The Educational Debate Over Darwinism
John Angus Campbell
May 1, 2003
Uncategorized
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This essay argues that the challenge of teaching Darwin’s theory exemplifies how science education must rethink its strategies and become more self-consciously rhetorical if it is to preserve its own integrity and educate tomorrow’s public and scientists for democratic citizenship. It presents a model for how science education can reconcile technical ideas and cultural values to improve both scientific and cultural literacy.
The full article is available online through the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies at http://www.jis3.org/samplearticle.htm
John Angus Campbell (Ph.D., rhetoric, University of Pittsburgh) is a professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis and past President of the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology. He has twice won the Golden Anniversary Award from the National Communication Association (1971 and 1987) for his scholarly essays and was a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award (1993) and the Dean’s Recognition Award (1994) from the University of Washington. He was named Communication Educator of the Year by the Tennessee State Communication Association (2001) and most recently (2003) was was the recipient of the Oleg Zinam Award for best essay in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Professor Campbell is one of the founders of the rhetoric of science, a now flourishing sub-specialty of academic inquiry, and has published numerous highly regarded technical articles and book chapters analyzing the rhetorical strategy of Darwin’s Origin of Species. He recently guest edited and contributed to a special issue on the intelligent design argument in the Journal of Rhetorical & Public Affairs (vol. 1, 1998 no. 4). He is currently at work on a scholarly book with the working title, Charles Darwin: A Rhetorical Biography. As a communication educator Professor Campbell is strongly committed to teaching controversy as a civic and democratic art as indicated by the title of his essay “Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom,” and again in his prize-winning JIS essay “The Educational Debate Over Darwinism.”