The Shankster Returns to ETSU!

Niall Shanks, former professor of philosophy at ETSU, now at Witchita State will be giving a lecture on one of the recurring themes at Shuck and Jive:

Intelligent Design:

The Greased Weasel of Pseudoscience

Dr. Niall Shanks

PUBLIC LECTURE

Monday, October 27, 2008

Brown Hall Auditorium

7:00pm, ETSU Campus

Dr. Shanks was Professor of Philosophy at East Tennessee State University from 1991-2005 and currently is the Curtis D. Gridley Distinguished Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Wichita State University. On Monday October 27, 2008, Dr. Shanks will present a free public lecture entitled ““Intelligent Design: The Greased Weasel of Pseudoscience” in Brown Hall Auditorium at 7:00 pm. A question & answer period and reception will follow the lecture.

Dr. Shanks is native of England who earned his B.A. (Hons.) in Philosophy from the University of Leeds, M. Phil. in Philosophy from the University of Liverpool, and Ph.D. at the University of Alberta, Canada. A celebrated teacher of philosophy and biology during his time at ETSU, Shanks is author of over 60 scholarly articles and numerous books, including Animals and science: a guide to the debates and God, the devil, and Darwin: a critique of intelligent design theory, (recently re-released in paperback by Oxford University Press), and editor of two anthologies on theoretical issues in the sciences (Idealization in Contemporary Physics and Logic, Probability, and Science).

Shanks has participated in many dialogues concerned with evolution, creationism and intelligent design, including appearances on PBS (The Journal Editorial Report), National Public Radio (Justice Talking) and a highly publicized debate with William A. Dembski (“Can Intelligent Design be Detected in Biology?”) held at University of California, Los Angeles.

Shanks is President of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Vice-president of Americans for Medical Advancement. In 1993 he served as President of the Tennessee Philosophical Association.

Shanks' current research interests focus on the implications of evolutionary biology for biomedical research, the history of medicine, and the role played by medicine in the scientific revolutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He will be presenting lectures to honors and philosophy classes on these various topics during his visit back to ETSU.

For more information about his visit, contact Dr. Rebecca Pyles, ETSU Honors college (439-6076 or pylesr at etsu dot edu).

My congregation hosted him for a number of lectures when he was writing his book, God the Devil and Darwin. He even acknowledged us in the preface with praise and thanksgiving. That was before I arrived, of course. Since my iron hand, er noodly appendage, the entire congregation has disavowed evolution and believes in the inerrant word as I make it known to them.