The Journal of Law and Public Policy, published at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, will host a fall symposium, “Intelligent Design and the Constitution,” from 9:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the Frey Moot Courtroom of at the School of Law, located on St. Thomas’ downtown Minneapolis campus.
The symposium, free and open to the public, will bring together scholars to debate and analyze various constitutional and philosophical issues surrounding evolutionism and intelligent design, particularly as they affect U.S. public schools. C.L.E. credits have been applied for. For more information, call John Sandy, (651) 245-0199.
Symposium speakers include:
- Dr. Peter Hess, Faith Project director at the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the teaching of evolution in public schools. An adjunct liberal studies faculty member at St. Mary’s College in Morega, Calif., he is a member of the International Society of Science and Religion and co-author of Catholicism and Science (Greenwood, 2008).
- Casey Luskin, an attorney who is a program officer in public policy and legal affairs for the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank best known for its advocacy of intelligent design.
- Dr. Thomas Sullivan, a professor of philosophy at St. Thomas, where he holds the Aquinas Chair in Philosophy and Theology and is an associate editor of Logos, the university’s journal of Catholic studies.
- Russell Pannier, professor emeritus of law at William Mitchell College of Law, where he taught for nearly 30 years. His areas of expertise include American legal history and constitutional law.
- Patrick Gillen, an assistant professor of law at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla. As an attorney he practiced in the area of civil litigation for 15 years. Most recently, he served as litigation counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based nonprofit, public interest law firm dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians.