English scholar Susan McHugh to discuss history of the teaching of evolution in the U.S. April 23rd
Susan McHugh, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of New England's English Department, will present a lecture on "Characters of Evolution" at noon, Monday, April 23, 2007 in the St. Francis Room of the Ketchum Library on UNE's University Campus in Biddeford.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Susan McHugh, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of New England's English Department, will present a lecture on "Characters of Evolution" at noon, Monday, April 23, 2007 in the St. Francis Room of the Ketchum Library on UNE's University Campus in Biddeford.
McHugh will explore the controversy of teaching evolution in 21st-century United States and how the recent story of evolution itself evolved. McHugh turns to literary animal narrative as a means of understanding how certain aspects of Charles Darwin's "dangerous" theory have become tame, while others remain so wild as to be nearly unthinkable in the popular imaginary.
McHugh's talk will use literary texts and theories to explore the representational history of evolution from devolution to revolution.
McHugh teaches composition, narrative, and cultural and textual theory courses at UNE. In her research, as well as teaching, she is interested in using theory to connect literary studies with other disciplinary interests, including visual culture and anthrozoology ( studies of human-animal interaction ). She has published articles in such journals as Camera Obscura and Critical Inquiry. She is the author of Dog ( 2004 ), a literary and cultural history of humankind's best and perhaps oldest friend. Presently she is working on another book that explores how animals have shaped visual narratives through the twentieth century. More on Susan McHugh.
David Livingston Smith, Ph.D., associate professor in UNE's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, will provide a response to McHugh's talk to open up broader questions.
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