Charles Darwin is finally hitting the big 2-0-0, and Boston University is putting together the biggest year-long celebration his old bones will see this side of the evolutionary chain.

BU will dedicate a year’s worth of events in 2009 to commemorate Darwin’s 200th birthday next Feb. 12, and a committee has already begun planning what it calls “CD09.”

The 2008-2009 Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science will be about Darwinian topics, professor Rebecca Kinraide will teach a Darwin-related writing course and the theater program will produce Darwinian plays.

“Evolution is tremendously important in current biology and medicine,” Thomas Glick, CD09 co-chair, said.

Glick said he will suggest to all BU academic leaders that they use a Darwinian topic as part of any ongoing special event lectures. He said CD09 plans to raise awareness by launching a website in May.

“I would hope that it would be impossible for a student to not know what’s going on,” he said.

Glick, a College of Arts and Sciences history professor, said he thinks evolution will not be a big topic in this year’s presidential election. He said Republican Mike Huckabee is arguably the most religious candidate remaining on the ballot and has already said he would not discuss the topic of evolution.

“He is not going to take on evolution, but the opposite; he is going to let scientists decide,” Glick said.

School of Management senior Michael O’Day said Darwin still comes up every day in his classroom and social conversations, but evolution will not play a big a role in the upcoming presidential elections.

“I think there are a couple main issues that dwarf the evolution debate,” O’Day said.

Psychology professor Deborah Belle said psychology is a discipline in which Darwin has been an important influence. She said she has seen some of the proposed ideas for CD09 and they are “tremendously exciting.”

“I think there will be celebrations around the world,” Belle said.

College of Communication sophomore Marjorie Rochon said though she does not think evolution will play a big part in the upcoming election, she might attend a Darwin-focused lecture, and thinks evolution is an interesting topic on the whole.

“It’s so bizarre to think that we’re still evolving and in 10,000 years or something we could be a new species,” she said.