Save the date: November 30th. The Christain Study Center knownas the MacLaurin INstitute, of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus will sponsor this event:Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: The Distubring Legacy of America’s Eugenics Crusade

Friday, November 30, 20077:00 PM – 9:30 PMFREEEmail contact: osbu0001@umn.eduA hundred years ago in 1907, Indiana passed the world’s first forced sterilization law. In subsequent years, dozens of states passed similar laws, including Minnesota in 1925. These laws were part of a crusade to breed better humans known as “eugenics.” Promoted by evolutionary biologists in the name of Darwinian natural selection, eugenics led to the sterilization of tens of thousands of Americans against their will, many of whom would not be considered mentally handicapped today. Why did America’s leading scientists and scientific organizations embrace eugenics for so long? Was eugenics a logical application of Darwin’s theory, or a terrible misuse of it? What are the lessons we can learn from eugenics for today’s controversies over science and public policy? In this free public lecture, Dr. John West will explore these questions and more. Dr. West is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and Associate Director of the Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He is frequently interviewed by the national media, including Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times, and has appeared on CNN, FoxNews, and C-SPAN. Formerly the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at Seattle Pacific University, Dr. West holds a Ph.D. in Government from Claremont Graduate University and is the author or editor of several books, the most recent being Darwin Day in America: How our politics and culture have been dehumanized in the name of science (ISI Books, 2007).

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