- SUBJECT: Honors seminar
- DATE: 3/97
-
-
- I have been asked to conduct an honors seminar next semester on a
- biological topic. This seminar is a general education seminar open
to all
- students, not just biology students. I have suggested to the honors
- coordinator that the topic be either something in evolution or ecology.
- The format in the pase has been for students to take readings from
books,
- and then lead discussions on the readings. I have the freedom to use
that
- format, or modify if as long as I can get it by thehonors coordinator.
- Does anyone have any suggestions for books that we might use in the
seminar
- that would cover either evolution or ecology for a general audience.
I
- just today recieved the book "The Battle of Beginnings - Why Niether
Side
- is Winning the Creation Evolution Debate" by Del Ratzsch. This
was
- mentioned earlier by Kerry Fulcher, and I thought it might be interesting
- for me and the students.
-
- Any suggestions on either topic will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-
- Terry Davin
- Biology and Allied Health
- Penn Valley Community College
- Kansas City MO 64111
- davin@kcmetro.cc.mo.us
- http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/biology/DAVIN/DAVIN.html
- (816) 759-4236 (PHONE)
- (816) 759-4553 (FAX)
-
-
- Dear Terry and Biolabbers,
- Evolution should be a great topic for an interdisciplinary seminar.
It
- provides the opportunity to ask how scientists pose and answer questions
- vs the approach used by humanists and other disciplines. From this
you
- have the opportunity to examine the scientific method and the evidence
- from "both sides" can be used to examine bias in sampling,
probability and
- things that alter that probability, reproducibility, and many other
- aspects of the scientific approach. It would be a great honors seminar,
- particularly if presented as an evaluation of the methods and evidence,
- not one of deciding who is right or wrong. Go for it!
- Janice
- ***********************************
- Janice M. Glime, Professor
- Department of Biological Sciences
- Michigan Technological University
- Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- jmglime@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2546
- FAX 906-487-3167
-
-
- Terry Davin asked for recommendations for an honors seminar in biology
for
- general students, biology majors and nonmajors, and wanted particularly
ecology
- or evolution.
-
- Several modern and classical writings come to mind.
- Perhaps best among them would be:
-
- Jonathan Weiner: The Beak of the Finch. This is Weiner's writing for
- a general audience explaining Peter and Rosemary Grant's studies of
- Darwin's Finches. The writing is brilliant and it provides for the
- non-technical audience a clear picture of the mechanics of science,
- the process of evolution, the nature of ecological studies. I highly
- recommend it.
-
- Stephen J. Gould's writings, especially the Science articles on the
- Arkansas creationism court case. Also, the text of the opinion.
-
- Darwin's writings, especially The Voyage of the Beagle, which was
- originally written for a general audience and was one of the best
- selling books of its time.
-
- Good luck,
-
- Dave McNeely, Biology, University of Texas at Brownsville, 80 Fort
Brown,
- Brownsville, TX 78520; mcneely@utb1.utb.edu
-
-
-
- I agree that evolution is a good topic for a gen-ed honors seminar.
Why not go
- right to the source and teach the "Origin of Species"? I
have taught the book
- several times as an honors seminar and it's been very popular. The
interaction
- between biology and other majors in the classroom has been wonderful.
I
- supplement the book with Darwin's "Autobiography" and readings
from Gould, but
- you could introduce a variety of related materials, including creationism.
- Darwin takes on creationism directly in the "Origin".
-
- Richard W. Miller
- Butler University
- miller@butler.edu
-
-
- Why not have them read Darwin's, "On the Origin of Species by
means of
- Natural Selection."
-
- The first edition is the best.
-
- Dave Williams
- Science Division
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Arnold, MD 21012
- Vmail: 410-541-2265
- Email: profdhw@aol.com
-
-
- Hi labbers,
- Several years ago I used Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac"
as
- a set of readings for such an honors seminar and it worked beautifully.
- Not only are the topics of his essays current(although published in
1949)
- they are exquisitely written. You might find Callicot's "Companion
to
- A Sand County Almanac" to be useful as well.
-
- This year I am coordinating an Honors Colloquium of our "best
and
- brightest" and have found the internet to be very useful in keeping
the
- discussion going beyond the actual class meetings. All of the students
- and faculty in the colloquium are equipped with laptops and the sysop
has
- set up a listserve. The students are from all majors and the
- faculty presenters assign the readings a week in advance of the
- class(meets every two weeks) along with some initial provocative questions
- to get the discussion rolling. By the time that the students actually
meet
- the presenter they have the discussion well under way and often it
will
- continue for several days after the meeting. Initially the online
- discussion was limited, but as the students have become more comfortable
- with the system and the other members of the group it has become lively,
- enlightening and greatly improved the quality of the overall discourse.
- It is hard to imagine that we could have covered as much ground as
we have
- simply meeting for two hours every two weeks. It's been very successful.
-
- Doug
-
- G. Douglas Crandall,
- PhD Biology Department, Emmanuel College
- 400 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115
- (617) 735-9959
-