This semester's Biology Department Seminar Series will kick offwith a discussion on addiction.
The seminar, which will be given by Guy Mittleman and willanalyze discrepancies in the individual's vulnerability toaddiction, begins at 4 p.m. today in the Ellington Auditorium. Theseminar, which is the first of 12 scheduled on Thursdays this fall,is part of a yearly program of discussions given by the biologydepartment.
"We have always had a seminar series that meets once a week andis attended by faculty, graduate students and many undergraduates,"said Jerry Wolff, chair of the biology department. "In the last fewyears we have attempted to bring in speakers with strong researchcredentials and a national reputation to serve as role models forour students."
Speakers from The University of Memphis as well as neighboringschools will participate in the series.
"Generally, speakers are chosen by selecting experts in relevantresearch areas from nearby colleges and universities," said MichaelFerkin, biology department associate professor.
Science authorities from as far away as Georgia and NorthCarolina will also give seminars throughout the series.
"We select speakers that represent a variety of disciplines, andthis often requires reaching out to universities from around thecountry," Wolff said.
Majoring in biology is not a prerequisite for attending theseminars. In fact, all that is needed to attend the lectures is ageneral sense of curiosity.
"Students outside of the biology department may be interested ina particular topic," Ferkin said. "In addition, students outside ofthe department may be interested in learning about something thatis not familiar."
While some lecture topics may be more appealing to individualtastes than others, there are enough topics to interest even thosestudents representing the antithesis of biological concern.
"Some (seminar topics) are more relevant than others," saidWolff. "For instance, this semester we have a seminar on theevolution of language and speech capacity in humans and another onshark behavior, both of which should be of interest to a large anddiverse audience."
The topics of discussion throughout the seminar series thissemester will cover a very broad amount of biological research.
"We try to select topics to cover all aspects of biology thatare relevant to our faculty and graduate program," Wolff said.
To obtain a schedule of the Biology Department Seminar Series,call the biology department at 678-2581.
"I try to attend every seminar and find something of interest inall of them," said Wolff.
