Philly Celebrates the 
April 19, 2008 through May 2009
With the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, originator of the modern theory of evolution, just months away, the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Penn Museum and joined by major Philadelphia cultural organizations, launches an ambitious YEAR OF EVOLUTION of public programs and events.
As part of the YEAR OF EVOLUTION, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology opened Surviving: The Body of Evidence, a new exhibition which explores the process of evolution and its outcomes. Other public programs so far scheduled at the University of Pennsylvania include lectures by Spencer Wells, Project Director of the National Geographic Genographic Project (October 2008), Charles Darwin expert E. Janet Browne, author of the two-volume Charles Darwin: Voyaging and the Power of Place (November 2008), and renowned biologist Ken Miller (February 2009). Additional lectures, Penn Museum programs for children and families, scholarly symposia, and an evolution-focused freshman class book-reading selection, will round out the University's rich offerings.
The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Franklin, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Mütter Museum and College of Physicians, and the American Philosophical Society Museum join with Penn Museum and the University, in offering programming in the coming year. Included in the public offerings are exhibitions about the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel (Academy of Natural Sciences), and Charles Darwin (American Philosophical Society Museum), as well as an evolutionary perspective on a medical collection (Mütter Museum). Related IMAX movie programs at The Franklin, and a closer look at our closest relatives—fellow primates—at the Philadelphia Zoo, are all part of the year.
Dr. Howard Goldfine, Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine, and Dr. Michael Weisberg, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, School of Arts and Sciences, are co-chairs of the University's YEAR OF EVOLUTION. Dr. Janet Monge, Acting Curator of Physical Anthropology, Penn Museum, and co-curator of the Surviving exhibition, was instrumental in organizing the city-wide effort.
"We are at an extraordinarily fast-paced, productive, exciting and challenging time for science," noted Dr. Weisberg, "and evolutionary biology is the cornerstone of what we know and where we can go in to the future. With the approach of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of his seminal book, On the Origin of Species, we felt now was an ideal time to offer our students and the wider public a rich opportunity to explore, and better understand, evolution and its role in science."
"Philadelphia is the perfect city to come together for a Year of Evolution," said Dr. Monge. "With its rich scientific and medical communities, its strong cultural community and its many schools of higher education, Philadelphia has always been a leader in the advancement of science. From Philadelphia's early days and Benjamin Franklin—Penn's founder, considered by many the first American scientist—to today, the spirit of inquiry has been alive and well in this city and throughout this region."
