Scopes “Monkey” Trial Centennial Symposium
The weekend following the ISEMPH conference (7/12/25 – 7/13/25), we will host an academic symposium featuring dozens of wonderful guest speakers from around the world. This event is sponsored in part by the National Center for Science Education. Leading experts (Ed Larson, Randy Moore, and Adam Laats) on all things Scopes will speak about the history of the trial. Next, we’ll hear about issues facing teachers today as they try to navigate teaching evolution (Barbara Forrest, Kenneth Miller, Amanda Townley). Then, we will hear from folks at the forefront of their evolution-focused fields about their research (Sean Carroll, Jonathan Losos, Marlene Zuk, Stephen Brusatte, and Briana Pobiner). We’ll finish off Day 1 with a roundtable discussion on evolutionary science in the 21st century.
Day 2 will kick off with evolutionary research in fields other than biology, such as medicine (Paul Turner), agriculture (Sophien Kamoun), and the law (Owen Jones). After that, we’ll have another section on teaching evolution in a broader sense (Gale Sinatra, Patricia Hawley, Corrie Moreau, Riley Black, and Joseph Graves, Jr.). Our last proper session will be on the relationship of evolution and religion (Jamie Jensen, Katy Hinman, and Lee Meadows). We’ll end with a second roundtable discussion on the future of evolution education (featuring some aforementioned speakers and Liz Barnes).