Jackson Community College

JCC forum focuses on evolution and the nature of science

Teaching of evolution has sparked controversy for decades. Jackson Community College will host an open forum for the community called “Evolution: What’s the Fuss After 3½ Billion Years?” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13 in the Michael Baughman Theatre, Potter Center on the Jackson campus. On Friday, March 14, a workshop for science teachers examining the teaching of evolution for science teachers will be held at the Jackson County Intermediate School District.

Keynote speaker for the forum and seminar will be Dr. Gregory Forbes, a professor of biological sciences at Grand Rapids Community College with 25 years of university and college teaching experience. This forum will examine the socio-political reasons that evolution education has and continues to be a controversial topic in education and in the socio-political arena. Forbes will discuss the relationships between science and religion, obstacles to the acceptance of evolution, public attitudes toward evolution education, and the evolution of the anti-evolution movement.

Forbes is a prior education director for the Michigan Evolution Education Initiative, a statewide effort designed to help teachers to effectively teach evolution. He also serves as the director of the Institute for Evolution Education, an initiative that expands the Michigan project nationally. He is the national course director for the National Science Foundation’s Chautauqua course on evolution and evolution education for college and university professors, and he is the evolution education specialist for the 4,000-member Michigan Science Teachers Association.

In 2004, Forbes was awarded the Michigan Science Teachers Association highest award, College & University Science Teacher of the Year. In 2005, he was selected as the Civil Libertarian of the Year by the Michigan ACLU for his work in defending the integrity of science education against attempts to introduce non-scientific ideologies into the public classroom. He was also selected as the 2006 Freethinker of the Year by the Freethought Association in recognition of his efforts to promote free thought and in consideration of his work in the legislative arena to safeguard the teaching of science in public classrooms.

The community forum “What’s the Fuss” is a free event and the community is welcome.  For more information, contact John Singer, associate professor of chemistry, at 517.796.8588, or Jon Powell, professor of biology, at 517.796.8599.

These events are made possible by a grant from the Jackson Community College Foundation and funding from the Jackson County Intermediate School District.