Judgment day [videorecording] : intelligent design on trial / a production of Nova and Vulcan Production, Inc. in association with The Big Table Film Company ; produced by Joseph McMaster, Gary Johnstone, Vanessa Tovell ; written by Joseph McMasters ; directed by Gary Johnstone and Joseph McMaster.
DVD, region 1, anamorphic widescreen (16:9) presentation; Dolby Digital.
Language
Closed-captioned; Described video.
Credits
Editor, Jonathan Sahula.
Event
Originally broadcast on Nov. 13, 2007 as an episode of the PBS television program, Nova.
Audience
Not rated.
Summary
Captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania, in a landmark battle over the teaching of evolution in public schools. In 2004, the Dover school board ordered science teachers to read a statement to their high school biology students about an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution called intelligent design. This idea states that life is too complex to have evolved naturally and so must have been designed by an intelligent agent. The teachers refused to comply, and both parents and teachers filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school board of violating the constitutional separation of church and state.
Note
Special features: Printable materials for educators; access to the Nova web site.