TUES., JAN. 27, 7 P.M.
The Curious Life of Ideas: "Master and Commander"
Taper Hall 101
USC faculty members David Bottjer, Philippa Levine, Nancy Lutkehaus, Michael Quick, Hilary Schor, and Craig Stanford discuss why Charles Darwin still matters, the origin of The Origin of Species, its impact on the world of literature, philosophy, religion and science. Where do these ideas take us next? This fascinating exchange will be followed by Peter Weir's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2004), in which the ideas of natural history win a war against France.

THURS., FEB. 19, 7 P.M.
Darwin Among the Poets: Endless Heroic Observations
Natural History Museum
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jorie Graham and others discuss the work of Charles Darwin and Elizabeth Bishop. Reading Darwin, Bishop was impressed by "the beautiful solid case being built up out of his endless, heroic observations - his eyes fixed on facts and minute details." This event connects poetry and science, the keen observation of the natural world and its inscription in language.
Read more about this event.

TUES., FEB. 24, 7 P.M.
"The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1932)
A Film Screening with Professor of Anthropology Nancy Lutkehaus
Taper Hall 101
This horrifying adaptation of H.G. Wells's "The Island of Dr. Moreau" was initially banned in parts of the U.S. because of its disturbing contents. Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) is a mad scientist who lives on a remote island and is obsessed with making men out of jungle animals. When shipwreck survivor Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) gets stranded on the island, little does he know that Moreau wants to mate him with Lota (Kathleen Burke), the Panther Woman, to produce the first human-animal child. As unsettling today as it was in the '30s, the film presents a chilling parable about Darwinian theory.

TUES., MARCH 31, 3-8 P.M.
Los Angeles, 20,059 BCE
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
(Event code: CC331 - space is limited)
Tour Pit 91 where scientists are excavating the mammoths, sabre-tooth tigers, and other creatures who roamed the L.A. basin before being trapped as tar rose from the earth. Researchers and scholars will explain how the treasures they are retrieving enrich our understanding of the fossils Darwin brought to life in The Origin of Species.

WED., MARCH 4, 4 P.M.
Werner Däppen: The Age of the World
Darwin, Kelvin and the Arrogance of Physicists
Hedco Auditorium & Conference Room
(Event code: CC304)
In the 1860s, the renowned British scientist Lord Kelvin entered the debate on the age of the earth and set it back decades. Why was Kelvin so wrong, and what happens when scientists disagree? Werner Däppen, professor and chair of physics and astronomy in USC College, explores the range and limits of scientific debate.

TUES., APRIL. 7, 7 P.M.
"The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981)
Taper Hall 101
This film screening is hosted by David Bottjer and Hilary Schor.

WED., APRIL 15, 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.
Darwin Today: Evolution and Scientific Thought
Doheny Memorial Library Intellectual Commons
This one-day symposium explores the status of evolutionary science 200 years after Darwin's birth. The panel will feature Dr. Donald Johanson, director of the Institute for Human Origins, and Dr. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education, as well as USC College faculty Steve Finkel, David Bottjer and Craig Stanford.

THURS., APRIL 23, NOON
Patricia Gowaty: Darwin and Gender
University Club
(Event code: CC423 - space is limited)
Feminism and evolutionary biology are two very different ways of explaining what human nature is like and how it got that way — or are they? Patricia Gowaty, Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA, is at the forefront of scholars working in these two fields and her research illuminates our understanding of Darwin's work on sexual selection and "the second sex."

TUES., APRIL. 28, 7 P.M.
"Inherit the Wind" (1960)
Taper Hall 101
This film screening is hosted by Dean Howard Gillman.

Reservations are requested for activities with event codes. Please respond online at www.usc.edu/esvp