Scientia panel to debate ‘Lucy’ controversy

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– August 29, 2007Posted in: Current News

Scientia panel to debate ‘Lucy’ controversy

 Lucy
 COURTESY PHOTO
An artist’s rendering
shows Lucy, the fossil remains of a female hominid who lived 3.2
million years ago in Ethiopia.

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff

Rice’s Scientia Institute and the Department of Anthropology are co-hosting a panel discussion Sept. 6 titled “Exhibiting ‘Lucy’: Bones of contention at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.”

The event is timed to complement The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s current exhibit, “Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia,” which is the first viewing outside Ethiopia of the 3.2-million-year-old fossils. The decision to take “Lucy” out of Ethiopia has generated controversy, which the Rice session will address.

The Scientia discussion begins at 7 p.m. in McMurtry Auditorium at Rice’s Duncan Hall. Jeffrey Fleisher, assistant professor of anthropology, will be joined on the panel by Jonathan Kappelman, professor of anthropology, University of Texas, Austin; Gezahgen Kebede, honorary consul general of Ethiopia; Rebecca Storey, professor of anthropology, University of Houston; and Dirk Van Tuerenhout, curator of anthropology, Houston Museum of Natural Science. Susan McIntosh, professor of anthropology at Rice, will moderate the panel discussion, which is free and open to the public.

For more on the exhibit, go to http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/special_exhibits/Lucy.asp?r=1.

Companion course offered for Lucy exhibit

Lucy, the celebrated fossilized remains of a female hominid who lived 3.2 million years ago in Ethiopia and on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), has inspired a companion class at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. The class is a six-session companion lecture series to examine the world in which Lucy lived.

The course features lectures from experts such as Elias Bongmba, professor of religious studies at Rice, whose topics will include ”The Socio-Religious Background of Ethiopia” and ”Piety, Power, Ideology and the Construction of the Ethiopian Identity.”

As part of the course, participants will receive a tour of the exhibition guided by Dirk Van Tuerenhout, HMNS curator of anthropology and exhibition curator.

The course, ”Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia,” will meet six Tuesdays, Sept. 18 -Oct. 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The course is open to the public and the fee is $130.

Lectures on Sept. 18 and Oct. 2 will be held on the Rice campus; all others will be held at HMNS.

For detailed information on the lecture series or to register, visit http://gscs.rice.edu/NccCourseView.asp?Mode=View&clCourseID=556 or call 713-348-4803.

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