10.30 – 16:10, Sunday 25 September 2011 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: 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
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Conspiracy Theories Day Conference by Sara Passmore
Conspiracy Theories Day Conference by Sara Passmore
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
Round Up by Jamie Wallis (ed. C.J. Wilton).
With the neighbours whingeing dogs driving me completely insane I have deigned fit to take a little time out of hectically writing my final OU essay, to bring you this incredibly late edition of last weeks twitter round up (courtesy of Jamie Wallis). Indeed the lack of posts this week just goes to show how much we need more volunteers to man our various forts when my life gets even remotely busy, so if you're a blogger in need of an outlet get in touch and help us out!
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Round Up by C.J. Wilton and Jamie Wallis
This week's round up includes contributions from Professor Brian Cox, Peter Tatchell, Sam Harris, Kenan Malik, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, Simon Singh, Eddie Izzard, Ellie Haycock, Jimmy Carr, Richard Wiseman and Rebecca Watson as well as posts from Guardian Science, The Freethinker Magazine, BHA News and many many more.
So for all you non-twitter users out there, enjoy this weeks round up; -
RT @queerresistance: http://t.co/nkDvCey | Be sure to log your MP's responses @skepticalvoter http://t.co/vzOtsw6 - keep voters informed.
RT @queerresistance: Anti-choice counselling: tell your MP to say NO! http://t.co/y8Sj0Yb
RT @AtheistChurch: RT @TheYoungTurks: Teachers Can Mock Creationism - Court http://t.co/B7CuhHK #TYT @anakasparian @stevenoh88
RT @ProfBrianCox: RT @jodrellbank: We've discovered a planet made of diamond orbiting a pulsar! http://t.co/R4yORPl
RT @PeterTatchell: Help us win #gay civil marriages & #straight civil partnerships. Sign the #Equal #Love #petition: http://t.co/s1XEZyg #lgbt #queer #pride
RT @SamHarrisOrg: How to Lose Readers (Without Even Trying) : http://t.co/9uL8qEE
RT @kenanmalik: Oh, the tangled knots of identity: Can you run the Jewish Museum if you're 'not too Jewish'? http://t.co/gZY7OOu...
RT @TheFreeth: The world’s in a mess, and Galileo is to blame says crazy Catholic group http://t.co/1gKVjrg
RT @BBCBreaking: A spokesman for Col Gaddafi telephones a news agency saying the Libyan leader is now willing to discuss a transition of power.
RT @rdfrs: Ricky Gervais on cover of Sept/Oct issue of New Humanist – on sale 25 August - New Humanist - RichardDawkins.net http://t.co/xMZhwxI
RT @BadAstronomer: Resupply ship to space station crashed in Siberia. It was unmanned, carrying 3.5 tons of food/fuel/supplies. http://t.co/ZsvY6Yz
Join/Support the Secular-OU Today!!! http://t.co/qF28MGr
RT @guardianscience: Republican candidate Rick Perry believes creationism should be taught in US schools http://t.co/ujFNwMx
RT @guardianscience: Fusion power: is it getting any closer? http://t.co/s6IhoNh
RT @SLSingh: RT @Indoncensorship: Care firm silences critics; @CarerWatch shut down after benefits test company threatens libel http://t.co/VsIIHDj
RT @eddieizzard: Sky News - BREAKING NEWS Rebels Raise Flag On Gaddafi's Compound. http://t.co/KD86fNK
Humanism and Peace a Review of the World Humanist Congress in Oslo by Ellie Haycock http://t.co/RKCDQmU
RT @CERN: RT @gagnonpauline: New results, same uncertainty! Higgs boson has less space to hide but is still not showing up. http://ow.ly/6ae9b
RT @OU_Community: Reading material hard going? http://bit.ly/oSDjXm #OU_Studies ^HB
RT @jimmycarr: Rioters say 'everyone else was doing it' & 'I needed more money'. We've heard [t]hose excuses before. From MPs.
RT @RichardWiseman: I am at the Edinburgh Book Fest tonight debating the future of faith http://t.co/i8E5pDk
RT @rebeccawatson: The Pope in Spain: nuns doing the wave & police charging secular protesters http://t.co/YMdn6fh
RT @guardianscience: Response: We must focus on Anders Behring Breivik's personality as well as his politics | Carine Minne and M... http://t.co/udYKmge
RT @guardianscience: Think globally, top scientists tell graduates as research funding shrinks in UK http://t.co/HOTPnsu
RT @guardianscience: Archaeologists discover Roman port in Wales http://t.co/V8HY51r
King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle http://t.co/bjyVzyr
RT @BHAnews: Our chief exec @andrewcopson's video for #seculareurope is now up. Watch, share, RT and support the campaign! http://t.co/9U79pvb
RT @TheFreeth: Canadian man discovers the folly of taking photos where Muslims lurk http://t.co/OcRxjRf
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Join/Support the Secular-OU Today!!!
If you are a member or a supporter of the Secular-OU be sure to fill out our fantabulous NEW membership form so that we have a good idea of how big our numbers our and where abouts we should start setting up society events. Remember supporters and faculty members are welcome so make sure you're all on board.
Scroll down, answer the questions and don't forget to click submit at the end or else nothing will happen and we'll be all the sadder for it. :'(
Alternatively you can use this very same form on the join section of this blog or simply e-mail your membership to us here.
(If you can't see the form below please click [ctrl]+[F5] or failing that go to the 'join' link provided, above.)
Humanism and Peace a Review of the World Humanist Congress in Oslo by Ellie Haycock
Earlier this month, I was fortunate enough to attend the 18th World Humanist Congress in Oslo, hosted by the Norwegian Humanist Association (HEF). The HEF is the largest association in the world, with over 78,000 members.
The tragic events in Norway on 22nd July added new meaning to the theme of the Congress, Humanism and Peace, and further highlighted that there was no better place to host the event than Oslo. In the wake of the attacks, the Norwegian Prime Minister said that "the Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness” and this attitude was certainly evident throughout the event.
The Congress was attended by several hundred humanists from all over the world, representing countries such as Uganda, Azerbaijan, Malawi and India, and included talks by biologist PZ Myers, BHA’s very own Richard Norman, and the controversial Johann Gultung, who certainly got everybody talking!
European Member of Parliament, Humanist of the Year and Secularist of Year Sophie in t’Veld also delivered an inspiring speech about the role of the EU in conflict prevention.
The Norwegians treated us to an evening reception with the Mayor of Oslo at City Hall which, rather appropriately, is the venue for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. And to top it all off, a wonderful evening at the Opera House with dinner and awards – President of the EHF David Pollock was recognised with an award for over fifty years’ service to humanism!
It was fantastic to see humanism working at an international level and we were reminded by Taslima Nasrin that in some parts of the world, rejecting religion means facing persecution.
I was also fortunate enough to meet the manager of the Isaac Newton High School in Uganda, which is one of three humanist schools created in the country. For anyone who saw the BBC’s documentary ‘The World’s Worst Place to be Gay’, the need for schools in Uganda to teach liberal, humanist values needs no explanation.
It was also great to see such passionate people from all over the world come together. Overall, it was a fantastic event and I am very pleased to say that the next Congress, to be held in 2014, will be in Oxford. I hope to see you there!
Ellie Haycock is the Secular-OU's NEW Events Coordinator and general jetsetting adventurer.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Newsletter/Blog Some Policy Changes by C.J. Wilton
Newsletter/Blog Changes.
Up until now we have been collecting articles for the newsletter and broadcasting them on the blog after publication. This has resulted in topical articles being published ridiculously late, so from here on in we will prioritise the blog over the newsletter.
This means that the newsletter will consist largely of abstracts with links leading to the relevant blog posts as well as updates on events and society notes. This will also, hopefully, make the newsletter much easier to write each month. The editorial will most likely remain original to the newsletter as will any and all letters and opinion pieces that come in.
Submissions.
We’ll also be developing some submissions polices, including – in the first instance – a word count of between 750-1000 (max.). This month saw Secretary Jonathan Lomax’s first blog post, an interesting back and forth with a fundamentalist.
Worthy as this article was it nevertheless came in at 5325 words which resulted in it dominating the blog feed. In future, articles of such size should be divided up into several parts and submitted periodically (apart from anything else, this actually allows us to schedule new posts several weeks in advance).
It's also an idea to keep the text generously spaced with a line break after 3-4 sentences (i.e. - loads of short paragraphs), this helps prevent articles from looking like solid walls of text.
I'll always do some token proofreading and editing whenever I read through a new article, I am far from perfect when it comes to slapdash grammar and spelling errors, but that shouldn't prevent anyone from posting. If I notice any errors I'll change them, if the true rendering of the sentence is too obscure for me to correct, I'll get in touch.
(If anyone else notices any such problems or any broken links, then please get in touch here (or flag them up as a comment) so that I can fix them.)
Contributors.
As ever, we're looking for contributors who are prepared to volunteer some of their time to fill our blog with interesting and engaging content. The more the merrier (it's actually quite an onerous task keeping a blog up to date).
Blogs are not only forums for news, but also for the expression of opinion and the development of ideas. As students we do that all the time, so feel free to talk about your current coursework, recent essays or ideas that have fired your imagination, especially if they have a bearing on secularism and other related topics. If you're unsure as to whether an article is appropriate pass it onto me here and I'll give it a read through.
Twitter Round Up.
James and I also agree that we should have a weekly round up of the best tweets we’ve seen on our feed. It seems a bit of a shame that these interesting news links should be restricted only to those members who use twitter, so once a week we’ll post a list of them up on the blog for a wider audience.