Upcoming events from the BHA

Saturday 14 Jan 2012 – Beyond the Veil day conference
Saturday 28 January – Blasphemy day conference
Wednesday 8 February – Darwin Day Lecture featuring Adam Rutherford (chaired by Richard Dawkins)

Details below:

Beyond the Veil – a closer look at spirits, mediums and ghosts

A day conference presented by the Centre for Inquiry UK and the British Humanist Association taking a closer look at spirits, mediums and ghosts.
Date: Saturday 14 th January 2012
Time: Registration: 10.30am Start: 11am – Finish 16.00pm
Address: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Nearest tube: Holborn

Information and tickets: http://www.humanism.org.uk/meet-up/events/view/168?page=1
Tickets: General: £10 general public, Members and students: £8 BHA, AHS and SPES members and students with valid ID, Free to members of the Centre for Inquiry UK – please register online.
***Special offer*** Joint ticket for both this event and the Blasphemy! event on the 28th January: £16 for a general ticket, and £12 for members and students.
Speakers:
CHRIS FRENCH - Spirits on the brain: Insights from psychology and neuroscience

Chris French is a Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and former editor of the Skeptic.

HAYLEY STEVENS - ‘Is there anybody there?’
A ghost hunter that doesn’t hunt for ghosts, Hayley Stevens has been researching paranormal reports since 2005. She is the co-host of the Righteous Indignation Podcast, blogs at ‘Hayley is a Ghost’, occasionally writes for numerous publications, and has spoken internationally about ghosts and critical thinking.

PAUL ZENON - Mediums at Large
Paul has been a professional trickster for almost thirty years during that period has appeared countless times as performer, presenter and pundit on numerous TV shows across many genres.

RICHARD WISEMAN - Paranormality
Richard Wiseman is the Professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He has been active in the skeptical movement for many a year, does Twitter stuff, has recently written ‘Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there’, and likes dogs.

IAN ROWLAND - You Are The Magic
Ian Rowland is a writer and entertainer with an interest in various aspects of how the mind works or sometimes doesn’t. He taught FBI agents how to be persuasive, and taught Derren Brown how to read fortunes. In America, in front of 10 million TV viewers, he proved that he could talk to dead people – or at least fake it well enough to convince complete strangers. He knows an awful lot about cold reading (look it up), but tries not to drone on about it at parties. He is good at drinking tea and waiting for interesting invitations to come his way.

‘Blasphemy!’ – blasphemy, religious hatred, and human rights: who speaks for the sacred?
A day conference focusing on the criminalization of religious hatred, defamation, and insult under European human rights, and how this functions as a de facto blasphemy law.
Date: Saturday  28th January 2012
Time:  Registration 10.30am for a 11.00am start – Finish -16.30 pm
Address: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL
Nearest tube: Holborn
Tickets and information – http://www.humanism.org.uk/meet-up/events/view/169?page=1
Prices – General: £10 general public, Members and students: £8 BHA, AHS and SPES members and students with valid ID, Free to members of the Centre for Inquiry UK.
***Special offer*** Joint tickets to this event and the Beyond the Veil event on the 14^th January: £16 general public and £12 members and student ticket offer
 
Description/ details of the event– Introduced by Dr Stephen Law of Heythrop College, University of London and Editor of Think, and featuring writer, lecturer and broadcaster Kenan Malik , Andrew Copson on Blasphemy laws by the back door, Austin Dacey, representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union; Jacob Mchangama, director of legal affairs in the independent think tank Center for Political Studies (CEPOS) based in Copenhagen and others.

Creation: synthetic biology and the origin of life
BHA 2012 Darwin Day Lecture
Chaired by Richard Dawkins, the 2012 Darwin Day lecture will be presented by renowned author, broadcaster, scientist, and geek Adam Rutherford.
Date: 8th February 2012
Time: 7:00 for a 7:30pm start – 9:30pm
Venue: Congress Hall, Congress Centre 28 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3LS
 
Dr Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, author and broadcaster, as well as an editor at the science journal Nature. He presents television and radio programmes and is a writer for The Guardian newspaper.
Tickets General public: £12
Members and students: £7 (BHA, AHS, CFI and UKAFHA members and students)

November meeting news

Chris Smith writes:

At the recent AGM Derek Woodvine remained as chairhuman, Helen Taylor is the new treasurer and I became secretary.  Jean Richardson and Sue Falder continue as committee members.

In 2012 we hope to have seven meetings, plus at least one social event.  Meetings will continue to be on the third Thursday, with flexibility for speakers if required, 7:30 pm at The Lantern.

We hope to arrange something social in July and perhaps a meal in December.  January, February and August will not be on the programme.

Derek presented the options for future relationship of the group with the BHA.  We unanimously resolved to go for the Partner option, that is the stronger link, rather than Affiliation.

 For December a meal has been booked at  The Coach and Horses, Swan Hill, Shrewsbury, 7:30 for 8 pm, Thursday 15th December.  Derek will need numbers by the end of this month.  Meanwhile if you have any suggestions for next year’s programme I will be very pleased to receive them.

Darwin Festival and Memorial Lecture, February 2012

In February next (in place of a Thursday evening meeting) we are arranging for groups to attend events during The Darwin Festival.

This year the Darwin Memorial Lecture is given by Dr Jim Endersby, with the title Sympathetic Science: Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and the passions of Victorian Naturalists. It takes place at 2:30 pm, Sunday 12 February, Walker Theatre, Shrewsbury, and all tickets are £10.

If you are a Shropshire Humanist Group member, or would like to join and attend as part of the group, please contact Chris Smith, the group’s secretary. Payment is required by 15 December.

Nearer the time we will suggest a venue where we could meet for lunch before the lecture.

Details of the lecture and of other Darwin Festival events can be found at http://www.discoverdarwin.co.uk/darwin-festival/

Darwin Festival 2012 – the Café Scientifique, February 2012

Shrewsbury Café Scientifique will launch in February 2012 as part of the 2012 Darwin Festival.

Give your grey cells a good work out with a series of evening events at The Shrewsbury Coffeehouse which is situated between the station and the library (see contact details below).

Each café is FREE, informal and innovative and will run from 7pm-9pm. The Café Sci have managed to get some pretty inspirational speakers too. Come along for a coffee and see what you think. Full details of the five events can be found below.

There will only be 65 seats available at each talk. I have taken on the role of coordinator for Shropshire Humanist Group members and supporters who would like to attend one or more of the events, with a view to making our initial reservations by mid December. If you are interested in attending any of these evening talks  please let me know by Friday 16th December.

To contact Café Scientifique  directly: Sarah Bellis, The Shrewsbury Coffeehouse, 5 Castle Gates, Shrewsbury, SY1 2AE

Phone: 01743 242610 / 07582 601272 Email: SaraB@ShropshireWildlifeTrust.org.uk

Monday 13th February 2012

Randomness, Boeing 747s and Kylie Minogue – Jeremy Pritchard

Jeremy Pritchard is a scientist with a Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page. He has been described as “awesome”; his ability to defend evolution has “flair few can muster”. Join us for a lively evening of chat covering randomness, Boeing 747s and Kylie Minogue.

Tuesday 14th February 2012

Celebrating Mr Darwin – How should Shrewsbury celebrate its links to Charles Darwin? Shropshire Council, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and The Darwin Birthplace Society are in the same room for just two hours to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Wednesday 15th February 2012

The natural history of The Marches – Andrew Allott

Stretching along the bordering counties with England – Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire – the Welsh Marches are made up of a mixture of mountains and moorlands, farms and wooded river valleys. The natural history of the region is like most parts of the British Isles – inextricably linked to the activities of man across many thousands of years. Andrew Allott brings together a wealth of material into a beautiful presentation celebrating our local wildlife.

Thursday 16th February 2012

@CharlesDarwin? – Jon King

Would Darwin have used Twitter? You may laugh, but social media has proved to be a powerfully effective means to spread new ideas and change the way we think. Darwin’s dangerous idea rocked the world- can we dissolve boundaries to create “biospheric” communication? Jon King is the Founding Director of the Shrewsbury Darwin Festival and is presently the senior eCommunications Officer at Shropshire Council.

Friday 17th February 2012

Citizen Science – Martin Harvey

Join Martin Harvey from the Open University for a chat about wildlife recording and Citizen Science. What is it? How does it work and what are the benefits and drawbacks of large scale science experiments? Martin will give a demonstration of the OPAL iSpot website, linking novice wildlife spotters with experts in the identification and mapping of British wildlife, and some of the other OPAL citizen science surveys. If you have even the slightest interest in wildlife, this cafe is for you.

2012 Ancestor’s Trail

From the Ancestor’s Trail Team:

We wanted to give you as much advance warning as possible for the 2012 Ancestor’s Trail.

It’s later in the year but still over a Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday 26th August in the same location – over the Quantock Hills in Somerset (although we are also actively preparing for a 2013 Northern Trail).

We have already booked Kilve Court Outdoor Education Centre with whom we will offer an all inclusive 1 or 2 night package for food, accommodation and entertainment (with camping options too).

When we have some more acts finalised, we’ll give you a link to our new Crowdfunder pitch so you can book to secure a place. We already have plenty of potential music acts lined up, and some exciting names showing interest as pre-trail speakers on the Saturday night. In the mean time, pencil us in your 2012 dairies!

Just in case you haven’t already heard it, here is a link to Clare Balding’s ‘Ramblings’ Radio 4 programme about the 2011 Trail.

Conspiracy theories day conference

10.30 – 16:10, Sunday 25 September 2011

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

 The British Humanist Association (BHA), Centre for Inquiry UK (CFI UK), and South Place Ethical Society (SPES) are pleased to announce a full day conference focusing on conspiracy theories. The first of its kind for the CFI UK, this event will explore why people are drawn to conspiracy theories, what the warning signs of a dodgy conspiracy theory are, and which conspiracy theories are actually credible. Get your tickets today!

Tickets: £10 general public, £8 BHA and SPEC members, and students

Free to members of the CfI UK (please register at the BHA website)

Speakers:

David Aaronovitch, author, broadcaster, and journalist;

Jamie Bartlett, Head of the Violence and Extremism Programme at the think tank Demos;

Robert Brotherton, member of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unitat Goldsmiths, University of London;

Karen Douglas, Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology;

Chris French Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Goldsmiths, University of London;

Carl Miller, Associate at Demos and a researcher at King’s College London.

 Programme:

10.30 Registration

10.45-11.55 Chris French and Robert Brotherton
“Conspiracy Minded: The Psychology of Belief in Conspiracy Theories”

12.00-13.10 Karen Douglas                    
“A Social Psychological Perspective On Conspiracy Theories”

14.00-15.10 David Aaronovitch
“Do Conspiracy Theories Have Common Characteristics Over Time And Space?”

15.10-16.10 Jamie Bartlett and Carl Miller
“Truth And The Net”

16.10 End

Full details and programme

http://www.humanism.org.uk/meet-up/events/view/154

Humanist books for children

From Tricia Budd:

I’m a member of the North Staffordshire/South Cheshire Humanist group.

I have written three books for children, that could also be read with parents or teachers, to give a humanist perspective on three main events in our lives – a  baby naming, a wedding and a funeral. They are centred around a girl called Rosie and her family and friends.

The books show from a young person’s perspective how these events in life do not need a religious element to have value and meaning. I wrote the stories as an alternative to the many religious children’s books dealing with these events.

The books are available from the BHA (and are shown on their website) or at Oakes Bank Publishing.

The really simple guide to Humanism

Click on the image:

Simon Nightingale on radio: the meaning of life

Simon’s theme is deflationary – he explains that you don’t need a priest or sacred book to find meaning in life:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00jfl79/Mike_George_Sunday_Breakfast_14_08_2011/

Listen between 2.19 and 2.27 on the time line.

Humanism – news and action!

We have put a feed of news items from our national organisation, the British Humanist Association, in the left sidebar of this blog.

We urge all local humanists and secularists to read these. Clicking on the title of each item will take you to the BHA web site where you can read the news item in full.

Many of these items request help from the public, where a contribution can really make a difference in influencing the government, your MP or another body. As I write, the BHA is requesting supporters to respond to the schools admissions code consultation and to write to their MPs to make the case for secularism in contracting out government services.

Please read and act, and let us know about it, especially if you get a response.