The Fall 2006 Difficult Dialogues series aims to engender an informative and civil dialogue about some difficult and volatile issues in American society. The series will present diverse views on the proper roles of reason and faith in the human enterprise, from knowledge discovery to our sense of place and purpose in the universe. Speakers will also take part in a colloquium on the morning following their lectures.

Difficult Dialogues is sponsored by The Commons, a joint venture of the Hall Center for the Humanities and the Biodiversity Institute.

This material may be downloaded for personal use only. No material, in part or in whole, from this site may be copied, distributed, transmitted, published, or used for commercial or non-commercial purposes without the express written permission of the Hall Center for the Humanities.

The following links will play the lectures using the free RealPlayer software available for Windows PC and Macintosh. Click here to download the software.

Kenneth Miller, Professor of Biochemistry, Brown University
“God, Darwin, and Design: Creationism’s Second Coming"
September 7, 2006, Kansas Union Ballroom

Judge John E. Jones, III, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
"Judicial Independence and Kitzmiller v. Dover et al"
September 26, 2006, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union

Os Guinness, Sociologist & Author; Co-Founder of The Trinity Forum
"A World Safe for Diversity: Living with our Deepest Differences in an Age of Exploding Pluralism"
October 3, 2006, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union

Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University
"The God Delusion"
October 16, 2006, Lied Center

Eugenie Scott, Director, National Center for Science Education
"Faith, Reason, and Assumption in Understanding the Natural World"
November 16, 2006, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union

Michael Behe, Professor of Biology, Lehigh University
“The Argument for Intelligent Design in Biology”
December 7, 2006, Crafton-Preyer Theatre, Murphy Hall

Panel Discussion on Knowledge: Faith & Reason
December 7, 2006, Hall Center Conference Hall
Sue Gamble, Kansas State Board of Education
Scott Jones, Bishop, United Methodist Church, Kansas Area
Richard Lariviere, Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost
Derek Schmidt, Simons Public Humanities Fellow & Majority Leader of the Kansas State Senate
Edward O. Wiley, Professor/Senior Curator, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology