UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Center for Human Evolution and Diversity (CHED), housed in the College of the Liberal Arts, will host two events in conjunction with this year’s annual Darwin Day celebration.
Agustín Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Princeton University, will deliver the 2026 Darwin Day Lecture at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium at University Park. According to Fuentes, the lecture, titled “Sex is Bodies, Behaviors and Lives: The Biological Limits of the Binary and the Benefits of a Spectrum Approach,” seeks to bring lucidity and reason to a contentious issue and clarify why the binary view of sex and gender may not only be misguided but also harmful.
Fuentes will then join Hil Malatino, Penn State professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and philosophy, and Michel Lee Garrett, author, editor and LGBTQIA+ advocate, for a panel discussion titled “Beyond the Binary: Evolution, Identity, and the Rebellion of Becoming Human,” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in 112 Chambers Building at Penn State University Park. The panel will examine how evolutionary concepts direct our understanding of modern life, identity and justice and will engage with each other and address questions from attendees on a range of topics to gender/sex-related variation, experiences, and social issues in the past, present and future.
Darwin Day is an international celebration held each year near Charles Darwin’s birthday — Feb. 12, 1809 — to recognize his contributions to science and to promote science in general. This year’s Penn State celebration is co-sponsored by CHED and the Rock Ethics Institute.
Both events are free, open to the public, and offer in-person and virtual attendance options; however, advanced registration is encouraged. Please contact CHED at ched@psu.edu if you have any questions or seek additional information.