Protesters disrupted an An evening with Richard Dawkins and P. Z. Myers on Thursday 9th June 2011 at the Institute of Education in Bloomsbury. The evening was organised by the British Humanist Association.
Richard Dawkins (below) – evolutionary biologist, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, and former Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science - is arguably the best-known of the new college’s starry academic line-up. P. Z. Myers, Professor of biology at University of Minnesota Morris, blogger and activist for evolution in the USA, has no involvement with the college.
Richard Dawkins (Photo: S. Klinge)
Click here for audio from the event provided by the Pod Delusion (episode 88), including Richard Dawkins’s response to protesters.
This follows Tuesday’s smoke bomb protest at an appearance by A. C. Grayling, Master and public face of the New College of the Humanities, at Foyles book store (below). Grayling has subsequently defended the new institution in the Guardian newspaper.
(Photo: S. Klinge)
A. C. Grayling (Photo: S. Klinge)
The New College of the Humanities has been a lightning rod for debate and criticism since its unveiling last weekend. Questions remain over alleged plagiarism of course materials, doubts over the number of contact hours with the glamorous academic guest staff, and the appropriateness of an £18,000 annual tuition fee in the current economic climate. Funding for general university places in arts, social sciences and humanities courses has been cut by the government, exacerbating this issue further.
It seems this controversy is not going to die down anytime soon.
Photos by Sven Klinge
(please credit photographer & website when using these photos)
Posted on June 10, 2011
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