achived URL: http://law.case.edu/lectures/webcast.asp?dt=20081016

event website URL: http://law.case.edu/lectures/webcast.asp?dt=20081016

start date and time: Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 4:30 PM

end date and time: Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 5:30 PM

categories:   legal & courtroom   education   historical

event description:

video webcast -

Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, OH presents the William A. Brahms Lecture on Law and Religion entitled "From Dayton to Dover: A History of the Evolution Teaching Legal Controversy in America" presented by the Center for Professional Ethics. Professor Edward J. Larson, University Professor of History and Hugh & Hazel Darling Professor of Law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA presents the lecture.

The lecture will discuss the history of the creation-evolution legal controversy in the U.S. Some parents and religious groups have tried to limit evolution teachings in public schools while scientists, civil liberties groups, and some school administrators and teachers oppose the efforts.

Legal battles over creation-evolution teachings involve the Establishment Clause. The Courts have interpreted the Constitution to bar public schools from promoting religious views. The lecture will discuss judicial interpretations of the Establishment Clause regarding efforts to limit evolution teachings in public school over the past century.

The cultural and religious aspects of the controversy provides for a greater appreciation of constitutional law and how it can be applied to public education.

Highlights of Edward J. Larson's career include:

- 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History

- Associate Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor (1983-87)

- Attorney with a major Seattle law firm (1979-83)

- Faculty position at the University of Georgia, where he has taught since 1987

- Author of 7 books, including:
- A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign
- Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
- Sex, Race, and Science: Eugenics in the Deep South
- Pulitzer Prize winning author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

- Co-author or co-editor of 7 additional books, including:
- The Essential Words and Writings of Clarence Darrow
- The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison
- A property law casebook with Aspen

- Author of more than 70 published articles, mostly about issues of science, medicine and law from an historical perspective in journals such as Nature, Time, Atlantic Monthly, Science, Scientific American, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Isis, and 17 different law reviews, including Virginia Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Constitutional Commentary

- Named the John Adams Chair in American Studies for 2001 by the Fulbright Program

- Participant in the National Science Foundation’s 2003-04 Antarctic Artists and Writers Program

- Serves on the National Institutes of Heath’s study section for the Ethics, Legal and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project

sponsor's website: http://law.case.edu/