A Sustainable Consumer Culture? Is that Possible?
Presented by Dr. Richard WilkIU Department of Anthropology
We live on a planet where there are simply not enough resources for everyone to enjoy the consumer lifestyle of prosperous Americans. Is it possible to lower our impact on the environment, becoming green consumers, so we can continue to enjoy our comforts without destroying the planet at the same time? Many people argue that it should be up to individuals to make the right choices, and that free markets are the best way to promote sustainability. I will talk about experiences with 'green consumerism' in Europe and the USA, and open up a discussion of what other kinds of options might be open to us.
Thursday, February 11, 2010Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose
presented by Dr. Lee Alan DugatkinDepartment of Biology, University of Louisville
All Science Cafes are held at BORDERS in the Seattle's Best Cafe, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
"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 Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Immanuel Kant, John Keats and Lord Byron entering the fray. Eventually the degeneracy argument died; but it did not die an easy death.
Read more about the book and author.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
White poison or doing bodies good?
Relationships between cow's milk consumption and human biology
presented by Dr. Andrea WileyIU Department of Anthropology
Growing up in the United States, most of us have been told: ÒDrink your milk!Ó If we stubbornly refuse or ask why, weÕre admonished that drinking milk will Òhelp us growÓ or Ògrow strong bones.Ó These are ubiquitous messages in the U.S. and many other countries, especially those with well established dairy industries, and increasingly in countries where milk has not traditionally been produced or consumed. In this presentation I will explore the diverse biological and cultural meanings of cow's milk, and consider the ways in which milk is a food quite different from other foods in our diet, one likely to have an array of biological effects. I will focus on population variation in milk digestion and the relationship between milk and child growth.