Introduction
This was the first national conference on research paper presentation. The paper presentation was combined with an induction of all the 2024 alumni of Summer Seminar and Africa Focused Seminar on Intelligent Design.
The paper presentation and induction of the alumni took place at Eka Hotel in Eldoret city on 1st November 2024. The function started at 8.30am. Thirteen (13) research paper abstracts had been received, reviewed and twelve approved to proceed to full paper submission stage. Twenty-eight (28) alumni of both Summer Seminar and Africa Focused Seminar on Intelligent Design had been invited.
Paper Presentation
Nine (9) papers were presented during the morning session on different areas relevant to ID. Specifically, the following papers were presented:
- The derailed train of Charles Robert Darwin: “The Question of Human Evolution” – by Dr. Richard Ochieng’
- (Re)thinking Darwinism and Counterarguments from Intelligent Design: Its Impact on Racism and Atheism within the African worldview – by Fr. Martin Tanui
- Beyond Naturalism: The Case for an Intelligent Agent in a Finely-Tuned Universe – by Dr. Lencer Ndede
- Discerning the Nature of the Complex Universe: Following evidence where it leads – by Dr. Morris Mwatu
- Darwin’s “Tree of Life” – is it dying or is it dead? – by Prof. Donald Otieno
- Exploring the Role of the Dove in Intelligent Design: Navigational Precision and Contributions during World Wars – by Dr. Zephaniah Chebii
- Unveiling Nature’s Design: Intelligent Design Manifestations in the Natural World with Special Reference to Bacterial Flagella – by Dr. Ruth Andambi
- Intelligent Design of Cognition and Cross-cultural Worldview: Evidence from the Bilingual Metaphorical Conceptualization of Anger in English and Lukabarasi – by Dr. Benard Mudogo
- Manifestation of Intelligence in Breeding Strategies of Weaverbirds and Tilapia Fish – by Elizabeth Awuor Raburu
Each presentation was followed by a plenary session where participants’ questions and concerns were addressed. All papers presented were relevant to the theory of Intelligent Design. Presenters who were not part of the Board were praised for taking a bold step of reading widely and coming up with papers for presentation.
Induction of Alumni
The alumni of both Summer Seminar and Africa Focused Seminar on Intelligent Design were inducted on the activities of BioCosmos especially those under BCKSC and PLSWC subcommittees. The alumni were taken through the formation of student clubs in different institutions. They were guided on how they can be involved in courtesy calls and public lectures, preparation for public lectures, selection of Public Lecture topics and access of relevant ID materials to prepare for presentations. Alumni who were ready to start student clubs in their institutions and those ready for mentorship on public lectures were advised to register with the respective chairs of the sub-committees for follow up. Some of the Alumni were happy to confirm that they had already been invited to participate in BCK activities between August – October 2024. Most members of the team were willing to be involved in various BCK activities in their regions of residence. The Alumni were given opportunity to present about their strength, what they learnt in the Summer Seminar and their suggestion on how to help BCK achieve its set objectives.
The alumni were encouraged to register as BCK members and follow BCK social media platforms. It was noted that many, though active in ID, are not members of BCK so as to be involved in future BCK activities. The alumni were encouraged to nominate their friends and colleagues for the International Summer Seminar on ID offered by Discovery Institute and other trainings in intelligent Design.
