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Upcoming Meetings and Topics
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Next Meeting
Our Miserable Future
Speaker:
Dr. Lawrence Krauss
February 21st, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Prof. Lawrence M. Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist with wide research interests, including the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, where his studies include the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity and neutrino astrophysics. He received undergraduate degrees in both Mathematics and Physics at Carleton University. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982), then joined the Harvard Society of Fellows (1982-85). He joined the faculty of the departments of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University as assistant professor in 1985, and associate professor in 1988. In 1993 he was named the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy, and Chairman of the department of Physics at Case Western Reserve University. He served in the latter position for 12 years, until 2005.
In August, 2008, Dr. Krauss took up his new post as Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Department, and Inaugural Director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University.
Prof. Krauss is the author of several acclaimed popular books, including The Physics of Star Trek and Beyond Star Trek. Naturally, our HSGP president, Susan Sackett, is particularly thrilled to welcome Dr. Krauss to be our guest speaker!
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Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, by Michael J. Sandel
Event:
Book Club
February 27th, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Publishers Weekly:
Harvard government professor Sandel (Public Philosophy) dazzles in this sweeping survey of hot topics—the recent government bailouts, the draft, surrogate pregnancies, same-sex marriage, immigration reform and reparations for slavery—that situates various sides in the debates in the context of timeless philosophical questions and movements. Sandel takes utilitarianism, Kant's categorical imperative and Rawls's theory of justice out of the classroom, dusts them off and reveals how crucial these theories have been in the construction of Western societies—and how they inform almost every issue at the center of our modern-day polis. The content is dense but elegantly presented, and Sandel has a rare gift for making complex issues comprehensible, even entertaining (see his sections entitled Shakespeare versus the Simpsons and What Ethics Can Learn from Jack Benny and Miss Manners), without compromising their gravity. With exegeses of Winnie the Pooh, transcripts of Bill Clinton's impeachment hearing and the works of almost every major political philosopher, Sandel reveals how even our most knee-jerk responses bespeak our personal conceptions of the rights and obligations of the individual and society at large. Erudite, conversational and deeply humane, this is truly transformative reading.
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The Psychology of Magic
Speaker:
Anthony Barnhart
March 07th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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An expert in the psychology of illusion, HSGP member Anthony "Magic Tony" Barnhart has lectured on the topic at magic conventions and to students of psychology at colleges and universities. As a graduate student in cognitive psychology, himself, he has employed psychological principles to elevate his magic’s impact and increase the audience’s sense of wonder. Nowhere is this influence more evident than in his strolling magic where, in a one-on-one environment, he is able to strongly influence the behavior of audience members.
Click here to watch a segment KTVK Phoenix Channel 3 aired about psychology and magic, featuring Magic Tony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLMyZ0PL5G4. For more information on psychology and magic, visit Magic Tony's website at http://www.magic-tony.com/
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Subjugation and Escape
Speaker:
Lisa Bauer
March 21st, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Lisa Bauer has described her experience with Islam and religion in the October/November 2009 and December/January 2010 issues of Free Inquiry magazine, with an introduction by Richard Dawkins, whom she assisted with research duties for his latest book, The Greatest Show on Earth. The final installment describing her saga is in the February/March 2010 issue.
Lisa is currently a graduate student in Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona in Tucson. In the past two years, she has made great strides towards overcoming both religion and her own social phobia, and has become involved in various atheist and humanist groups.
In the articles, Lisa describes her lifelong journey from atheism to her family's Roman Catholicism to Islam, and finally back to atheism. It was a long and often treacherous journey, emotionally painful and often self-destructive, extending to sexual as well as emotional submission to a trusted authority figure. In the end, though, and with the help of some trusted friends, she managed to break free of her former religions.
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Event:
Book Club
March 27th, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Scottsdale Civic Center Library, Gold Room, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale |
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For the month of March only: The book club will meet at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, Gold Room, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
From Wikipedia:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to "Alice in Wonderland") is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is filled with allusions to Dodgson's friends. The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the most characteristic examples of the "literary nonsense" genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872) is a work of children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), generally categorized as fairy tale.[citation needed] It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Although it makes no reference to the events in the earlier book, the themes and settings of Through the Looking-Glass make it a kind of mirror image of Wonderland.
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Self Defense, Gun Control Laws and Related Issues
Speaker:
Marc Victor
April 11th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Our HSGP member Marc J. Victor is an attorney in private practice in Chandler. He last spoke to us two years ago, and we are delighted to welcome him back as a guest speaker.
Marc graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Justice Studies, and received his law degree in 1994 from Southwestern University of Law in Los Angeles.
Marc has represented clients in more than a thousand major felony cases including first and second degree murder, sex cases, gun cases, major drug cases, complex white collar cases, federal appeals, and other complex state and federal matters. Jury trial experience includes several murder trials including death eligible matters as well as complex sex cases. Marc has represented clients in many high profile and media attention cases.
In addition, Marc Victor is a member of, and advisor to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, especially on matters of church/state separation here in Phoenix area. Visit his website at: http://www.attorneyforfreedom.com
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Shooting Your Mouth Off about the 2nd Amendment
Speaker:
Bob McWhirter
April 25th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Robert J. McWhirter is Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Arizona. He received his Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University College of Law in 1988. Upon graduation, Bob clerked for then Vice Chief Justice Stanley G. Feldman of the Supreme Court of Arizona. He has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender since 1989, representing Native Americans and other clients in a broad range of Federal cases including homicide, sexual abuse, and bank robbery. In addition, Mr. McWhirter has developed a specialty in criminal immigration law, having published articles in the Georgetown Immigration Law Review and the Criminal Practice Law Report. The American Bar Association has published his book The Criminal Lawyer's Guide to Immigration Law: Questions and Answers. Mr. McWhirter also teaches criminal immigration law and immigration consequences of criminal convictions nationally for Criminal Justice Act Panel Attorneys (with the program sponsored by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts), as well as the history of the Fourth Amendment.
Bob McWhirter is one of our most fascinating speakers, and we were thrilled to welcome him back for a sixth time!
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Are There Universal Moral Values?
Speaker:
Dr. Peter de Marneffe
May 02nd, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Dr. Peter de Marneffe is Professor of Philosophy and
Head of the Faculty of the Philosophy
School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at ASU. Dr. de Marneffe writes about liberty and liberalism, individual rights, government paternalism and government neutrality toward conceptions of a good life. His new book, Liberalism and Prostitution, has just been published by Oxford University Press. Other recent publications include “Avoiding Paternalism,” Philosophy & Public Affairs (Winter 2006) and The Legalization of Drugs (with Doug Husak; Cambridge University Press, 2005). He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1989, and wrote his dissertation, "Liberalism and Education," under the direction of John Rawls and Thomas Scanlon. He has been a visiting fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University, and a visiting assistant professor at Stanford University.
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May 16th, 2010 9:00 am To Be Announced
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