Previous Events
| 2008
Developing World Challenges
9am - 4pm, Saturday, 15 March 2008
Lindisfarne Room, King's Road Centre, Newcastle University
part of the North East Education for
Sustainable Development Initiative
Sponsored by
Economic and Social Research Council and Newcastle University
One day workshop organised by The Great Debate and
WORLDwrite.
The workshop
focused on two new documentaries made by Chew On It Productions:
I'm A Subsistence Farmer... Get Me Out Of Here! explores the
fact that whilst Westerners celebrate nature and complain about consumer
lifestyles, many in the developing world yearn for the comforts of modernity.
Keeping Africa Small examines Western NGO practices in Africa: However
well meaning they may be, NGO programmes often annoy everyone from fishermen to
shanty town inhabitants.
This challenging, exciting event examined the issues raised by the films and
provided an opportunity to learn about documentary making. In session 1 the crew
who made the documentaries shared top tips on no to low budget broadcast quality
production, discussing how and why they made the films. Sessions 2 and 3 opened
with a showing of a half hour documentary followed by a debate. A panel including
one of the film makers discussed issues raised by the film.
Speakers
Ceri Dingle, Director of WORLDwrite
and Chew on it Productions
Viv Regan, Producer, WORLDwrite and
Chew on it Productions
Kim Tan, Campaigns Officer for
Oxfam UK
Barry K.Gills,
Professor of Global Politics, Newcastle University
John Gowing,
Reader in Agricultural Water Management, Newcastle University
Bill Colwell, Atlantic Pictures
Click Here for further details
Authority, Respect and Human Potential in the 21st Century
7:00 - 8:30pm, Monday, 21st January 2008
Devonshire Building, Newcastle University
The Great Debate opened its 10th Anniversary celebration
with a discussion exploring the themes of authority and human
potential, examining how they are linked to the erosion of respect in
modern society.
What is meant by authority, respect and human potential today? Since the
Enlightenment the idea of the subject has had a central place in the way
that we think about ourselves. This understanding of what it is to be
human rests on the idea that we are active agents who do things for
reasons and shape the world to our own ends. Yet in recent years this
view of human nature has become deeply unpopular and we are encouraged
to think of ourselves as objects at the mercy of outside forces. At the
same time something else seems to be contributing to this historical
moment; something that has been left unexplored by many thinkers. This
is the erosion of respect for authority, reflected in modern cynicism
about politics and a deep distrust of experts. How closely connected are
these changes and how are we to understand them?
Introduced by Dr Caspar Hewett
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The Great Debate continues to support the acclaimed debating competition for
sixth form students
The Great Debate hopes to involve more students in the region in public debate
through its continued support of the Institute of
Ideas' and Pfizer's Debating Matters
Competition. Following its highly successful pilot year, the competition launched in the North
East in 2005 and has continued to grow, attracting more and more
schools in the region. This year's regional heats saw Durham Johnstone Comprehensive School (Durham),
Ryton Comprehensive School (Ryton), St. Mary's Sixth Form College (Newcastle) and
Whickham School (Whickham) make it through to the North East regional final which will take place at
Newcastle University on Monday 28 April 2008.
Debating Matters demands more than rhetoric or rant from the sixth form students
who take part. Young people are encouraged to research issues thoroughly and become
more confident and sophisticated in articulating their views by standing up to a
probing intellectual examination. This is all part of the competition's philosophy
of privileging reasoned participation over rhetorical posturing.
Debate topics engage with contentious contemporary issues and uniquely involve a
critical examination of debater's arguments by celebrity judges drawn from the fields
of academia, the media and business.
The Great Debate's Caspar Hewett,
Dave O'Toole, Jon Pugh
and Mo Lovatt have been judges in the competition.
Click here
for further details about the competition
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2007
The Great Debate: The New Politics of Climate Change
Part of
the Space of Democracy and the Democracy of Space
programme
Monday 25th June, 5.30pm
Bedson Teaching Centre, Newcastle University
Hosted by Dr Jonathan Pugh
Chair: Prof Phil Powrie,
Dean of Research for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Newcastle University
Speakers:
Prof Steve Rayner,
Director of the James Martin Institute (University of Oxford);
Director of the ESRC's ~£5m Science in Society Programme;
Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution,
the Oxford Commission on Sustainable Consumption and a lead author on the
Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Dr
Joe Smith, School of Social Sciences (Open University);
Director of the ESRC/NERC/BBC/NEF-sponsored
Interdependence Day project
Prof
Phil Macnaghten, Department of Geography (Durham University);
Director of the Institute of Hazard and Risk Research (IHRR); Honorary
Professor in the Institute for Advanced Studies at Lancaster University;
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and Senior Associate of Demos
Prof Jim Hall,
Professor of Earth Systems Engineering, Newcastle University, advisor to the Stern
Review on the Economics of Climate Change, contributing
author to Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
All Planned Out:
The Worldwide Impact of the British Town and Country Planning System
The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT
18-19 May 2007
Caspar Hewett chaired debates on
Who is the town and the countryside for? and
Where to for planning? and Jon Pugh
chaired the debate on
Finding the public in the British planning process at
All Planned Out conference in London
The 3rd Workshop on Development, Sustainability and Environment
Sponsored by
Economic and Social Research Council
and Newcastle Science Festival
Saturday, 17th March 2007, 9am-4pm
Newcastle University
At the opening of the 21st century concern for the environment influences
policy throughout the world.
Any discussion about resources is infused with the
language of sustainability. What does this mean for the developed and
developing worlds? Is our current pattern of water use
sustainable? How are we going to generate sufficient electricity for our future needs?
Is the sort of technology we take for granted in the West appropriate for
the developing world?
Combining a workshop on Film training with a global edge,
documentary footage from Africa and a series of
discussions this one day workshop examined a series of issues related to
Development, Sustainability and Environment through debates on three key themes:
Water Resources and the Future with Caspar Hewett,
Dr Hayley Fowler, Ray Heslop
Energy Generation in the new millenium with
Steven Harrison and Mark Wilkinson
Thinking Big: Film Premiere and key note debate
with Daniel Ben Ami, Ceri Dingle and Michael Savage
Click Here for Proceedings of DSE3
Attendees included; Andrea Blatter
Bigging it up: The Great Megastructures Debate
Part of
Newcastle
Science Festival 2007
Thursday 15 March 2007
Discovery Museum,
Newcastle upon Tyne
Public debate on what sort of structures we want to create in the 21st century.
Speakers
Ian Abley, project manager,
audacity
John Thackara, design producer, Director of
Doors of Perception
Dr Sean Wilkinson, Structural Engineer,
Newcastle University
Proceedings of The Great Megastructures Debate
Reaching for the Sky review by Laura-Jay Turnbull
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2005
The Rise and Rise of Evolutionary Psychology
A Cafe Conversation at
The Battle of Ideas
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7
Saturday 29th October 2005
What lies behind the rise and rise of Evolutionary Psychology?
Does this reflect or inform the way we view ourselves?
One of the great triumphs of the late twentieth century was the
application of Darwinian theory to animal behaviour. This led
to many attempts to apply the same methods to human beings and
to explain the human mind in evolutionary terms. In the 1970s
sociobiologists attempted to explain human behaviour in terms
of adaptation and were accused of being reactionary and racist.
Yet since that period we have sociobiology's younger cousin Evolutionary
Psychology has come to the fore. Evolutionary Psychology attempts to
explain human nature exclusively in terms of evolved predispositions to
behave in certain ways. How does this differ from sociobiology?
What are the implications of this approach? What are its strengths and
weaknesses? Why has Evolutionary Psychology proved so popular when
sociobiology was rejected so ambivalently?
Chair: Dave O'Toole
with
Rita Carter, author Mapping the Mind,
Conciousness and
Caspar Hewett, The Great Debate
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Development, Sustainability and Environment
The Great Debate in association with
WORLDwrite and
the RSA
Saturday 15th October 2005
In the last 20 years environmental thinking has become very much a part of
our every day lives. The term 'sustainable development' has entered the
mainstream and is used to guide policy in both the developed and developing
world. Yet whilst we in the West enjoy a safe, clean, pleasant environment
coupled with high living standards the developing world is being discouraged
from aspiring to anything more than basic needs. So what is sustainable
development and what are its consequences? What is current in environmental
thought?
Combining a workshop on film training with a global edge, documentary
footage from Africa and the Middle East and a series of discussions this day
conference examined the relevance of
environmentalism in the new millenium and questioned whether development
to western standards is possible for the developing world.
Discussion sessions include Energy Futures,
Aspirations and keynote debate sponsored by the
RSA; What Future for Environmentalism?
Speakers include Sir Bernard Ingham, Keith Barnham, Ian Burdon,
Ceri Dingle, Geoff Parkin, Roger Higman, Viv Regan and
Tony Gilland
Click Here for further details
Click Here for proceedings
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The Nature of Being Human
The Great Debate in association with
Newcastle Philosophy Society
Part of Newcastle Science Festival 2005
Friday 18th March 2005, 7pm
What is that defines a human being? Is it a universal nature? Is it consciousness?
Is it our capacity for rational thought? Is it our ecological ability to adapt
our environment rather than adapt to it?
Can we rely on reason alone? What can we learn about ourselves through the
study of evolution? How do these considerations interrelate? Why is it so
popular to apply Neo-Darwinist principles to human behaviour and to society?
These questions and others were examined through a discussion of what it is
to be human with a panel of experts including
Colin Talbot, author The Paradoxical Primate,
Caspar Hewett, Chair, The Great Debate,
Inge Rebergen, Historian and philosopher,
Adam Bell, Kantian philosopher
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The Great Debate supports North East launch of acclaimed debating competition
The Great Debate hopes to involve more students in the region in public debate
through its support of the Institute of
Ideas' and Pfizer's Debating Matters
Competition.
Following its highly successful pilot year, the competition launched for the first
time in the North East this year. The Great Debate was a partner in the North East
region heat that took place at the University of Newcastle on Friday 18 March 2005.
Debating Matters demands more than rhetoric or rant from the sixth form students
who take part. Young people are encouraged to research issues thoroughly and become
more confident and sophisticated in articulating their views by standing up to a
probing intellectual examination. This is all part of the competition's philosophy
of privileging reasoned participation over rhetorical posturing.
Debate topics engage with contentious contemporary issues and uniquely involve a
critical examination of debater's arguments by celebrity judges drawn from the fields
of academia, the media and business.
The debate motions for the North East region heat included: 'Victims should be
more involved in the criminal justice system'; 'Conceptual art is not real art';
'Reducing pollution should be society's top priority'; and 'Human genetic engineering
is a step too far'.
The Great Debate's Caspar Hewett,
Dave O'Toole and Mo Lovatt
were judges for the North East region heat.
Click here
for further details about the competition
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The Great Debate: Being Human
A one day course run as part of Newcastle Science Festival 2005
Introduced by Caspar Hewett and
David Large
Saturday 12th March 2005, 9.30am -5.00pm
Bedson Teaching Centre
University of Newcastle
Do our genes influence our conscious experiences? Do they explain them? Is the
human mind something we can properly study? What can we learn about ourselves
through the study of mind from the perspective of evolution?
Since Darwin our vision of ourselves as a unique type of being has been
progressively undermined. What can recent theories related to evolutionary theory,
neurobiology and AI tell us about the experience of being human?
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2004
What can evolutionary theory tell us about the human mind?
One of the great triumphs of the late twentieth century was the application
of Darwinian theory to animal behaviour. This led to many attempts to apply
the same methods to human beings and to explain the human mind in evolutionary
terms. Thus we see the rise of the now common phrase ‘the gene for . . .’ in
describing human behaviour. One theory, Evolutionary Psychology, attempts to
explain the mind in terms of evolved predispositions to behave in certain ways.
The theory of the meme rejects the notion that genes are sufficient to explain
cultural evolution - especially in the light of the pace of cultural change. A
meme is a unit of cultural transmission or imitation.
Like the gene, which is a
self-replicating molecule, the meme is a replicator - when a meme is imitated
it has replicated itself. Meme theorists argue that human beings are determined
largely by social factors, not just by genetic code and that there is another
unit of selection at work - the meme. What both these approaches have in common
is the idea that the notion of natural selection, can lead to an understanding
of the human mind.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches? Why are some
theorists ambivalent about the explanatory value of genes and memes when it
comes to the mind? Is there something fundamental that an evolutionary approach
cannot provide?
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The Great Debate: Whatever Happened to the Subject?
Panel Discussion: Thursday 18th March 2004, 7-9pm
International Centre for Life, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne
Speakers:
Rita Carter,
James Heartfield,
Raymond Tallis
Chair: Caspar Hewett
Are we masters of our destiny?
Can we really influence the direction of change?
Since the Enlightenment the idea of the subject has had a central place
in thought about the special nature of humanity. This is a description of human
beings as active agents doing things for reasons and shaping the world to their
own ends. Yet, in recent years, fields as diverse as neuroscience, literary
criticism and Evolutionary Psychology have converged on a very different vision
of what we are. In the last twenty years we have been brought a vision of
humans as machines; zombies experiencing the illusion of choice and intentionality.
Why is this? Does this reflect a new understanding of what we really are or are
these interpretations more to do with the way we view ourselves today?
Click Here for proceedings
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Playing it Safe: Science and the Risk Society
Panel Discussion: Wednesday 17th March 2004
International Centre for Life, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne
Speakers: Roy Boyne, John Gillott,
Lynn Frewer,
Phil Macnaghten
Chair: David O'Toole
Is there a case for caution where the outcome of scientific
and technological advances is uncertain?
It is hard to believe that only a short time ago the benefits of scientific progress
were taken for granted. Yet today the tendency is to consider the risks whenever a new
technology is developed. The precautionary principle urges us to err on the side of
caution when knowledge is uncertain and to place a duty
of care on those who propose change. What are the consequences of this new way of
looking at the world? Can we benefit from science without taking risks?
What are the dangers of playing it safe?
Of Blank Slates and Zombies
(Modern Theories of Human Nature)
Day school: Saturday 13th March 2004
International Centre for Life, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne
Tutors: Caspar Hewett and David Large
Is there a universal human nature? If so, what defines it? Is it consciousness?
Is it our capacity for rational thought? Is it our ability to adapt our environment
rather than adapt to it? This one day course examined some modern ideas of what
human nature is and attempted to draw some conclusions about these questions.
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2003
The Great Debate: Development, Sustainability and Environmentalism
A day of discussion held on Saturday 27th September, Newcastle Civic Centre
Sponsored by Peer Review for European Sustainable Urban
Development (PreSud)
Click Here for proceedings
In the last 20 years environmental thinking has become very
much a part of our every day lives. The term 'sustainable development' has
entered the mainstream and is used to guide policy in both the developed and
developing world.
Yet whilst we in the West enjoy a safe, clean, pleasant environment coupled
with high living
standards the developing world is being discouraged from aspiring to anything
more than basic needs.
So what is sustainable development and what are its consequences?
What is current in environmental thought?
This conference re-evaluated the relevance of environmentalism
in the 21st century, examining the intimate links between the concepts of
development, sustainability and environmentalism
and asking if development to western standards is possible for the developing world.
Speakers:
Derek Bell,
Leverhulme Research Fellow in Politics, University of Newcastle
Allen Creedy,
PreSud Project Director, Directorate of Enterprise,
Environment & Culture, Newcastle City Council
Ceri Dingle, Director,
WORLDwrite
James Heartfield,
editor
Sustaining Architecture in the Anti-Machine Age,
author
The 'Death of the Subject' Explained
Joe Kaplinsky, Technology Analyst
Mary Mellor,
author The
Politics of Money: Towards Sustainability and Economic Democracy
Geoff Parkin,
Lecturer, Sustainable Hydrology, Water
Resource Systems Research Laboratory
Jan Simmonds,
Christian Aid
North East
The Great Debate: What does it mean to be human?
Thursday 22nd May 2003, Newcastle Playhouse
Click here for proceedings
What does it mean to be human? Thoughts by Caspar Hewett
Do I Want To Be Like You? Notes by David Large
What level of communication is possible between humans and animals?
How much can the study of animals tell us about ourselves?
What does it mean to be human?
In 1967, Roger Fouts, a psychology student, began teaching American Sign
Language to a young chimpanzee called Washoe, beginning a relationship that has
continued for over 30 years.
The Chimp That Spoke is a production inspired by this story.
Acclaimed for their bold visceral theatre productions,
David Glass Ensemble present a
meditation on our closest animal relatives and explore what it is to be human.
The post-show discussion What does it mean to be human?
was organised by The Great Debate
in association with Northern Stage
and David Glass Ensemble
Chair: Mo Lovatt
Panel
David Glass, Artistic Director, David Glass Ensemble
Caspar Hewett, Chair, The Great Debate
Professor
John Burn, Institute of Human Genetics, International Centre for Life
David Large, The Great Debate
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The Great Debate: Is Anti-Americanism Xenophobic?
Wednesday 5th March, 10pm, Newcastle Playhouse Foyer/Bar
Click here for proceedings
A discussion convened by Mo Lovatt in association
with
The Ashton Group,
The Great Debate and
Northern Stage.
As part of Northern Stage's Colour season, this event looked at issues
raised by the play
Lockerbie 103, the
impact of US and British foreign policies and at attitudes towards
the impending war with Iraq.
Chair: Caspar Hewett
Speakers:
Ian Ferguson, journalist and co-author of
Cover up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie
Jon Bryan, Lecturer in Sociology, The Great Debate
Doug Henderson, MP
Peter Hetherington, Regional Affairs Editor, The Guardian
Rachel Ashton, Director, Lockerbie 103
Des Dillon, writer, Lockerbie 103
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The Great Debate -
Darwinism Today
A ten week course held September - December 2001
at Centre for
Lifelong Learning, University of Newcastle
Tutor: Caspar Hewett
The Great Debate in Action:
Minds, Genes and Consciousness
Day school held on Saturday 26 May 2001
Tutors: David Large
and Caspar Hewett
held at Centre for
Lifelong Learning, University of Newcastle
Do our genes influence our conscious experiences? Do they explain them? Is
the human mind something we can properly study? What can we learn about
ourselves through the study of mind from the perspective of evolution? Why has
it become popular to apply Neo-Darwinian principles to the philosophy of mind
and consciousness? This day school will examine the issues raised by these
questions through a study of evolutionary factors as applied to theories of
mind. A conception of natural consciousness will be formed.
The Great Debate: Evolution, Human Nature and Autonomy
Public debate held on Thursday 22nd March 2001 at
Department of
Social Policy and Sociology , University of Newcastle in association
with the Institute of Ideas.
Sponsored by Polity
Press and Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Speakers:
Christopher Badcock,
author Evolutionary Psychology: A Critical Introduction, Psychodarwinism:
The New Synthesis of Darwin and Freud
Rita Carter, author
Mapping the Mind
Kenan Malik, author
Man, Beast and Zombie, The Meaning of Race
Sue Scott, Professor
of Sociology, University of Durham
Chair:
Caspar Hewett
The opening of the twenty first century brings with it new knowledge about
our genes and our brains which promises a revolution in the way we view
ourselves. Alongside this knowledge is a tendency to view human nature in a
deterministic way.
Some argue that only the social sciences can answer questions about human
behaviour, while others argue that we are determined by our biology.
So where are the appropriate places to look if we want to understand human
nature? What are the implications for our ability to act as autonomous rational
individuals?
The Great Debate in Action:
Sexual Selection and Questions of Human Nature
Day school held on Saturday 27th January 2001,
Centre for Lifelong
Learning, University of Newcastle
Tutors: Caspar Hewett and
David Large
A hundred years ago Darwin revolutionised our understanding of the origin
of species. Since then the theory of evolution by natural and sexual selection
has become accepted wisdom. Earlier this century Social Darwinism was
discredited, yet in recent years it has again become popular to attempt to
explain society in Darwinian terms. At the same time theories abound suggesting
that humanity's evolutionary history and the genes we inherit determine our
behaviour. What does this convergence of natural and social theory represent?
This course investigates the theory of sexual selection and its application to
animal and human behaviour, focussing on the themes: determinism, choice,
ethics and responsibility.
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| 2000
The Great Debate -
Darwinism Today
A ten week course held September - December 2000
at Centre for
Lifelong Learning, University of Newcastle
Tutor: Caspar Hewett
Determined to Survive? The Great Debate - Freedom, Determinism and the
Gene
Public debate held on Wednesday 21st June 2000 at
Centre for Lifelong
Learning , University of Newcastle in association with the
Institute of
Ideas.
Sponsored by Blackwell's
Speakers:
Christopher Badcock,
author Psychodarwinism: The New Synthesis of Darwin and Freud
Helene Guldberg ,
Associate Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, Open University
Matt Ridley , author
Genome, The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue
Chair:
Caspar Hewett
How much influence do our genes have on our behaviour? Is human nature the
same for all societies? What can we learn about ourselves through the study of
evolution? What are the implications for our freedom? Why has it become popular
to apply Neo-Darwinist principles to human behaviour and to society? These
questions and others will be examined through a discussion of evolutionary
theory and genetics and their application to human behaviour.
The Great Debate - Philosophical Approaches to Darwinism
Day school held on Saturday 20th May 2000,
Centre for Lifelong
Learning , University of Newcastle
Tutors: David Large
and Caspar Hewett
A hundred years ago Darwin revolutionised our understanding of the origin
of species. Since then the theory of evolution by natural slection has become
accepted wisdom. But what does this mean? What can evolution explain and how
does it do that? This day school will interrogate recent evolutionary theory
and genetics and apply philosophical approaches to examine these questions.
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| 1998
The Great Debate - Biodiversity
Public discussion held on Thursday 29th October 1998 at
Centre for Lifelong
Learning, University of Newcastle
Introduced by: Caspar
Hewett and David Hall
What is biodiversity? Why should humanity
protect endangered species? Do they have intrinsic value? What effect could
species extinctions have on humanity?
The Great Debate -
Darwinism Today
Revised and run once each academic year. First run September - December 1998 at
Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Newcastle
Tutor: Caspar Hewett
What is the selfish gene? What is the link between Darwinism and genetics
What can the study of evolution tell us about animal behaviour? What can we
learn about the origins of altruism through the study of evolution? Why are
there still disagreements within evolutionary theory today? These questions and
many others are examined through a study of recent evolutionary theory and
genetics and their application to animal behaviour.
Since the publication of Darwin's On The Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection in 1859 the theory of evolution by natural selection has
become accepted wisdom. Yet great debates are still taking place amongst
evolutionary theorists. This course looks at Darwinism and genetics and at the
disagreements within evolutionary theory today. The modern application of
Darwinism to animal behaviour is investigated.
The course consists of ten sessions during which the work of specific
authors and their ideas are introduced. Pair work, group work and class
discussion allow the students to develop arguments and gain confidence in
understanding the theories.
Principal texts
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins, OUP, 1976
Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Daniel C. Dennett, Penguin, 1995
Reinventing Darwin: The Great Evolutionary Debate, Niles Eldredge,
Phoenix, 1995
Sustainability and the Promise of Factor Four
Saturday 31st January 1998, Centre for Continuing Education, University of
Newcastle
Tutors: Caspar Hewett and
David Hall
Is sustainable development a good thing? Twenty five years on
from Limits to Growth, the new report to the Club of Rome,
Factor Four - Doubling Wealth,
Halving Resource Use is essential reading for anyone interested in
sustainability. The book describes fifty exciting examples of new technologies
which could revolutionise our use of resources, allowing us to improve living
standards at the same time as decreasing our use of raw materials, fuels and
minerals. However, having assumed that limited resources represent the most
important challenge to humanity today, the authors go on to introduce the idea
of resource productivity as the new measure of progress. What does this
represent? This discussion will explore the themes developed in the report,
looking at the new technologies, examining the authors' sustainable agenda and
questioning some of the assumptions made in what promises to be one of the most
influential books of the decade.
Essential reading: Factor Four - Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource
Use, Ernst Von Weizsaker, Amory B Lovins, L Hunter Lovins, Earthscan 1997
The Great Debate - Evolution and Human Nature
January - March 1998, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Newcastle
Tutors: Caspar Hewett and
David Hall
A hundred years ago Darwin revolutionised our understanding of the origin of
species. Since then the theory of evolution by natural selection has become
accepted wisdom. Yet great debates are still taking place amongst evolutionary
theorists. Why is it then that prominent writers such as Richard Dawkins and
Stephen Jay Gould fail to agree?
Earlier this century Social Darwinism was discredited, yet in recent years
it has again become popular to explain society in Darwinian terms. At the same
time theories abound suggesting that humanity's evolutionary history and the
genes we inherit determine our behaviour. What does this convergence of natural
and social theory represent?
This course will look at Darwinism and genetics and at the disagreements
within evolutionary theory today. The modern application of Darwinism to
society and to human behaviour will be investigated and reasons sought for the
renewed popularity of this approach. The course will consist of ten sessions
during which the work of specific authors and their ideas will be introduced.
Pair work, group work and class discussion will allow the students to develop
arguments and gain confidence in understanding the theories and the context in
which they have become prevalent.
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2004 2005
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Chair 
