Chapel Library

In American culture, the teaching of evolution in schools is the poster-child for conflict between faith and science. Join us as Liz Barnes, MS, shares her research into how to approach an audience whose faith-based world view may fundamentally conflict with a world view founded on scientific understanding. Ms. Barnes will address three questions: how can people of faith reconcile their religious beliefs with evolution? What responsibility do biology instructors have to address students’ religious beliefs when teaching evolution? And finally, how can the scientific community improve their communication strategies when teaching evolution to a public that is largely of a Christian faith background?

Liz Barnes is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, PhD student in Biology and Society at Arizona State University. Her work has been featured in Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dissent-with-modification-soothing-evolution-religion-tensions-in-the-classroom1/), on NPR (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ca91PRYwa0), and the BBC podcast “Science in Action” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hoK7UCRbbM). Outside of science, she enjoys karaoke, adores her two Maine Coone cats, and is expecting her first child with her husband.