Human evolution expert Jonathan Marks, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, believes today’s training of modern scientists commonly shields them from the history and politics of their work, forcing generations of evolutionary geneticists to rediscover the intimate connection between science and culture.

To discuss how evolutionary theory has been recruited into a diverse group of anti-egalitarian scientific discourses, including social Darwinism, eugenics, and evolutionary psychology, Marks will present “Darwin’s Ventriloquists,” as part of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Lecturer Series, on Monday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair Blue Ballroom. A reception will follow in the Gold Ballroom.

“What we learn from the social study of evolutionary theory is that the natural and the cultural invariably co-produce the scientific,” said Marks. “Scientific claims, however, are made with a voice of cultural authority about human diversity that are especially sensitive to cultural influences.”

He argues the biggest challenge to contemporary evolutionary theory comes not from creationists, but from biologists themselves, and thinks that evolutionary biology cannot afford to tolerate scientific racism, which is the act of justifying social inequalities between presumptively natural groups of people by recourse to science.

During his visit to West Virginia University, Marks will also attend two sociology and anthropology classes, including SOCA 252 Introduction to Physical Anthropology on Monday, and SOCA 358 Anthropology of Health and Illness on Tuesday.

Marks’ research interests lie in the critical, historical, and social studies of human genetics, evolution and variation; the anthropology of science; molecular genetics, cytogenetics, and evolution; and general and biological anthropology.

He is author of “Human Biodiversity” (Aldine/Transaction, 1995), and “What It Means to Be 98% Chimpanzee” (University of California Press, 2002), which received the W.W. Howells Prize in Biological Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association and the J.I. Staley Prize from the School of Advanced Research. His new book, “Why I Am Not a Scientist,” was recently published by the University of California Press.

Marks earned a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences from The Johns Hopkins University in 1975. He received master’s degrees in genetics and anthropology, as well as a doctoral degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1977, 1979 and 1984, respectively. Prior to joining the University of North Carolina in 2000, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley and Yale University.

He is the recipient of the 1999 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the American Anthropological Association, and served as president of the General Anthropology Division from 2000-2002. In 2006, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

For more information on the event, contact Amy J. Hirshman, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology, at (304) 293-5801 ext. 3214 or Amy.Hirshman@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

lp/9/15/09

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