11th EMBL/EMBO Science and Society Conference
The Difference between the Sexes - From Biology to Behaviour
EMBL Heidelberg, Germany Friday 5 November - Saturday 6 November 2010
Programme
Both the evident and the less evident biological differences between the sexes have numerous behavioural repercussions. While such phenomena have been observed and pondered from times immemorial, modern science has produced new and powerful means for elucidating them. The implications at the behavioural level in humans, however, remain a source of recurrent controversy, both within the scientific community as well as among the wider public. Are certain behaviours and thoughts fundamentally male and others essentially female? Is it a fallacy to buy into the idea that biological research could reveal how genes/chromosomes determine our identity, sexual or otherwise? Although most human beings fall genetically into one of two predominant sexual categories, both cultural and biological forces seem to shape them into a surprisingly continuous spectrum of gender. ‘The difference between the sexes’ remains a fascinating, intriguing topic providing an ample space for fruitful discussions.
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Day One: Friday 5 November 2010 |
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| 09.00 - 09.10 | Welcome and Introduction |
| Maria Leptin, Director of EMBO and Halldór Stefánsson, Science and Society Programme Manager, EMBL | |
| 09.10 - 10.00 | Opening Lecture: Donald Pfaff, Rockefeller University, USA |
| Multiple Levels of Determination of Sex Differences in Brain and Behaviour | |
| 10.00 - 10.30 | Coffee Break |
| 10.30 - 12.45 | Session I: Sex and Evolution |
| Chair: Jan Engelstädter, ETH Zürich, Switzerland | |
| Speakers: | |
| Nick Barton, IST, Austria | |
| Why Sex? | |
| Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv University, Israel | |
| Sex determination: an epigenetic perspective | |
| Nick Lane, University College London, UK | |
| The power behind the sexes: why energy coupling requires sexual coupling | |
| 12.45 - 14.15 | Lunch |
| Session II: Sexual divergence in development: Genetic, hormonal and physiological differences | |
| Chair: Melissa Hines, University of Cambridge, UK | |
| Speakers: | |
| David Bainbridge, University of Cambridge, UK | |
| Deciding to be a boy? The history and prehistory of sex determination | |
| Eric Vilain, UCLA, USA | |
| Pink Genes or Blue Genes? A Biological Perspective on Sexual Development | |
| Margaret McCarthy, University of Maryland, USA | |
| Establishing Sex Differences in the Brain: Lessons from Animal Models | |
| 16.30 - 17.00 | Coffee Break |
| 17.00 - 18.30 | Panel Discussion: |
| Nick Barton | |
| Eva Jablonka | |
| Nick Lane | |
| David Bainbridge | |
| Eric Vilain | |
| Margaret McCarthy | |
| 18.30 - 19.30 | Drinks |
| 19.3 - 21.30 | Dinner |
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Day Two: Saturday 6 November 2010 |
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| 09.00 - 09.50 | Opening Lecture: Helen Fisher, Rutgers University, USA |
| Sex Differences in Temperament: How four primary brain systems build gender differences (and similarities) and guide mate choice | |
| 09.50 - 10.20 | Coffee Break |
| 10.20 - 12.35 | Session III: Behavioural and cognitive studies of sexual selection/differences |
| Chair: Frank Cézilly, University of Burgundy, France | |
| Speakers: | |
| Tim R. Birkhead FRS, University of Sheffield, UK | |
| Darwin and Post-Copulatory Sexual Selection | |
| Joanna Setchell, Durham University, UK | |
| Sexual selection in primates | |
| Johan J. Bolhuis, Utrecht University, Netherlands | |
| Evolution, Brain and Behaviour: Pitfalls and Opportunities | |
| 12.35 - 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.00 - 16.15 | Session IV: Rethinking 'maleness' vs. 'femaleness' |
| Chair: Jonathan Marks, UNC-Charlotte, USA | |
| Speakers: | |
| David C. Geary, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA | |
| Evolution and Cultural Expression of Human Sex Differences | |
| Susan Pinker, Columnist, The Globe and Mail, Canada | |
| The Sexual Paradox: Troubled Boys, Gifted Girls, and the Real Difference Between the Sexes | |
| Anne Fausto Sterling, Brown University, USA | |
| Nature OR nurture? It's the wrong question: bringing the debate about difference into a modern framework | |
| 16.15 - 16.45 | Coffee Break |
| 16.45 - 18.15 | Panel Discussion: |
| Tim R. Birkhead FRS | |
| Joanna Setchell | |
| Johan J. Bolhuis | |
| David C. Geary | |
| Susan Pinker | |
| Anne Fausto Sterling | |
| 18.15 - 18.30 | Closing Remarks: Iain Mattaj, Director General, EMBL |