Together with Eduardo Neiva (below), I have finished writing
The Great Chain of Communication: Human Evolution’s Driving Force. The book tells the story of human evolution from a communication perspective.
Communication has not been given sufficient attention by natural scientists despite the fact that it drives the two fundamental principles of evolution: natural and sexual selection. At the same time, evolutionary theory has been completely left out of communication theory. In the book, we trace the role of communication in evolutionary processes from their origins, focusing on survival, sex, culture, morality, belief, change, and hope. We offer a novel, necessary, and provocative perspective on human evolution and cultural development—past, present, and future.
I spent a couple weeks at the Technological Institute of Monterrey campus in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico for the first time in February and March. Designated an “Academic Leader,” I gave a series of lectures in courses that included “Cultural Studies,” “International Communication,” “Mass Communication,” and “Qualitative Research Methods,” and made a presentation (
conferencia) on material in my new book on evolutionary communication to 150 faculty and students in the Department of Social Sciences. That presentation was covered by the press in Chihuahua. Spanish speakers can read the newspaper report and review of the presentation
here.
I had looked forward to participating in the Darwin Festival in Cambridge, England, for the past two years for good reason. The Festival was truly one of the most intellectually stimulating and meaningful experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone who attended had pretty much the same reaction. The week-long event was held last July. It was organized by Cambridge University (where Darwin got his degree) to celebrate the great naturalist’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of publication of
The Origin of Species. Particularly brilliant among the tremendous speakers were Richard Dawkins, Steve Jones, Janet Browne, Dan Dennett, Robert May, Chris Stringer, Sarah Hrdy, and Randolph Nesse. I post some observations about why we should celebrate evolutionary theory this year
here. Post-festival musings can be found at the Festival website:
www.darwin2009.cam.ac.uk
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Chatting with Janet Browne, Darwin’s renowned biographer, at the Darwin Festival in Cambridge, UK. Browne’s masterful two-volume biography, Voyaging and The Power of Place and her new book, Darwin’s Origin of Species, are superb introductions to the life and work of Charles Darwin. |
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Hanging out with Charles Darwin at the Natural History Museum, London. The museum introduces visitors to the principles of evolutionary theory with many interactive exhibits. How deeply religious people can visit museums like this and then promptly ignore the proven scientific data and continue to believe in their religious fantasies seems to be a great mystery. The answer to the riddle, of course, lies in the effectiveness and power of religion’s social functionality which is itself an evolutionary adaptation! |
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Charles Darwin visited the London Zoo frequently. Evolutionary theory was mightily influenced by the gorillas he saw at the zoo. Visitors today are asked to notice the similarities between gorillas and humans, the same resemblance that impressed Darwin so much. His perceptions of similarities among apes coincided with the massive evidence he was gathering from all over the world. |
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The London Zoo encourages visitors to go “Walking with Darwin” throughout the grounds. Informative signs describe the principles of evolutionary theory and natural selection in ways that link displays at the zoo with the facts of human heredity. This sign in front of the gorilla exhibit explains that all living creatures are related to each other, that humans are not separate from other animals, and that every animal group has evolved from an earlier group. “We are great apes,” it says, “and share a common ancestor with the other great apes, including gorillas...” |
The US Department of State sent me to the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile in July and August on a Speaker and Specialist’s Grant. I gave the keynote address to a seminar on Media Education sponsored by the Chilean National Television Council. I also presented my latest scholarly work, including a discussion of the material from
The Great Chain of Communication, to Diego Portales University, Finis Terrae University, Mayor University, University of Development, and the University of The Andes. I consulted with faculty at Alberto Hurtado University on current trends in media and media education and gave interviews to various media outlets in Santiago.
The last time I visited Chile on a Speaker and Specialist’s Grant was 2005. George Bush had just been re-elected and had recently visited Chile. This time I arrived just six months after Barack Obama took office. What a difference it makes to represent the United States now compared to then! The deep cynicism of the Bush years has been replaced by the intelligence and hopefulness of the Obama administration. It was comforting and inspiring to feel proud of my country again.
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Santiago. The beauty of the Cordillera embraces the city, especially during the winter. Some of Charles Darwin’s early insights came from his stops in Chile during his five year trip around the world aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. The geological stratification of Chile’s Andean mountain range gave clues as to the actual age of the Earth, which completely discredits the creationist myth. |
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Presenting the main arguments from The Great Chain of Communication: The Promise of Human Evolution in Spanish to graduate students, faculty, and visitors at Diego Portales University. |
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Chile takes media education seriously. Speaking on the “Personalization of Contemporary Communication Practices” at a seminar organized by Chile’s National Television Council, Santiago, in July. |
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Spanish speaker/readers may want to check out this link to the Journalism School at Alberto Hurtado University, Santiago, Chile, where I consulted on trends in communication and journalism. The director of the School is the well-known journalist, Andrea Vial. http://www.puroperiodismo.cl/?p=1997 |
Public Speaking: The Evolving Art–-a textbook I co-authored with Stephanie Coopman—will go into a second edition to be published in January, 2011. Packaged as an interactive book and website that offers a fresh approach for teaching public speaking, the first edition has drawn lots of classroom adoptions throughout the United States. It's the first volume to combine the latest trends in popular culture with information technology and popular media as cornerstones for an instructional approach to public speaking, and features the “Speech Buddies”—student mentors that guide learners through the entire process of effectively developing and presenting a speech. Find out more about this project at:
Coopman and Lull.
The fully revised and updated second edition of Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach continues to attract readers from around the world. The cover features the outstanding artwork of the Canadian artist, René Milot (below). This work first appeared in National Geographic magazine. It nicely captures the cultural fusion of mass media and information technology, which is a main theme of the book.
The artwork is part of a "A Look at Life Through the Ages," and denotes the world's most important cities at the beginning of the three millennia. New York City was selected to be featured for the year 2000. National Geographic's description of Milot's painting is the following:
"A young woman sits in her basement apartment, window barred against urban threats. When not out with friends, she is connected to the world via computer, cell phone, television, and radio - living life remotely, in a barrage of information. A caged iguana, dusty telescope, and potted plant hint at the natural world she has little time to enjoy. Cultural trinkets litter her room, as disposable as a pizza box. Craving stimulation, she wouldn't dream of living anywhere else."
