NOON in TUC: Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin!

Two hundred years ago today, an ocean apart, two great men were born — Abraham Lincoln and Charles Robert Darwin, father of evolution theory. The year 2009 also marks the 150th anniversary — or “sesquicentennial” — of the publication of Darwin’s worldview-changing book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, on Nov. 24, 1859.

Since these significant events have had such profound and far-reaching applications and implications for how mankind views itself and Earth’s life forms, universities and other institutions around the world are celebrating 2009 as the “Year of Darwin.”

The University of Cincinnati (UC) has taken a leadership role by planning and coordinating a year-long Darwin Sesquicentennial celebration that includes collaboration with regional academic and community partner organizations around Greater Cincinnati.

The purpose of this multi-faceted program is to engage the public and promote literacy, especially in how scientific evidence is interpreted and applied across many different disciplines. Throughout the year, many activities are planned, on the UC main campus, at the Raymond Walters campus, and around Cincinnati.

But today is a day for simple celebration and perhaps a tune or two!

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Atrium, Tangeman University Center 3rd Floor
What: Free birthday cake, frivolity

About the GCCCU
A network of contacts throughout Ohio’s public state universities has been established and many of their events and programs with Darwin and evolution themes are posted and linked from our Web site, as are a number of other events at participating colleges and universities in the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities (GCCCU) and participating community partner organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area. Members of the GCCCU currently include Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas More College, the College of Mount Saint Joseph, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

About UC’s Year of Darwin 2009 — Evolution: Evidence & Impact
Throughout our year-long celebration of the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth and the sesquicentennial of the On the Origin of Species, we hope to communicate the many contemporary applications of

• Darwin’s theory of evolution by common descent, 
• the breadth of Darwin’s research and its ramifications, 
• the truth of Darwin’s work as a cornerstone of modern science and 
• the multiple applications of evolutionary theory throughout UC research.

More Darwin Coming Events

Up at Raymond Walters College today? Check out their Darwin birthday cake and catch a movie, too!