Thursday, April 25, 2013

Creationism taught as "Science" at Ball State

Jerry Coyne, who wrote the book, Why Evolution is True, uncovered this "Science" course that's really a course in "intelligent design" and creationism.  He posted about it on his blog, and he confirmed it with the head of the Physics & Astronomy department.

Ball State offers a Ph.D. in Science Education!  How can they let a creationism course be listed as a science course???

The course is cross-listed as a science and culture course within the Honors College, but also as Astronomy 151.  The professor who teaches it also teaches Astronomy 100, possibly the only astronomy those students will ever get, and maybe the only science they'll ever get, and students from that class complain about his frequent diversions into Christianity.

Rather than rehash his post, I just urge you to go to the post for the details.  He even has the syllabus posted, with a reprehensible reading list.

I hope they fire the teacher and whoever has been allowing this prosletyzing under the banner of "science" to continue.

7 comments:

L.Long said...

Hey! We are the fastest growing 3rd world theocratic country!! What else do you expect of our places of higher learning?

LadyAtheist said...

I always think of the university (real universities, not "Liberty" university) as being the sanctuary for reason and reality when everyone else is going crazy

Infidel753 said...

What a travesty. Their response to Coyne shows it's not just an asleep-at-the-switch administration to allow one lone nutjob to slip through, but probably an infestation of them.

The creationists keep carrying out these infiltrations of the real educational system here and there, and sensible people have to keep spotting them and squelching them through the courts, as in Dover PA. It's probably a never-ending battle.

LadyAtheist said...

I hope word spreads and the court of public opinion will force their hand. I can't believe the students who are majoring in the hard sciences would approve of their degree being sullied by this shit.

I really hope it's not a true infestation. I hope the response was just a kneejerk defense of academic freedom, with behind-the-scenes bitch-slapping of the offending so-called prof.

Christian said...

Speechless.

L.Long said...

Agree with Infidel. Someone once said it was like playing whack-a-Mole but worse because if you do hit one hard enough then they start crying and saying we are picking on them.

LadyAtheist said...

They're so oppressed boo hoo