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| Dr. Kevin Padian
is Professor of Integrative Biology and a Curator in the Museum of
Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley. Before receiving
his Ph.D. in Biology in 1980 he earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching
degree and taught 6th grade science, 7th grade life science, and high
school biology. His research focuses on various aspects of macroevolution
and paleobiology, particularly of vertebrates. He is mainly interested
in the origins of major adaptations, or how "great ideas"
in evolution get started. He has studied and published extensively
on the origins of vertebrate flight. Large transitions in vertebrate
history are a related interest, especially the Triassic-Jurassic boundary,
when dinosaurs and other animals took over the terrestrial faunas,
and he is editor and an author of The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs
(Cambridge, 1986) and the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (Academic, 1997).
His most recent book is a translation of Philippe Taquet's Dinosaur
Impressions (Cambridge, 1998). A major current research thrust, in
collaboration with Jack Horner and Armand de Ricqles, is on the microscopic
bone structure of dinosaurs and other animals and what it tells us
about the growth rates, life history strategies, and physiology of
extinct animals. He has published over a hundred professional articles
and almost as many other articles in the fields of paleontology, zoology,
geology, history of science, and science education. Most of his field
work is in the southwest U.S. He has also done work on fossil footprints
and on the history of evolution and paleontology, particularly in
the early Victorian Era. He has worked extensively with many levels
of public education, particularly through the state Department of
Education, for which he served as a principal author and editor of
the 1990 K-12 Science Framework, and as a member of three state adoption
panels for science instructional materials. He is currently President
of the National Center for Science Education and was a Sigma Xi Distinguished
Lecturer for 1999-2001. He is also Director of the College Writing
Programs at UC Berkeley and was a Visiting Professor at the College
de France in Paris during Spring 2002. |
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The Meaning
of Evolution
Wednesday-Sunday February
26-March 2, 2003
Thurman J. White Forum Conference Center
(OCCE)
University of Oklahoma, Norman Campus
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Evolution is one of the most influential and world-shaping
ideas of modern Western thought. How was it conceived, how did
the idea of evolution itself evolve, and who were the people
behind it? This seminar will deal first with the historical
development of evolution. The evidence for evolution, in its
broad outlines, will also be considered (although a general
background in this should be acquired before the seminar). There
will be plenty of opportunity to discuss all these dimensions.
The other context of evolution is cultural. What does the idea
of evolution mean in Western culture? What challenges and possibilities
does it bring to traditional Western thought, and what responses
does it elicit? What social, political, and cultural issues
does the idea of evolution raise, and what ways are there to
explore and resolve these issues? .
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The Seminar Reading List:
These books and articles supplied by OSLEP.
* Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea, by Carl
Zimmer
* Reading Packet
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