The long-standing debate over evolution versus creationism will take center stage at Wayne State University Friday, April 21, when distinguished scholars from WSU and around the country will address various aspects of the issue during a daylong “Religion and Science Conference” in the Bernath Auditorium at the university’s Undergraduate Library. Admission to the 9:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m. event is free and the public is invited.

Among the participants will be keynote speaker Michael Ruse, distinguished professor at Florida State University. He will speak at 1:45 p.m. on “Darwin and the Bible: A Very American Story.” A philosopher, historian of biology and author, Ruse is widely sought after as a speaker and as a guest on interview shows. His books on the relationship between religion and science include Can a Darwinian be a Christian? and The Evolution-Creation Struggle. He also is widely known for his expert testimony in the McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education trial a quarter century ago, where he argued that young-earth creationism was not a science.

Also speaking at the conference, which is being organized by the Religious Studies Program at Wayne State, will be professor Edward Davis, distinguished professor of the history of science, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. At 9:30 a.m., he will discuss the relationship between science and religion and whether scientists and religious authorities can cooperate in educating the public about the content and limits of scientific knowledge.

Other speakers -- all Wayne State professors -- and their topics are as follows:

• (10:30 a.m.) Mark Baskaran; Geology Department; “How Old the Humans and the Earth Are – A Divisive Line Among the Christians.”

• (11:10 a.m.) Herbert Granger; Philosophy Department; “Nature and Divinity in the Earliest Days of Natural Philosophy.”

• (3:25 p.m.) William Moore; Biological Sciences Department; “Natural Law, Uniformitarianism and Science.”

• (2:45 p.m.) Marcus Friedrich; Biological Sciences Department; “Developmental Genetics and the Evolution of Organismic Complexity.”

Professor Bruce Russell of the philosophy department will be the respondent to the last three speakers. This is the first time the annual conference, now in its fourth year, will bring together WSU faculty from both the humanities and sciences, notes professor Kenneth Jackson, director of the Religious Studies Program. “The cross-disciplinary nature of the conference is in keeping with the thrust of the Religious Studies program at Wayne State,” he says. “We examine the world’s religions and their place in world cultures and societies, past and present. Through this conference, the sharing of ideas about the boundaries between religion and science becomes part of the learning experience for those who attend.”

The program will begin at 9:15 a.m. with opening remarks by Wayne State Provost Nancy Barrett. Co-sponsors for the event are the WSU Academy of Scholars and the departments of biological sciences, English and philosophy. For more information, contact Jackson at 313-577-7717 or jacksken@aol.com.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.