Controversies over the teaching of evolution in public schools have rocked the nation over the past century. Evolution’s foes have consistently used the same arguments, but their ambitions have shifted, from banning the teaching of evolution through balancing it with a supposed alternative to belittling it as scientifically disputed. In this talk, Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) discusses the causes, history, and consequences of these controversies, explain the encouraging developments in evolution education over the last fifteen years as revealed by a recent study conducted by NCSE, and discuss what humanists have done, and can continue to do, to help.
