| Day and Date | Readings |
| Tuesday 27 June 2006 | 6:00-7:30 Course ground rules and an introduction to evolution, "Darwin's dangerous idea"
7:30-9:00 The Natural Selection Game and discussion of the results and implications |
| Thursday 29 June 2006 | Dawkins/The Blind Watchmaker Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapters 1 & 2 6:00-7:30: Natural selection and scientific reasoning 7:30-9:00: Discussion of natural selection, scientific method, and philosophy of science |
| Tuesday 4 July 2006 | *NO CLASS; INDEPENDENCE DAY* |
| Thursday 6 July 2006 | Dawkins/The Blind Watchmaker Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 3 & 4 |
| Friday 7 July 2006 | Dawkins/The Blind Watchmaker Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapters 5 & 6 |
| RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE: All students must submit a tentative proposal on Friday 7 July 2006 | |
| Tuesday 11 July 2006 | Behe/"Intelligent Design as an Alternative Explanation for the Existence of Biomolecular Machines" (provided in course packet) Behe/Darwin’s Black Box Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 7 |
| Thursday 13 July 2006 | Behe/Darwin’s Black Box Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 8 |
| Tuesday 18 July 2006 | Dembski/”What Every Theologian Should Know About Creation, Evolution, and Design” (provided in course packet) Dembski/The Design Inference Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapters 9 & 10 |
| Thursday 20 July 2006 | Dembski/The Design Inference Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapters 11 & 12 |
| DRAFT/OUTLINE DUE: All students must submit an outline and references on Thursday 20 July 2006 | |
| Tuesday 25 July 2006 | Discovery Institute/The wedge. Johnson/The Wedge of Truth Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 13 |
| Thursday 27 July 2006 | Johnson/The Wedge of Truth Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 14 |
| Friday 28 July 2006 | Optional barbeque/picnic and campfire at professor's home, beginning at 6 PM |
| Tuesday 1 August 2006 | Ayala/Teleological explanations in evolutionary biology. Binswanger/Life-based teleology and the foundations of ethics. Mayr/Teleological and teleonomic: A new analysis. Nagel/Teleology revisited: Goal-directed processes in biology. |
| Thursday 3 August 2006 | Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005) Judge Jones’ decision. Ruse/Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? chapter 15 |
| RESEARCH PAPER DUE: All assigned written work due by 6:00 PM on Thursday 3 August 2006 | |