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Westbrook Lecture—Beyond the Binaries: The New Science of Sex and Gender
May 29 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
ANNUAL WESTBROOK LECTURE
Beyond the Binaries: The New Science of Sex and Gender with Mallika S. Sarma, Agustín Fuentes, and Nathan H. Lents
Recent executive orders in the United States and Supreme Court decisions in the United Kingdom have claimed a scientific consensus regarding the binary nature of sex and gender. But is that what science actually shows? Far from affirming a simple binary, the past two decades of sex and gender research, in both humans and other animals, has revealed a striking amount of diversity, adaptability, and creativity in the approach to sexed bodies and gendered behaviors.
Biologists have long understood that variation and diversity are the hallmark of life. In fact, the entire reason that sexual reproduction is favored among plants and animals is its tendency to constantly generate and spread variation, leading to a population with a wide diversity of traits. More recently, biologists and anthropologists have begun to appreciate and describe the diversity of sex itself.
For its annual Westbrook Lecture on May 29th, the Wagner will host a panel discussion led by anthropologist Mallika Sarma (University of Pennsylvania) with evolutionary anthropologist Agustín Fuentes (Princeton University) and biologist Nathan H. Lents (CUNY) about the nature, origin, and purpose of sex and gender diversity in humans and other animals. In his new book, The Sexual Evolution, Lents takes readers on a tour through sexual diversity throughout the animal kingdom and explores its many benefits for robust and resilient populations. And Fuentes, in his new book, Sex is a Spectrum, demolishes the notion that biological sex is a simple binary reduced to eggs and sperm. In what is sure to be a lively and surprising discussion, these prominent scientists will explore the science of sex and gender. A book signing and reception with the speakers will follow the talk.
Program Schedule:
Museum open until 5:45 pm.
6 – 7:30 pm: Panel discussion and Q&A in the Lecture Hall.
7:30 – 8:30 pm: Book signing and reception in the Museum.
About the Speakers
Agustín Fuentes is Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University and the author of Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You, Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being. His new book is Sex is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary.
Nathan H. Lents is Professor of Biology at CUNY and the author of Human Errors, Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals, and the newly released The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships.
Mallika S. Sarma is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and formerly a Research Fellow at the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at the Human Spaceflight Lab at John Hopkins University.
About the Annual Westbrook Free Lectureship
Dr. Richard B. Westbrook, Trustee of the Wagner Free Institute of Science from 1884 until his death in 1899, established the Westbrook Free Lectureship as a means to encourage open discourse on scientific subjects, especially “disputed questions in science and theories of Evolution.” Since 1912 when the series began, Westbrook lecturers have included some of the most distinguished scientists and scholars of the past 100 years, among them paleontologist William Berryman Scott, anthropologist Nina Jablonski, and and oceanographer Sylvia Earle.
A dream that keeps growing…
In 1855, William Wagner had a dream of providing free science education to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of background or ability to pay. Today, the Wagner offers more programs to more people than ever before! Your support helps us provide free education, not only through the museum, but through a wide range of courses, lectures, field trips, and children’s science programs. Donations also assist us in caring for the museum and library collections and in preserving our wonderful building, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. To learn more about what we do please visit our website.
Registration Information
In keeping with its original charter, admission to the lecture is free—donations are suggested to ensure the future and quality of Wagner’s free education programs and to preserve its National Landmark building and collections.
Suggested Donations
$10/adult
$5/student
For any questions, please email tickets@wagnerfreeinstitute.org or call 215-763-6529 x17.
If you would like to check your membership status or become a member, please email KellyT@wagnerfreeinstitute.org or call 215-763-6529 x11.
Images:
“Simia Sphinx Linn,” Schreber, Johann Christian Daniel, et al. Mammals in Nature Illustrations, with Descriptions. Expedition of Schreber’s Mammal and Esper’s Butterfly Works, 1774, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31059870.
Human pelvis Illustration