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1 November 2009

ORIGINS - University’s 5th annual Culture Day

Event - Wednesday November 4th, Tower Building

From the origins and evolution of life and earth and Dundee’s links to Charles Darwin, to the way some of our most venerable institutions such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra have developed and grown, the University of Dundee’s fifth annual Culture Day promises a rich and varied treat this week.

Based this year on the theme of ‘Origins’, the Culture Day is a free event open to the public and features talks, film, music and drama, each delivered in snappy 15-minute bursts. It takes place on Wednesday November 4th in the University Tower Building.

'Every year we try to choose a theme that can be taken in all manner of fascinating directions,' says Matthew Jarron, co-organiser of the event. 'Origins ties in nicely with the Year of Homecoming and the Darwin 200 anniversary, but as the programme shows it can be interpreted in many other ways.'

The afternoon starts by exploring Dundee’s links to Darwin - two of the University’s early Professors, D’Arcy Thompson and Patrick Geddes, knew and corresponded with Charles Darwin.

Dr Keith Skene, of the College of Life Sciences, will then present his new theory of evolution, as featured in his new book 'Shadows On The Cave Wall'.

The rest of the afternoon features contributions from staff across the University, including views on architecture and town planning, the Botanic Garden’s 'Garden of Evolution', the origins of the RSNO, and a presentation of the medieval mystery play 'The Creation Pageant' by JOOT Theatre Company.

The development of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design is among the other subjects being explored, and there is an accompanying exhibition in the Lamb Gallery marking the centenary of the Duncan of Jordanstone bequest.

Artist Janey Muir has been commissioned to create a special limited-edition lithographic print for the event, which will be given free to the first 50 people to attend.

All who attend the Culture Day are also invited to a reception in the Lamb Gallery at the end of the day, with guest speaker Professor Georgina Follett, Deputy Principal of the University and Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, who will formally open the Duncan of Jordanstone exhibition.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The full programme is as follows:

  • 1.30 Dundee's Links to Darwin
    Matthew Jarron (Museum Services)
    Two of the University's early professors, D'Arcy Thompson and Patrick Geddes, knew and corresponded with Charles Darwin. This presentation explores these connections and looks at how Thompson's theories of mathematical biology were seen as an alternative to Darwinian evolution.
  • 1.45 Shadows on the Cave Wall: a new theory of evolution
    Keith Skene (Life Sciences / Continuing Education)
    Keith's radical book presents a completely new theory about how life evolved and how our planet functions. Demonstrated by a giant inflatable snow globe, he will examine the evidence supporting his theory. Keith will also be available at the interval to sign copies of his book.
  • 2.00 The Origins of Heritage: Changing Views of the Past
    Neil Grieve (Town & Regional Planning)
    Looking at the development of our concept of heritage and the development of building conservation as we know it today.
  • 2.15 Evolution in the Making
    Alasdair Hood (Botanic Garden)
    Exploring the development of the Garden of Evolution at the University's Botanic Garden and the evolutionary story it tells.
  • 2.30 Refreshments
  • 2.50 Artist's Talk
    Janey Muir (Fine Art)
    Master of Fine Art student Janey Muir will talk about the limited edition lithographic print she has created for this event - part of a series of works in which the artist considers the animal characteristics of herself and her family.
  • 3.05 Origin and Origination: A Sceptical View
    Prof Nicholas Davey (Philosophy)
    A brief reflection on the meaning of the concepts origin and origination, the difficulties of applying the term origin, and why in the Humanities the concept of origination is always forward-looking.
  • 3.20 One Art College, Many Origins! The Origins and Evolution of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
    Kenneth Baxter (Archive Services)
    Using archival sources, this talk looks at the complicated origins and development of the Art College from its beginnings in the late 19th century to its official emergence as an independent college in 1975.
  • 3.35 The Origins of the RSNO
    Graeme Stevenson (Music)
    Follow the rise from amateur music making in the 18th century in Edinburgh to the blossoming of Scotland's professional orchestras in the 20th century
  • 3.50 Refreshments
  • 4.10 Rejecting Origins: Scotland's Architecture 1760-1820
    Charles McKean (History)
    This talk will look at how Scottish architects rejected their ancestry and aimed to create a new Scottish civil society from Greek and Roman models.
  • 4.25 Under the Covers and Between the Sheets: Secrets within Books
    Emma Fraser (Book & Paper Conservation Studio)
    Find out how the conservation of books provides us with historical evidence that goes beyond the text.
  • 4.40 'Thank Darwin I'm Am Atheist': Darwin, Evolution and Natural Selection in the Films of Peter Greenaway
    Brian Hoyle (English)
    Peter Greenaway's aesthetically and intellectually challenging films often present a world in which logic has replaced feelings, fact has replaced faith and Darwin has replaced God. This talk will examine the role that Darwin and his theories have played in Greenaway's films.
  • 4.55 The Creation pageant
    JOOT Theatre Company
    A dramatised reading of a mediaeval Mystery play from the Towneley cycle about the Creation and Fall of Man.
  • 5.30 End

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277