The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories: EvoLit

Only one week in and a garden of new thoughts are germinating already!  One of the paths I’m curious about is the role of evolution in determining what is POPULAR (the areas where we find agreement) in terms of literature or music or art etc.   We discussed how our diverse perspectives influence how we approach the summaries of our observations of life, where is that place where we come together? Why do we agree? How do we get there? How does “selection” work when it’s a matter of creativity as opposed to literal survival? Given that the universe is so large and constantly expanding, it would follow that there are infinite possibilities in terms of creativity. Why don’t we enjoy and pursue them all equally? 

 Based on my education on the topic of evolution, I have been taught to believe that evolution is exclusively applied to organisms. Darwin's observations and conclusions coupled with Mendel's genetic experiments on living organisms told me that evolution is "survival of the fittest", "natural selection" and that the inheritance of these fit traits are guided by a set of rules and probability. After this first week of class, I found myself thinking too close-minded about this topic. At it's core, evolution is about perpetual changing so the term can generally encompass anything that changes over time such as language and culture. Because my education has always tagged evolution to biology and the Darwinian concepts, my thoughts have been biased.

“The truth about stories is that that's all we are ... The Nigerian storyteller Ben Okri says that .... 'if we change the stories we live by, quite possibly we change our lives.’ ....”
            —Thomas King, The Truth About Stories

 "She's still alive, my invented friend, just as I conceved here, still uncrushed by the need for happier endings.  All writing is rewriting" .... Richard Powers, Generosity, Picador, 2010

Hi,

My name is Kerlyne. I am a Senior Anthropology major and Biology minor at Bryn Mawr College. I have taken previous classes on Evolution in my time here at Bryn Mawr but this class interested me very much in my last semester because it seems to focus on the "story" of evolution. The idea that this may not be set in stone and may change at any moment. I enjoy the notion that one should not take everything as fact and instead, our everyday lives should revolve around collecting observations and making possible stories that serve as explanations. Many of these "stories" seem to have been created solely to find comfort in what is often unknown. I hope to get a greater insight on how stories play a role in science and our everyday lives.

 Hi, my name is Katie and I’m a sophomore at Bryn Mawr. I’m an anthropology major with a biology minor, and have a particular interest in evolution and primatology. I’m excited for this class because I’m hoping it will incorporate both the cultural and biological aspects of anthropology by bringing to light how culture impacts evolution. The writing and the sharing of our ideas is a huge part of our culture, and the evolution of our culture has been crucial to the evolution of our species on a genetic level. As a result, our evolution is not only caused by how the environment changes us, but how we change our environment.         

 Hello! My name is Kati Zaylor, and I am new to Serendip, Professor Grobstein, and Professor Dalke. Therefore I am excited and intrigued about this course and learning more about evolution, biology, and literature. I am a senior and a Theater major, and so I approach this course with a relatively open mind about the way the universe operates. Because I don't understand most science, I am not constrained within the limits of what is and what isn't, and feel as though there are many possibilities and unknowns to the universe. I respect some limits of science, but I will continue to verbally oppose trying to define the undefinable and declaring what is or isn't at times when humans have no place to do so. For example, "The universe doesn't evolve.

Hi! My name is Carson and I'm a freshman at Haverford. I'm planning to double major in biology and English (assuming all of the classes fit into my schedule!), while fulfilling pre-med requirements. My goal is to become a pediatric oncologist. Outside of school I also run track at Haverford, work in the school's career development office and founded an organization that makes hats and blankets for children who have cancer. I'm looking forward to combining aspects of my two majors in a new and interesting way in this class, and engaging in discussions both online and in class to gain new perspectives on the topics from my peers.

 Hi my name is Namratha and i'm a sophomore at Bryn Mawr. I'm a political science and economics double major with a minor in international relations with a concentration in peace and conflict studies. My larger goals in life are to pursue international human rights law and possibly writing. I also love dancing (indian classical), music, and russian literature. On campus I'm part of SAW (south asian women) and the pre-law society. What I'm looking forward to in this class is using nontraditional mediums in an academic environment. I hope that I can participate in some meaningful discussions and learn to see things from a different perspective!