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Our Speakers on Evolution Emanation are:
Steve Mirsky, M.Sc. Editor, Scientfic American,
Jerry Coyne, Ph.D., Stephen J. Freeland, Ph.D.,
Thomas Grifiths, Ph.D., Tania Lombrozo, Ph.D.,
Richard Michod, Ph.D., Mohamed A.F. Noor, Ph.D.

Evolution Emanation Seminars

The History of Life on Earth (90 minutes)
Speaker: Stephen J. Freeland, Ph.D.

Batten down the hatches and take a trip back through four billion years of evolution, filtered through the senses and sensibilities of a molecular evolutionist/geneticist/computer scientist. Dr. Freeland's itinerary: from the 21st century to the origin of our species; from the "age of mammals" back to the Cambrian explosion; from the age of single celled life back to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA); and finally, from LUCA to the origin of life.

The Evolution of the Genetic Code (90 minutes)
Speaker: Stephen J. Freeland, Ph.D.

Why should all life use two utterly different chemical languages with which to construct itself? Why did it arrive at a single, set of encoding rules for translating between them? How can the precise choice of coding rules influence life's struggle to stay one step ahead of extinction? You'll get the bottom line (as it stands now) on the origin and subsequent evolution of the genetic code from Dr. Freeland, including:

• the central dogma that unifies life
• the non-random "design" of genetic code words
• emergence from an RNA world
• the great unknowns

Get the scoop on the properties of standard genetic code that set it apart from theoretical alternatives, the instances of its diversification, and the persistent questions that occupy evolutionary geneticists' thoughts.

The Emergence of an Amino Acid "Alphabet" (90 minutes)
Speaker: Stephen J. Freeland, Ph.D.

From interstellar dust to humans, oak trees and E. coli — Dr. Freeland will explore current theories for how and why one standardized 'alphabet' of 20 chemical letters came to define life, and how and why scientists of the 21st century are seeking to expand this fundamental biochemical reality:

• from synthetic biology to astrobiology:
  life on earth as just one possible biochemical reality
• the pre-biotic milieu: three scenarios
• emerging technologies that offer new insight
• the great unknowns

By the end of this session, you'll hold a very big picture indeed: from the roles of chance and necessity in forming life's fundamental biochemistry, to the battle for "synthetic biology" to create biomolecules that have never before existed on planet earth.

The Origin of Life — Here on Earth ... and Elsewhere? (90 minutes)
Speaker: Stephen J. Freeland, Ph.D.

To what extent do we belong in this universe, and how could we know? Was evolution dominated by unpredictable events such as the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs, or does it contain subtle drives towards intelligence and even consciousness? Are we likely to be alone in the universe, or on the brink of finding an endless array of extraterrestrial biology? How could we possibly hope to bring such questions under the spotlight of science?

• the status of humanity from a 20th century perspective
• the role of chance in evolutionary orthodoxy
• repeatable evolution re-examined
• fundamental difference in approach between biologists and physicists
• the scientific quest for the 21st century

In his final lecture, Dr. Freeland will examine the 20th century orthodoxy of a lucky species on a lucky planet to disentangle what we know from what we guess. He will show that our place within the universe is far less well understood than you might think, and that new technologies and powerful computers are finally enabling us to approach some of the deepest questions of our existence.

Cognitive Psychology

Out of the Armchair and Into the Lab: How Cognitive Psychology Can Help Us Answer Philosophical Questions (90 minutes)
Speaker: Tania Lombrozo, Ph.D.

Philosophical investigation has traditionally proceeded by finding a comfortable armchair, sitting down, and thinking hard. However, recently philosophers have begun to abandon their armchairs for psychology labs, exploring how age-old questions can be answered using the methods of cognitive psychology. How can people's responses on questionnaires tell us about the nature of knowledge or the nature of mind? Can cognitive neuroscience resolve debates from moral philosophy? We'll explore how cognitive psychology is informing philosophy through case studies involving issues in philosophy of language, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and moral philosophy, with an eye towards the promise and perils of applying empirical methods to philosophical questions.

From Magic to Muons: Why People Believe in Strange Things (90 minutes)
Speaker: Tania Lombrozo, Ph.D.

Much of our knowledge is about things that we cannot see or touch. By studying human reasoning we can begin to understand both how people make scientific discoveries and how these processes can lead to some surprising errors in understanding our world. We'll consider the debate over evolution and intelligent design as a case study in people's understanding of and preference for different kinds of explanations for the world around us.

The Mathematics of Mind: Exploring the Formal Foundations of Human Thought
Speaker: Tom Griffiths, Ph.D. (90 minutes)

Over the last two millennia, scientists and philosophers have used approaches such as logic, artificial neural networks, and probability theory to develop scientific and mathematical models of thought. Dr. Griffiths will talk about current status of work to understand the formal principles that underlie human thought and our ability to solve the computational problems we face in everyday life.

How Machine Learning Affects Your Life, and Could Explain How People Think
Speaker: Tom Griffiths, Ph.D. (90 minutes)

Artificial intelligence (AI) research has drawn inspiration from human thought processes. If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes mechanisms of Google's PageRank mechanism, Amazon book recommendations, and the tough work of email spam filters get the basics on the ideas behind the methods used to solve these problems. Dr. Griffiths will discuss how cognitive science is currently scrutinizing the successes of AI to better understand how human minds work.

Evolution: The Best Idea In The World

On Nov. 22, 1859, with the publication of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin forever changed not only biology, but also the way humans view their place in nature. There is a good case to be made that Darwinism is the best idea anyone ever had. In this series of five seminars by Dr. Coyne we will look at Darwin's theories, how he developed them, the amazing variety of evidence supporting them, and what they mean for us humans, both biologically and philosophically.

1859: The Impact of a Dangerous Idea (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

In this first session we'll trace the origin of Darwin's "dangerous idea" (actually several ideas) beginning with his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle. We will learn what Darwin really proposed, what impact the ideas of evolution and natural selection had on the Victorian world, and why Darwinism was — and still is — considered a dangerous idea.

How Do We Know It's True? The Evidence for Evolution (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

Darwin provided convincing evidence for his theories in 1859, but since then biologists have amassed mountains of additional data supporting them. In this session we'll examine the fascinating evidence for evolution and natural selection, drawing from areas as diverse as fossils, embryology, and the distribution of living and extinct species over the planet.

Unconscious Design: Natural Selection (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

While the idea of evolution was immediately accepted by 19th-century biologists, the concept of natural selection — the purposeless driving force of evolution and adaptation — has been much more controversial. This talk will describe what natural selection really is and see examples of how it works in nature. We will also examine the complementary theory of sexual selection, which explains the remarkable difference in appearance and behaviour between males and females in many species.

Mimicry: The Evolution of Duplicity (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

Animals and plants show a diverse and bizarre group of adaptations designed to hide them or make them mimic features of their environment. This lecture illustrates the wonderful panoply of such adaptations but also uses them to illustrate the diverse ways that natural selection can operate.

Sex and Selection (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

In many species of animals, such as the peacock, males and females look and behave very different from each other. This long posed a problem to evolutionists, but now we have a good understanding of how selection can create such differences between the sexes. This lecture illustrates the stunning diversity of traits that have evolved by "sexual selection," and explains modern views of how this process (first suggested by Darwin) really works.

Evolution Today: What About Us? What Remains to be Done? (90 minutes)
Speaker: Jerry Coyne, Ph.D.

Although Darwin largely got it right in 1859, he did not by any means solve all the problems of evolution. In this final session we will examine the mysteries still remaining about evolution, and what is being done to solve them, including some of my own work on the origin of species. In addition, we will discuss how humans typify many principles of evolution, how they are unique among animals, and, finally, what evolution means to our lives, society, and mores.

On the Origin of Species, Really (2 hours)
Speaker: Mohamed Noor, Ph.D.

Although Darwin's book title suggested that he provided us with insights on the origin of species, in fact, he only focused on the process of divergence within species and assumed the same processes "eventually" led to something that could be called a new species. In this session, we'll talk about how species are identified (in practice and in principle), and then how modern evolutionary biologists use this type of information to get a handle on how species are formed.

Evolution and Natural Selection — Are the Winners Always the Fittest? (90 minutes)
Speaker: Mohamed Noor, Ph.D.

Darwin is often caricatured as someone who was obsessed with change by natural selection. However, he would be the first to admit that some evolutionary changes probably have little or nothing to do with natural selection. In this session, we talk a bit about the role of natural selection in evolution as well as other forces that also contribute to evolutionary change. This session will be primarily instructional on basic microevolutionary theory.

Genetics, Genomics, and You: Don't Fear Your Genotype! (3 hours)
Speaker: Mohamed Noor, Ph.D.

The missing element in Darwin's theory was how it worked in terms of inheritance. Today, such a problem is so distantly past that it is hard to even conceive it used to be an issue. With human and other genome sequences readily available, and "personal genomics" opportunities arising, a host of issues spanning medical, legal, ethical, and other areas are all being forced into the forefront. Movies like "Gattaca" paint a grim view of how such information could create a cold world, but is this realistic? What is going on, what are possible benefits to you, what are things to watch out for, and what the hairy heck does it all mean? This will be an extended discussion, with some on-board "lab demonstrations" to try to get participants to understand the lingo, opportunities, and issues associated with living in the genomics era.

Evolution of Individuality and Complexity Through Cooperation and Conflict
Speaker: Richard Michod, Ph.D. (3.5 hours)

Our understanding of life is being transformed by the realization that evolution occurs not only among individuals within populations, but also through the integration of groups of cooperating individuals into new higher-level individuals — that is, through evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs). The major landmarks in the diversification of life and the hierarchical organization of the living world are consequences of a series of ETIs: from genes to gene networks to the first cell; from prokaryotic to eukaryotic cells; from cells to multicellular organisms; from asexually reproducing individuals to sexually reproducing pairs; and from solitary individuals to societies. How do groups become new individuals? Cooperation and conflict play a major role in these evolutionary transitions. Join Dr. Michod and come away with a new perspective on the process of evolution and what it means to be an individual.

Teaching the Evolution of Complexity: Intelligent Design or Darwinian Evolution?
Speaker: Richard Michod, Ph.D. (90 minutes)

Episodic and ongoing controversies in American schools involve the teaching of evolution, "intelligent design", and creationism. The diversity of life is usually taught with little discussion of complexity per se. Dr. Michod shares his views that, by not addressing the issue of complexity directly when teaching about the diversity of life, biology curricula have opened the door to claims like those of "intelligent design" which argues that so-called "irreducible" complexity cannot be explained by Darwinian principles. Dr. Michod proposes forging a modern approach to teaching evolution using, as case studies, the major evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs), such as the transition from unicellular to multicellular life. Using the social principles of cooperation and conflict in biology curricula should provide an intuitive framework for students — they are social individuals and experience the opportunities of cooperation and the temptation and risks of cheating in their lives. By using these intuitive principles to understand the remarkable transitions in complexity during the history of life we can address an important social issue that threatens rationality in our schools.

Evolution of Sex and the Immortality of Life (3.5 hours)
Speaker: Richard Michod, Ph.D.

Sex is a problem. Given the high biological cost of sexual reproduction, what are the benefits that lead it to evolve? From the basic tension between the preservation of cellular individuality and the need to address genetic error and promote healthy genetic variation, you'll get the groundwork for the rationale for sexual reproduction in terms of gene repair and genetic mixing. Gain an understanding from Dr. Michod about the role of oxidative stress in triggering the development of sex, and the advantages and rejuvenation that genetic mixing and gene repair bring to life. Spend some time with Dr. Michod developing a uniquely biological concept of immortality, and you'll gather food for thought on immortality as an activity and process rather than as a state or continuity of an individual organism.