KLI Mendel symposium
Mendel's Legacy in Science and Society
HISTORY, BIOLOGY, SCIENCE EDUCATION, MEDICINE, AND SOCIETY
Organized by Barbara Fischer, Lynn Chiu, and Philipp Mitteroecker
(University of Vienna)
(University of Vienna)
The long-reaching impact of Gregor Johann Mendel (and different interpretations of "Mendelism") go beyond the academic discipline of genetics. In this public symposium, we invite scholars to share their reflections on the legacy of Mendel's work in the history of science, in the biological sciences, in the education and communication of science, in medicine, and also in social policies and society. The symposium is organized by the University of Vienna and was hosted, in-person, at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI).
News
Our videos are now online! Watch the full playlist here on the KLI Youtube channel.
Videos
Schedule
Dates: october 13-14th, 2022
Time: 9:30-17:00 (CET)
Time: 9:30-17:00 (CET)
Location: The KLI
Martinstrasse 12, 3400 Klosterneuburg
Martinstrasse 12, 3400 Klosterneuburg
By train: S40 (S-Bahn) to Klosterneuburg Kierling Bahnhof
By bus: Klosterneuburg-Kierling Bahnhof (Niedermarkt)
Live streamed & open to the public
Each session will be 40 minutes long: a 30 minute talk with a 10 minute discussion period. Lunch will be catered.
Day 1, October 13th, Thursday
9:00 Arrival
9:30
Barbara Fischer & Lynn Chiu: Welcoming remarks
Gerd Müller (President of the KLI): Welcome address
9:40 Blanka Křížová (Mendel Museum)
G. J. Mendel – the Story of a Humble Genius
10:20 Greg Radick (University of Leeds)
The Gregor Johann of history and the Mendel of faith:
Reflections for a bicentennial
11:00-11:20 Coffee break
11:20 Barbara Fischer (University of Vienna)
How Mendel became a scientist
12:00 Amir Teicher (Tel Aviv University)
Social Mendelism
12:40 - 14:00 lunch break
14:00 Maria Kronfeldner (Central European University)
Genes and us
14:40 Eva Jablonka (Tel Aviv University)
What is inherited and how?
15:20-15:40 coffee break
15:40 Isabella Sarto-Jackson (KLI)
Patchwork Minds: How Mendelian, Non-Mendelian, as well as Non-Genetic Inheritance Shape the Human Brain
16:20 Lynn Chiu (University of Vienna)
Engaging with the science of inheritance in informal science spaces
Day 2, October 14th, Friday
9:00 Arrival
9:30 Welcome back!
9:40 Christian Bertsch (ISTA)
Teaching science as process and method of thinking –
learnings from G. Mendel
10:20 Brian Donovan (BSCS)
Genetics education needs to move beyond Mendel to combat white supremacy
11:00-11:20 Coffee break
11:20 Kostas Kampourakis (University of Geneva)
Getting Mendel right: How the stereotypical teaching of Mendelian genetics in schools distorts both science and history
12:00 Markus Hengstschläger (Medical University of Vienna)
Medical genetics - quo vadis?
12:40 - 14:00 lunch break
14:00 - 15:00 Round-table discussion (only in person)
Speakers
Head of Science Education at ISTA, formerly Prof. for Biology Didactics at PH Vienna
Project Co-lead, Researcher and Science Communicator at the Dept. of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna
Senior Research Scientist at BSCS Science Learning
Project Lead and Researcher at the Dept. of Evolutionary Biology at University of Vienna
Prof. and Head of the Dept. of Medical Genetics at the Medical University of Vienna
Emeritus Prof. of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel Aviv University
Researcher in Biology Education at University of Geneva
Director of the Mendel Museum at Masaryk University
Prof of Philosophy at Central European University
Prof. of History and Philosophy of Science at University of Leeds
Vice-President of the Austrian Neuroscience Association and Executive Manager at Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research
Prof. of History at Tel Aviv University
PANDEMIC SAFETY MEASURES
The symposium is currently designed to run both in-person and as a live-stream event. We will also publish professional recordings of the talks. In the event of a surge in COVID cases, we will limit the in-person event to a smaller, closed audience and follow standard practices to help maintain a safer environment. Masks, especially FFP2 masks, are heavily encouraged.
Mendel's World, or Gardens in the air
an illustration by Anna Zeligowski
poem by Jane Monet
Gardens in the air (To abbot Cyril Napp and Gregor Mendel)
Jane Monet
Limping, busy, haughty
The abbot liked the boy:
The striving, the despair
The naughty wit
The lonely eye
The anguish and the flair.
Asker of great questions,
The abbot threw the bait:
What is inherited?
And how?
And watched:
The boy’s unfolding fate
The silent vow
The brewing answer
As sure as his checkmate
The abbot knew:
With things that grow
The boy won’t rush the seasons
He dug, collected seeds
Unlocked the bud,
Precise, alert and slow
He counted
And he reasoned.
The abbot felt:
The weight and horror of his shame
The lead taste of depression
He craved a den, a hole, a lair
Weeds grew
The garden needed care
The pattern did reveal
A mathematical progression
The abbot guessed:
His art will thrive
And the vortex of time
Will hurl gardens into the air,
Moss-covered fragments
Bees and fuchsias
Peas and mice
An endless fair