KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format.
Fall-Winter 2025-2026 KLI Colloquium Series
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
25 Sept 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
A Dynamic Canvas Model of Butterfly and Moth Color Patterns
Richard Gawne (Nevada State Museum)
14 Oct 2025 (Tues) 3-4:30 PM CET
Vienna, the Laboratory of Modernity
Richard Cockett (The Economist)
23 Oct 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
How Darwinian is Darwinian Enough? The Case of Evolution and the Origins of Life
Ludo Schoenmakers (KLI)
6 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Common Knowledge Considered as Cause and Effect of Behavioral Modernity
Ronald Planer (University of Wollongong)
20 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Rates of Evolution, Time Scaling, and the Decoupling of Micro- and Macroevolution
Thomas Hansen (University of Oslo)
4 Dec (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Chance, Necessity, and the Evolution of Evolvability
Cristina Villegas (KLI)
8 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Embodied Rationality: Normative and Evolutionary Foundations
Enrico Petracca (KLI)
15 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
On Experimental Models of Developmental Plasticity and Evolutionary Novelty
Patricia Beldade (Lisbon University)
29 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Jan Baedke (Ruhr University Bochum)
Event Details

Topic description:
A central task for historians and philosophers of science is to characterize and analyze the epistemic practices in a given science. The epistemic practices of a science include setting its goals or aims, and using certain methods to achieve these goals. My dissertation project addressed the epistemic practices in gene expression research spanning the mid-twentieth century to the twenty-first century. I assess some of the standard historical narratives of the molecular life sciences to clarify certain philosophical problems with respect to reduction, emergence, and representation, and offer new ways with which to think about the development of scientific research and the nature of scientific change. I will present some of this research here.
Biographical note:
Valérie Racine has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from McGill University, a second Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Concordia University. She transferred to ASU’s Center for Biology and Society after beginning her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. With a background in philosophy of science, Valérie went to ASU to learn more about research methods in molecular genetics and genomics and to develop her dissertation project on the interaction between different investigative strategies in research on genetic regulation. She recently completed her PhD in History and Philosophy of Science at ASU and will begin a position as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Western New England University in 2017.