Science is increasingly being politicized and scientists demonized. Meanwhile, what children learn in classrooms and in libraries is also under hostile scrutiny.

Join Professor Margaret Stetz to survey recent British and American books for young readers—many of which are illustrated—to explore what authors are teaching children about Charles Darwin’s life, voyages, discoveries, theories and, more generally, about the role of science in the past and present.

Margaret Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities at the University of Delaware. She has authored more than 120 published articles and chapters on feminist history, fashion, war, Victorian culture, film, Jewish studies, women's literature and other topics. Her newest book, Aubrey Beardsley, 150 Years Young, is the catalogue of a 2022 exhibition at New York's Grolier Club. Stetz is also a poet.

This is the keynote lecture for the University’s 2023 International Darwin Day celebration.