OpenEvo

OpenEvo

The Jena Declaration

To mark the 112th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society in Jena, the Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research of Friedrich Schiller University Jena is organising an evening event on the subject of ‘Jena, Haeckel and the question of human races, or racism creates races’.

The joint declaration below provides information on this topic and was approved by the German Zoological Society and the President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, who support the authors in their effort to act against scientific legitimations of racism.

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Evolving Minds: Learning as Evolution, Evolution as Learning

This article explores the relationship between the scientific and vernacular use of the evolution concept as it relates to individual and social learning processes. We argue that the systematic exploration of learning as an evolutionary process, and evolution as a learning process holds untapped educational potential, a potential that is hampered by systemic conceptual biases among mainstream evolution educators. 

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Eirdosh, D., Hanisch, S. (2023). A Community Science Model for Inter-disciplinary Evolution Education and School Improvement. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_7

The Community Science Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology is developing a unique model of Community-Based Cultural Evolution (CBCE) for inter-institutional collaboration at the intersection of evolution education and applied school improvement efforts. Using advances in teaching for conceptual understanding and transfer of learning, the CBCE model aims to empower students to clarify, investigate, and collaboratively influence the cultural evolutionary dynamics of their own school and surrounding communities.

Eirdosh, D., Hanisch, S. (2023). A Community Science Model for Inter-disciplinary Evolution Education and School Improvement. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_7 Read More »

Czaczkes, T.J. (2022) Advanced cognition in ants. Myrmecological News.

Interest in the advanced cognitive abilities of insects has grown rapidly over the past decades. However, most studies have taken place on a handful of model organisms: fruit flies, honey bees, and bumblebees. Ants are in many ways ideal models for the study of cognition, offering a wide range of ecologies, often coupled with ease of training and maintenance. This review aims to collate the often disparate research on advanced cognition in ants.

Czaczkes, T.J. (2022) Advanced cognition in ants. Myrmecological News. Read More »