Faculty Research Forums
Faculty Research Forum is a forum for talks by our faculty and the occasional guest on humanities and social science topics of interest to interdisciplinary audiences. These forums are sponsored by the Commonwealth Center with assistance from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Faculty Research Forums are held in the Bingham Humanities Building, Room 300 and begin at 3:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Upcoming Faculty Research Forums for Fall 2009
November 6
Lee Dugatkin, Biology Department
"Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose"
Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose is a tale of both natural history and American history. What started out in the Revolutionary War era as an international dispute over natural history quickly took on important political overtones. The story revolves around three fascinating individuals. One of these characters -- Thomas Jefferson -- is known to every schoolchild. The other two characters -- 1) the French Count and world-renowned naturalist, George-Louis Leclerc Buffon, who claimed that all life in America was "degenerate," weak and feeble, and 2) a very large, dead moose -- are less well known, but equally important to the story. Their interactions lay at the heart of an amazing tale in which Jefferson obsessed over a very large, very dead moose that he believed could help quash early French arrogance toward a fledgling republic in America, and demonstrate that a young America was every bit the equal of a well-established Europe. Despite Jefferson's passionate refutation, the theory of degeneracy far outlived Buffon and Jefferson; indeed, it seemed to have had a life of its own. It continued to have scientific, economic and political implications for 100 years, and also began to works its way into the literature of the day, with folks like Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Immanuel Kant, and John Keats entering the fray. Eventually the degeneracy argument died; but it did not die an easy death.
This is event is open to Faculty, Students, Staff, and the Public.
Click here to see a flyer for this event
