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Africa Seminar on Intelligent Design

Discovery Institute will be partnering with BioCosmos Africa to offer an online seminar on Intelligent Design (ID) specifically for English-speaking African scientists and scholars. This Africa-Focused Seminar on ID will have a special focus on topics of interest to an African perspective, including the evidence for design in the origin and fine-tuning of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of biodiversity, common descent, and the origin and uniqueness of humanity. We also hope to be able to include sessions covering connections between Darwinism and colonialism, investigating the social evils perpetrated because of Darwinian ideas.

The seminar will officially begin on October 4, 2021, when participants will be given access to an online learning platform at DiscoveryU where they can watch prerecorded lectures and download a selection of readings. On November 4 and 5, live sessions will be hosted on Zoom from 6:00–10:00 pm (Nairobi, Kenya time) where participants can ask questions of select faculty and dive deeper into the material.

Note: Participants will be expected to complete the required readings and lectures before the live sessions on November 4–5.

The primary textbook for the course will be Discovering Intelligent Design, with a few other supplemental readings. Overall, the seminar will be run by Dr. Casey Luskin and Dr. Brian Miller, who will be hosting the live sessions and answering questions during the same. The final live session on the implications of Darwinism on society will be led by Dr. John West.

Topics covered will be organized into the following eight units. There will be a 1-hour live session for each unit on November 4–5; the faculty member(s) hosting those live sessions are shown in parenthesis below:

Unit 1: Introduction to Intelligent Design (Casey Luskin)
Unit 2: Origin of the Universe (Brian Miller)
Unit 3: Fine-tuning of the Universe (Brian Miller)
Unit 4: Origin of Life (Brian Miller and Casey Luskin)
Unit 5: Origin of Biodiversity (Casey Luskin and Brian Miller)
Unit 6: Common Descent (Casey Luskin)
Unit 7: Human Origins & Human Uniqueness (Casey Luskin)
Unit 8: Darwinism & Implications for Society (John West)

For each of the eight units, the participants will watch one or more prerecorded lectures and have one or more readings to complete. Prerecorded lectures and readings will be provided by faculty from the Summer Seminar, including Stephen Meyer, Michael Behe, Jonathan Wells, Jay Richards, Guillermo Gonzalez, Günter Bechly, Doug Axe, John West, Brian Miller, and Casey Luskin.

Participants will be selected for the seminar by invitation, and once invited they can register online at the link provided. Participants will be issued a certificate of participation after the completion of the seminar.

When

Online Course Opens:
October 4, 2021

Online Live Sessions:
November 4–5, 2021
6:00–10:00 pm EAT (Nairobi, Kenya)

Contact

John Felts
jfelts@discovery.org
+1 (206) 826-5532

Speakers

Casey Luskin

_{Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Center for Science and Culture}

Casey Luskin is a geologist and an attorney with graduate degrees in science and law, giving him expertise in both the scientific and legal dimensions of the debate over evolution. He earned his PhD in Geology from the University of Johannesburg, and BS and MS degrees in Earth Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied evolution extensively at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. His law degree is from the University of San Diego, where he focused his studies on First Amendment law, education law, and environmental law.

Brian Miller

_{Research Coordinator and Senior Fellow, Center for Science and Culture}

Dr. Brian Miller is Research Coordinator and Senior Fellow for the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute. He holds a B.S. in physics with a minor in engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in physics from Duke University. He speaks internationally on the topics of intelligent design and the impact of worldviews on society. He also has consulted on organizational development and strategic planning, and he is a technical consultant for Ideashares, a virtual incubator dedicated to bringing innovation to the marketplace.

John G. West

_{Senior Fellow, Managing Director, and Vice President of Discovery Institute}

Dr. John G. West is Vice President of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute and Managing Director of the Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. Formerly the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at Seattle Pacific University, West is an award-winning author and documentary filmmaker who has written or edited 12 books, including Darwin Day in America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science, The Magician’s Twin: C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society, and Walt Disney and Live Action: The Disney Studio’s Live-Action Features of the 1950s and 60s. His documentary films include Fire-Maker, Revolutionary, The War on Humans, and (most recently) Human Zoos. West holds a PhD in Government from Claremont Graduate University, and he has been interviewed by media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, Reuters, Time magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post.