Evolutionary medicine and Darwinism in China are among the topics to be discussed at this year’s event 
The Indiana University Northwest Anthropology Club will celebrate the 201st birthday of famed evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, “On the Origin of Species,” during its 12th Annual Darwin Day program on Wednesday, Feb. 10, beginning at 12 p.m. This event will be held in the Library Conference Center and is free and open to the IU Northwest campus and Northwest Indiana community.
This year’s celebration of Darwin and his work will feature presentations from several speakers, including DePaul University Visiting Assistant Professor and medical anthropologist Marcia Good, Ph.D., who will present the discussion “How Evolutionary Medicine Helps Us Understand Our Common Diseases." Good is also an adjunct faculty member in the IU Northwest Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She will be joined by IU Northwest Associate Professor and Department Chair of History Xiaoqing Diana Chen Lin, Ph.D., who will open the day’s program by discussing “Darwinism in China.”
IU Northwest Associate Professor of Geosciences Zoran Kilibarda, Ph.D., will discuss Darwin’s theories as they relate to Earth’s unusual life forms in “Mysterious Traces of Life on the Deep Sea Floor.” And, IU Northwest Associate Professor Jack Bloom, Ph.D., who teaches in the Departments of Sociology, Minority Studies, and History, will tackle the subject of “Modern Social Darwinism.”
The featured speakers will each talk for 20 to 25 minutes, with a few minutes reserved for questions between talks. The day’s lineup is as follows:
- 12 p.m. - Introduction, followed by “Darwinism in China”
- 12:30 p.m. - “Mysterious Traces of Life on the Deep Sea Floor”
- 1 p.m. - Darwin’s Birthday Cake
- 1:15 p.m. - “How Evolutionary Medicine Helps Us Understand Our Common Diseases"
- 1:45 p.m. - “Modern Social Darwinism”
Darwin Day at IU Northwest is part of the International Celebration of Science and Humanities in honor of Darwin's 201st birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On the Origin of Species,” which was published on Nov. 24, 1859.
The program has become a popular one at IU Northwest. Student and faculty organizers have used the subject of Darwin and his groundbreaking theories as a kind of lens through which the event’s guest speakers are able to explore a wide variety of subjects in the sciences and humanities.
For more information, contact Associate Professor of Anthropology Robert Mucci, Ph.D., at (219) 980-6607, or email him at rmucci@iun.edu.