Hello! We are Robin McGuire and Meg Elias, biology faculty in SAM.
Several years ago we were “inspired” to collect faculty support for a Darwin Day celebration at LCC. You can date this event when we tell you that we originally used the conference room outside of the cafeteria in the AS building on the second floor as a location. Why did we want to run this event? Evolution is one of several key aspects of scientific content knowledge that has generated a great deal of resistance in the United States and as a department (We were still Science Department back then) we wanted to educate and encourage intellectual discussion. Through the years we have moved the celebration around campus as the event has grown to include the support of other units around the college, and many faculty have stepped into the lead role, with each person bringing a unique perspective and view to the event. We have been delighted to include Fashion Design, Music, History, and other departments to develop a holistic approach to representing a rich view of Darwin within the context of his life in the 1800s for our students.
How has this event inspired and transformed? We always have had a core theme (Darwin’s birthday cake and Inspiring courage and intellectual pursuits) and have successively over the years added activities, visuals, and opportunities for conversation. We hope that the interesting and engaging activities inspire our students to think about science theory, and that in our own small way we can also inspire our colleagues around the college to fight for critical thinking and the power of science during these very challenging times. As advice we offer the knowledge that ships don’t sink from the water around them, only from the water that gets in and weighs them down. The college is extremely dynamic. Take help, even from unlikely sources, when it is offered. When support dissolves, move on and become self-reliant.
Bert and John Jacobs of the company Life Is Good, an apparel company founded on “optimism”, have this to say: “Enable your consumers to co-author the story of your brand”. Although the quote is clearly about corporate America, the value system they are talking about transcends into our educational environment. Particularly true as we struggle this year with the inequality inherent in our society our events need to be centered MOST on what our diverse students (all students) need and want to learn, not simply what we ourselves were taught or find easy to teach. We have been eager to partner with History and incorporate a larger conversation during Darwin Day centered on how Darwin’s theories have been consistently co-opted by “social Darwinism”, up to and including this day in time, particularly in the US, in attempts to apply poor interpretations of science data to justify racial inequities and injustices. This is the year theory turns into practice.
