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Evolution@Vanderbilt

Darwin Day Lectures

Join us for our next Darwin Day event, A conversation with Richard Dawkins (moderator: David French) on 2/11/25 at 5pm

Richard Dawkins in a blue suit sitting with his hands touching contemplatively

Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. at Langford Auditorium with internationally renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins will be in conversation with David French for the Vanderbilt Darwin Day lecture exploring the role of science in illuminating fundamental questions about what it means to be human and the current impact of evolution on our politics, society and the world.

Dawkins was the first Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford from 1995 until 2008. He is the internationally bestselling author of The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion and critically acclaimed scientific articles. Dawkins is an influential public intellectual who has argued for science and reason in mediums from scholarly articles and podcasts to sold-out audiences at venues around the world.

French, a graduate of Harvard Law School, is a columnist for The New York Times. He was previously a senior editor at The Dispatch and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. A former constitutional litigator and a past president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression, French is also a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book is Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation. French is also a former major in the United States Army Reserve, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. He is an Open Dialogue Visiting Fellow at Vanderbilt this semester.

Below is a searchable table of previous Darwin Day speakers.