconsin.
He is president of the Virginia Council for Open Government, chairman of the
Council for America's First Freedom, director of the Commonwealth Fund and the
James River Corporation and chair of the American Association of University
Professors Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure.
John R. Staver
John R Staver is professor of education (science) and director of the Center
for Science Education at Kansas State University. Presently, his research
and scholarship focuses on constructivist epistemology and its implications
for improving science teaching and learning. He has also conducted extensive
research on the development and construct validation of group-administered tests
on Piaget's formal schema, the effects of methods and formats of Piagetian task
presentation on responses and the influence of reasoning on learning in science.
He recently completed a five-year term as executive secretary of the National
Association for Research in Science Teaching and is president-elect of the Association
for the Education of Teachers in Science. In 1994 Staver was elected a
Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his work
in behalf of a national reform agenda in science education. He earned
a doctorate at Indiana University.
Bill Wagnon
Bill Wagnon is both a member of the Kansas State Board of Education and a professor
of history at Washburn University, where he also directs the university's Center
for Kansas Studies. Elected to the state board in 1996, Wagnon has been
primarily interested in strengthening the state's school improvement system
and bolstering public confidence in its public schools. He has been a champion
of fostering school leadership skills and expanding resources for both early
childhood development and professional development for teachers. Wagnon also
coordinates the Shawnee County Historical Society's Historic Ritchie House preservation
and interpretation project. He holds a doctorate in history from the University
of Missouri-Columbia
Jonathan Wells
Jonathan Wells has received two doctorates, one in molecular and cell biology
from the University of California at Berkeley, and one in religious studies
from Yale University. He has done extensive work as a postdoctoral research
biologist at the University of California at Berkeley, and has taught biology
at California State University, Hayward. Wells has published articles
in both scientific and religious journals including Development, Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences USA, BioSystems, American Presbyterians
and Patristic and Byzantine Review. He is also author of Charles Hodge's
Critique of Darwinism. He is currently completing a book, The End
of the Genetic Paradigm, with Berkeley professor Richard Strohman. Wells'
work in developmental biology poses a serious challenge to the neo-Darwinian
ideas that random mutations can create new body plans and organisms.
Copyright © 1999 Washburn University. All rights reserved.
International copyright secured.
File Date: 2.04.00