Third Annual Darwin Day Conference

THIRD ANNUAL DARWIN DAY CONFERENCE-Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the new IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd., Indianapolis sponsored by Center for Inquiry Indiana and IUPUI Freethinkers. This is all day conference. Registration will begin at 8:00 am and the program will begin at 9:00 am.

The featured speaker will be Richard Carrier. His topic will be "Ancient Roman Creationism: Scientific Pagans vs Armchair Christians.

Richard Carrier is a recognized historian, philosopher, public speaker and debater who writes on philosophy, history, science, and religion. He holds a B.A in history from U.C. Berkeley in ancient history, and an M.A. and M.Phil. in Ancient History from Columbia University. He is currently completing his PhD in Ancient History specializing in Roman science. Mr. Carrier has written extensively for the on-line skeptics website http://www.infidels.org and also posts to his own blog at richardcarrier.blogspot.com. He co-authored "The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave" with Robert Price and Jeffrey Jay Lowder and also wrote "Sense and Goodness without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism". A veteran who served in the US Coast Guard, he makes his home in Northern California. Additional works by Mr. Carrier can be found at http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier

Other speakers are Dr. John Langdon, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Indianapolis and Dr. Irwin Tessman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University. The titles of their speeches have not been confirmed as of this writing.

In the afternoon, these three speakers will be on a panel to answer questions and respond to ideas posed by Creationist/Intelligent Design proponents.
The conference is open to anyone who wants to attend. For more information email cfiindy@insightbb.com or call 317-797-5892.THIRD ANNUAL DARWIN DAY 2008

THIRD ANNUAL DARWIN DAY 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
IUPUI Campus Center
420 University Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46202


PROGRAM SCHEDULE

8:00 -8:45 am—Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:45 am –Welcome--Reba Boyd Wooden, Executive Director, Center for Inquiry Indiana

Sarah Stone, President, IUPUI Freethinkers

9:00 am—Ancient Roman Creationism: Scientific Pagans vs Armchair Christians—Richard Carrier

10:30 am—Hunters, Gatherers and Killer Apes - Another Adventure in How Science Works--Dr. John Langdon

12:00 to 1:00 pm—Lunch

1:00 pm—From Darwin to Dawkins: The Source of Moral Values--Dr. Irwin Tessman

2:30 pm—Panel: How to Respond to Creationist/Intelligent Design Advocates

Panel Members: Mr. Carrier, Dr. Langdon, Dr. Tessman

4:30 pm—Reception at Center for Inquiry Indiana, 350 Canal Walk, Suite A

(You must be a Friend of the Center to attend the reception.)

*Go to http://www.iupui.edu/maps/campusmap.htm for location of the IUPUI Campus Center and Visitor Parking. Parking permit rules are enforced in IUPUI lots on Saturday.

Dr. John H. Langdon is Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Indianapolis and former Chairperson of the Department of Biology. He has a B.A. from Harvard University (Magna cum Laude), an M. Phil., and a Ph.D. from Yale University, all in Anthropology. His specialty is Human Evolution. He was named University of Indianapolis Teacher of the Year in 1995. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews, and abstracts for professional journals and four books including The Human Strategy: an Evolutionary Perspective on Human Anatomy, published by Oxford University Press in 2005.

Dr. Irwin Tessman is a molecular biologist-biophysicist. A major aspect of his research has been the investigation of the mechanism by which ultraviolet light (for example from the sun) damages exposed cells and produces mutations, which are a major source of cancer.

Together with his brother, Jack, they wrote articles highly critical of alternative medicine. In particular, they charged that the popular Mind/Body book, Timeless Healing, written by Harvard Medical School Associate Professor Herbert Benson, contains primarily “exaggerated claims, uncontrolled studies, flawed statistics, mind-boggling illusions, and anecdotal reports”.

Tessman received his A.B. degree in physics and math from Cornell in 1950 and his Ph.D in physics from Yale four years later. He is currently professor emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, currently studying the ultimate cause of UV inactivation of bacterial cells.

His article, “A Darwinian View of a Hostile Atheist” was published in the January/February 2008 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, which is a publication of Center for Inquiry Transnational.