When you say that the UNST404B course in 2009 was …

Comment on LSU undergraduate biology bulletin by John.

When you say that the UNST404B course in 2009 was “exclusively dedicated to presenting the evidence for the theory of evolution,” I did not find the syllabus to be evidence of that. Based on the syllabus and book list, there seems to be an intended discussion about science and faith. This would seem fitting in a class called the Religious, Social, and Moral Aspects of Biology. In fact, I only saw one of the nine books (at least based on title) that seems to solely focus on evolutionary theory. For a student to take that capstone course, they are also using all of their learning and experience from the LSU general education program and everything they learned in their other Biology courses. The syllabus even shows in the first two core objectives for the course that students should be able to understand, discuss, and synthesize I. Scientific evidence of the natural history and evolution of life on earth…and II. The emerging dialogue between science and religion…

I find, at least from reviewing the syllabus, that this would be a fitting capstone course for the program. I think that too many are looking at this with such a lens of bias that unless the course objective is to “make every student believe that creation is right and evolution is wrong,” then LSU must be forcing students to believe the opposite.

Furthermore, I would certainly appreciate a link to the biology section of a bulletin from an SDA university which shows the desired level of support for a recent creation.

John Also Commented

LSU undergraduate biology bulletin
Shane, I was not in the Biology Capstone course last year, so I do appreciate you taking the time to ask some students about the actual course experience. And I agree with you that it is possible to have discussions on faith and science without promoting a recent 6-day creation. It is just as possible to discuss faith and science without promoting evolution. The difference is that you posted the syllabus as evidence that evolution is exclusively promoted. I still did not find that to be the case based upon what I found in the syllabus. If the actual course experience does not reflect the syllabus, students should bring that concern to their department chair and request that the syllabus and experience be appropriately aligned.

I also appreciated you posting a link to the SWAU bulletin. Under “Aims of the Department” (Biology), it included “to prepare students to respond intelligently to Creation/Evolution issues.” That was the only use of “creation”. Did you find this statement to be enough evidence of support in a university bulletin of clear support and promotion of a recent creation? There was also a course listed entitled “Philosophy of Science” which is described as “A study of the philosophies and methodologies of science. Includes a review of the history of scientific and religious thought and the role each has played in the development of modern theories of origin. If you could obtain a syllabus for that course, I would appreciate reading it.

Personally, I don’t think it is the role of a professor to “promote” anything. When I was a Biology major at LSU just a few years ago, the professors engaged us in the tools and methods biologists use to better measure, analyze, and understand the world around us today. They find more value in having us explore and test our ideas than telling use what is right and wrong. Focus was placed on the questions we ask in biology and the ways we approach searching for the answers. It was not, however, about telling us the exact answer to all of those questions. I don’t think the LSU Biology professors “promote” creation or evolution. If anything, they only promote the study of biology.

Sometimes a professor may need feedback on improving a course experience. Sometimes there will be a student in a capstone course after a full sequence of biology courses, who submits a paper full of plagarized content pasted from a website about evolution being wrong, and blames the professor’s hatred for creationism as the reason for his/her poor grade. Either way, it is important for all of us to think carefully about the evidence presented to us and the comments presented along with them. That goes for the students and professors at LSU in terms of how Biology is taught, and for those of us reading the content on this site as well.