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Darwin 2009 commemorations

The year 2009 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species (24 November 1859) and the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth (12 February 1809). This page aims to list the worldwide events and publications relating to the 2009 celebrations and the 1858 Darwin and Wallace paper.

Submissions for this list should be emailed to Dr John van Wyhe jmv21@cam.ac.uk in the form

'day month year title. Sponsor/venue. Link.'

Items are loosely grouped into Events, Publications and Films and documentaries. This list is currently very far from comprehensive.

Events:

See the Natural History Museum's Darwin200 Events page here.

See the University of Cambridge Darwin Festival page here.

Darwin Now. British Council. here.

The Guardian webpage on Darwin and 2009.

The HMS Beagle Project

2008 Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge 'Charles Darwin: Becoming a Geologist' taster exhibit opens. For more information on the development of the Sedgwick Museum Darwin exhibitions go to the blog (darwinthegeologist.org)

16 Sept 2008 - 6 April 2009 The Darwin Bicentennial at Appalachian State University. http://universityforum.appstate.edu including '13 lectures by distinguished scholars. Dr. James Costa, Director of Highlands Biological Laboratory, and Professor at Western Carolina University, will present a lecture on Feb 10, 2009 titled "On the Origin of the Origin", which will detail his soon to be published book The Annotated Origin of the Species, from Harvard University Press. We will also have an Evolution Film Festival, music and art competitions, and theatrical productions of the Scopes Trial (from actual transcripts) and Inherit the Wind.'

18 -22 Aug. 2008 BIODIVERSIDAD [a celebration of Darwin anniversary]. Fundación Asturiana de Estudios Hispánicos y Alto Consejo Consultivo en I+D+i de la Presidencia de la Generalitat/ Cursos de verano de La Granda, Asturias.

17 Sept. - 5 Nov. 2008 Darwin: His Life, Family, Friends, and Critics. College for Seniors, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

19 Sept. 2008 Darwin's life. John van Wyhe. 7.15pm in the Ashton Theatre, Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury.

Oct. 2008 - March 2009 Natural History Museum, London. Darwin exhibition.

10 Oct. 2008 Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Andrew Allott. 7.15pm in the Ashton Theatre, Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury.

17 Oct. 2008 Darwin Growth of an Idea Lecture Series. Luis Chiappe, Curator and Director, Dinosaur Institute of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Chiappe’s lecture will be followed by a reception that will kick off this year’s series of events. Ohio State University

4 Nov. 2008 Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle. Patrick Armstrong. 7.15pm in the Ashton Theatre, Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury.

10 Nov. 2008 Evolution of Genomes and Origin of Species. Mathematical Biosciences Institute Sympoisum Math Building, 2nd Floor 231 W. 18th Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43210

28 Nov. 2008 Darwin's impact. Allan Chapman. 7.15pm in the Ashton Theatre, Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury.

Autumn 2008 - 2009 Celebrating Darwin and Evolution, Case Western Reserve University

5-31 Jan. 2009 Voyage of the Beagle by Private Jet. follows highlights of Darwin's voyage, beginning at Stanford's campus near Palo Alto, California and ending in London. Stanford professors Bill Durham and David Abernethy, along with Harvard professor Janet Browne, will accompany the program as faculty leaders, delivering a comprehensive educational program focused on Darwin's life, discoveries and legacy. Travelers will fly from destination to destination aboard a private Boeing 757, custom-fitted for just 92 passengers.

18 Jan. - 7 March 2009 Darwin College, Cambridge. Darwin Lecture Series

Darwin200 - 'a collaboration of organisations across the UK who are celebrating Darwin’s 200th birthday in February 2009 with an exciting programme of activities.'

early Feb. 2009 Darwin meeting. Natural History Museum, Milan, Italy.

12 Feb. - 3 May 2009 Yale Center for British Art: 'Endless forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts'

12 Feb 2009 Inaugural workshop entitled 'Darwin Across the Disciplines' hosted by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. First of a year-long series of events at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, USA. For more information and contact details: http://www.ou.edu/darwin/Site/Home.html

8-13 Feb. 2009 Evolution - The Event. Melbourne (Australia).

12 Feb. 2009 University of Birmingham. Darwin Day Conference.

12 Feb. 2009 Galapagos Conservation Trust dinner at Christ's College, Cambridge. (With Sir David Attenborough)

26 Feb. 2009 The reception of Charles Darwin in Europe. A colloquium at Christ's College, Cambridge.

2009 Christ's College, Cambridge, Darwin's rooms, garden and Lady Margaret lectures.

2009 Christ's College Old Library, Darwin exhibition. dates tbc

22-24 May 2009 Rocks, fossils and evolution. Lyme Regis Fossil Festival 2009.

c. March 2009 'Darwin's Reach: A Celebration of Darwin's Legacy Across Academic Disciplines' Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY. Contact: Stu Vincent, 516-463-6493, stuart.vincent@hofstra.edu

3-7 March 2009 Conference: 'Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories A Critical Appraisal 150 Years After "The Origin of Species" (http://www.evolution-rome2009.org/)'

11 March 2009 Darwin and Genetics: 1909 and 2009. Christ's College, Lady Margaret Lecture by Marsha Richmond

15-19 March 2009 British Council/CSIC Workshop on Evolution, Spain (details tbc)

1-4 April 2009 University of California at San Diego Dean's Symposium on Evolutionary Biology

3-4 April 2009 Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy & History of Science: a two-day symposium on: "The Reception of Darwinism: Trans-Cultural Differences"

3-4 April 2009 Charles Darwin's Legacy in European Cultures. Organised jointly by CRINI, Nantes, and GRER (ICT), Paris VII (Denis Diderot).
Proposals of about 300 words and a short biographical note to be sent (in English or French) before September 15, 2008 to: - Georges LETISSIER ( georges.letissier@univ-nantes.fr) - Françoise LE JEUNE ( francoise.le-jeune@univ-nantes.fr) - Michel PRUM (prum.michel@wanadoo.fr)

19 April - May 2009 The year of evolution. University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Penn Museum.

6 May 2009 Socrates versus Darwin. Christ's College, Lady Margaret Lecture by David Sedley

16 May 2009 Darwin's London. Organised jointly by the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Grant Museum of Zoology.

27 May - 2 June 2009 Evolution: The Molecular Landscape. Celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of the Species. Cold Spring Harbor Symposium.

18 June Darwin's Canopy. Natural History Museum.

18 June Expressions. Natural History Museum.

5-10 July 2009 Darwin 2009 Festival, University of Cambridge, UK.

6 July 2009 Reception at Christ's College following Janet Browne's lecture at the Darwin 2009 Festival.

19-24 July 2009 Darwin's 200th Birthday and 50 years of conservation in the Galapagos: the role of science in developing a sustainable future Symposium hosted by the Charles Darwin Foundation on Santa Cruz, Galapagos. Further information: http://www.darwinfoundation.org/

July 2009 Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge 'Darwin the Geologist' major new exhibition opens.

July - Dec. 2009 Cambridge University Library exhibition.

6-10 Sept. 2009 The 16th International Society for Developmental Biology Congress, Edinburgh, will include two symposia on 'Darwin and Development'. www.isdb2009.com

June - Sept. 2009 Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Teaching Charles Darwin.

16 June - 4 Oct. 2009 Endless forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

15 - 18 July 2009 Religious Responses to Darwinism 1859 - 2009. Ian Ramsey Centre summer conference. Preliminary details can be found at http://users.ox.ac.uk/~theo0038/Conferenceinfo/General.html

Aug. 2009 Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Darwin's botanical experiments tbc

23-27 Aug. 2009 Second Summit on Evolution (and the first meeting of the Asociacion Iberoamericana de Biologia Evolutiva) in the Galapagos Archipelago Institute for the Arts and the Sciences located in the San Cristobal Island.

Shrewsbury 2009. Multiple events.

29-31 Oct. Darwin/Chicago 2009, University of Chicago. Speakers include biologists, historians and philosophers of biology. http://darwin-chicago.uchicago.edu

1-3 Nov. 2009 'The Impact of Darwin and Evolution: Beyond Biology' conference at University of Notre Dame. 'Jointly sponsored by the Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values at the University of Notre Dame and the Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest Program of the Pontifical Universities of Rome and the Vatican Secretariat of Culture.'

Shrewsbury : Towards 2009 'The vision for this series of celebratory events has been to honour Darwin and his work and to firmly establish Shrewsbury, England on the worldwide Darwin map. The organisers have drawn together the arts and the sciences to create a constantly evolving and wide ranging programme that will expand over the coming years, culminating in 2009 with a calendar of events, which will form the epicentre of the global anniversary celebrations.'

National Library of Scotland. John Murray Archive exhibition.

British Council Darwin200 events planned

Nov. 2009 Bibliotheca Alexandrina, conference.

Bristol Cultural Development Partnership

Cheltenham Science Festival

Hunterian Museum (Royal College of Surgeons) Exhibition; 'Darwin and the Surgeons'

The Manchester Museum – Darwin exhibition. 2008-2010

National Library of Scotland - planning a public lecture series in 2008, a large exhibition in 2009 and an academic conference.

Newquay Zoo

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Institution: plans 'a Darwin and Wallace themed display at our 2009 Summer Science Exhibition, speeches by some of the most eminent scientists in the field of evolutionary biology, a series of special scientific conferences looking at aspects of Darwinian theory and a variety of schools and public events.'

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland 'Edinburgh Zoo will be running a full programme of celebrations beginning on 1 July 2008 with a day of events and activities around the zoo on the theme of evolution. Various trails, workshops and talks are planned during 2008-9 including a Darwin’s life trail on his 200th birthday on 12 February 2009, a book called Darwin in stamps published with Newquay Zoo and an evening talk from Dr Phil Stone from the British Geological Survey.'

The Wellcome Trust 'For 2009 we are planning a series of Darwin-inspired experiments for schoolchildren, a major collaborative broadcast initiative, and a visual incursion into popular culture.'

University of Nebraska Symposium on Evolution 2009. The University of Nebraska at Kearney, Biology Department (BHS 211A) will sponsor a symposium on evolution.

North American Paleontological Convention 2009, with 'a plenary session commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin and the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species'.

State Darwin Museum, Moscow, Russia. Numerous Darwin exhibitions throughout 2009.

Houston Darwin 2009

2009 The Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt. Darwin exhibition.

'Collapsing Creation (or The Sex Life of the Barnacles)' by Michael Burton, New Zealand.

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution 'Darwin and Beyond' talks, events and exhibitions throughout 2009.

Darwin's pioneering masterpiece: The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal (1872). A major exhibition at The Natural History Museum, London. In cooperation with Naturkundemuseum Berlin, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Centre for Literature and Cultural Studies Berlin, and the Centre for the History of Knowledge, Zurich.

Darwin in Portugal The headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation are planning a Darwin bicentenary programme in Lisbon, including a large exhibition and potentially a programme of arts activities.

Publications:

The curious mind of young Darwin. Oct. 2008

99% ape: How evolution adds up. Open University and the Natural History Museum, Nov. 2008.

M. Boulter, Darwin's Garden: Down House and the Origin of Species. London: Constable, 2008.

M. Pallen, The Rough Guide to Evolution (Rough Guides Reference Titles) (Paperback) Autumn 2008. 'Includes information on Darwin's life, work and impact on all fields; evolutionary tourist guides; guides to music, plays, novels influenced by evolution and to Darwin 200 events and celebrations.'

C. Meyer, The True Adventures of Charley Darwin. Harcourt Children’s Books, 2008.

J. van Wyhe ed. Charles Darwin's Shorter Publications. (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

G. Chancellor and J. van Wyhe eds. with the assistance of L.C. Rookmaaker. Charles Darwin's notebooks from the voyage of the Beagle. (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

J. van Wyhe. Charles Darwin and evolution. (Carlton Books, 2008).

T. Glick and E. M. Engels eds. The reception of Darwinism in Europe.

The essential Darwin. Series includes: Voyage of the Beagle, Origin of species, Descent of man and Expression of the emotions. Folio Society.

A. Larkum ed. William Darwin Fox. (in progress).

J. A. Secord ed., Evolutionary Writings including the Autobiographies. Charles Darwin. (Oxford University Press)

C. H. Smith and G. Beccaloni eds., Natural selection and beyond: the intellectual legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace. (Oxford University Press)

G. Beer ed., Darwin On the origin of species. new edn. (Oxford University Press)

J. A. Secord, A. Pearn and F. Burkhardt eds. The Beagle letters (Cambridge University Press).

F. Burkhardt ed. Origins: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1822-1859. (Cambridge University Press).

Burkhardt, Pearn and Evans eds. Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870. (Cambridge University Press).

Burkhardt et al eds. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin. Vol. 16. (Cambridge University Press).

Cambridge University Press 'The Cambridge Darwin Collection'

A. Desmond and J. Moore. Darwin's sacred cause: how a hatred of slavery shaped Darwin's views on human evolution. (Houghton Mifflin Jan. 2009).

Richards, R. J. and M. Ruse eds. Cambridge Companion to Darwin’s Origin of Species. (Cambridge University Press).

P. Armstrong. Darwin's Luck.

P. Armstrong. All Things Darwin: An Encyclopedia of Darwin's World.

Charles and Emma : The Darwins' Leap of Faith. December 2008 by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.

J. Endersby ed. Origin of species. (Cambridge University Press).

Ten new Darwin stamps. The Royal Mail. 12 Feb. 2009.

Darwin 200th Anniversary issue. Gibraltar Phillatelic Buereau.

Italian critical edition and translation of Variation, 2009.

James Taylor. The Voyage of the Beagle Darwin's extraordinary voyage aboard FitzRoy's famous survey ship. Anova.

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. December 2008.

Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man by Tim M. Berra

Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book: Revived and Illustrated by Dusha Bateson

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Darwin and Faulkner's Novels: Evolution and Southern Fiction by Michael Wainwright

More than Darwin: An Encyclopedia of the People and Places of the Evolution-Creationism Controversy by Randy Moore and Mark D. Decker

Darwin and the Bible: The Cultural Confrontation by Richard H. Robbins and Mark Na Cohen

Darwin's Origin of Species: A condensed version of the first edition of 1859 edited by R.W. Sheldon

Darwin's Illness by Ralph Colp, Jr.

On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition edited by David Quammen

Darwin's Garden: An Evolutionary Perspective by NYBG and David Kohn

The Aliveness of Plants: The Darwins at the Dawn of Plant Science by Peter Ayres

The Cambridge Companion to the 'Origin of Species' by Robert J. Richards and Michael Ruse

Charles Darwin by Michael Ruse

Jane Austen & Charles Darwin: Naturalists and Novelists by Peter W. Graham

José Luis Arsuaga, ed. El naturalista. Charles Darwin. Tf. Editores (Spain)

Happy birthday Charles Darwin (book planned by Shrewsbury).

R. Milner. Darwin’s Universe.

'The journal Science & Education will be publishing a special anniversary issue(s) ... Researchers working on areas related to Darwinism and evolution education are invited to contribute. As noted in the announcement (available at: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~rudged/darwin.html), a science education perspective is welcome but not necessary. The due date for submissions ... 31 Dec 2008 so as to encourage high quality contributions from as many scholars as possible...David Rudge (david.rudge@wmich.edu) & Kostas Kampourakis (kkamp@ath.forthnet.gr)'

Journal of Victorian Studies a 2009 special on 'Darwin and the evolution of Victorian studies' edited by Jonathan Smith.

International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Special Darwin issue.

The Lancet is preparing a Darwin issue.

A volume of collected papers edited by Duncan Porter. Society of the History of Natural History and Edinburgh University Press, October 2009.

Films, documentaries & performances:

4 -11 August 2008. 'The Origin of Species', presented by Richard Dawkins. Channel 4 Television, Monday 8PM.

January 2009. Four part series on Charles Darwin with Melvyn Bragg. BBC Radio 4.

'Re:Design' by Craig Baxter, based on the correspondence between Darwin and Asa Gray. Read more on the Correspondence website.

Darwin's Garden. BBC2

Sir David Attenborough is making a documentary on Darwin for the BBC.

Annie's box. (Film produced by Jeremy Thomas, written by John Collee) Based on the book by Randal Keynes.

The Open University is producing a television series and a course about the modern relevance of Darwin’s legacy.

“Lost Paradise” Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle and the origin of the theory of evolution. Monaco Films.

2009 Fathom Media (Australia) is making a documentary on Darwin and his life.

A film on Darwin and FitzRoy on the Beagle. Windfall Films.

Gulbenkian theatre, cinema and cafe bar, Canterbury.

Darwin's worms (play to be performed across the north of England by bent architect).

Bronze statue of a student Darwin by Anthony Smith commissioned by Christ's College, Cambridge. here

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File last updated 22 August, 2008