The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego

"Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind." Thomas Jefferson

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April 18, Sunday - all day

The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego will be celebrating Earth Day at EarthFair 2010 in Balboa Park.  Come visit our table (#1056) which is at the northeast corner of the Museum of Art parking lot!!  EarthFair features more than 350 exhibitors, special theme areas, a Food Pavilion, a special Kids’ Activity Area, three entertainment venues, the Children’s Earth Parade, the eARTh Gallery art show, and the Cleaner Car Concourse. There's something for the entire family!

April 25, Sunday at 2:00 PM

Lecture Series on Science and Religion: The Biological and Evolutionary Basis of Romantic Relationships: Are Social Scientists and Humanists in Biological Denial? with Professor Peter Andersen of SDSU.  This lecture examines the sociobiological and evolutionary basis for of romantic and sexual relationships. Over the past decades scholars have looked at the sociological, cultural, and individual basis of romantic relationships with little regard to evolutionary theory or the biological basis of human behavior. Dr. Andersen examines a series of recent studies including several of his own that demonstrates the powerful influence of unconscious, genetic factors on human courtship and mating behavior.

Dr. Peter Andersen is professor of Communication at San Diego State University and has degrees from University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois State University and Florida State University. He has done extensive research on Interpersonal Relationships, Persuasion and, and Nonverbal Communication. He has authored over 150 book chapters, research papers, and journal articles, as well as 5 books, including, The Handbook of Communication and Emotion.

May 8, Saturday 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM 

Members of the HFSD will be traveling up to Costa Mesa for the first annual Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference.  The conference will address: Can Science and Religion Co-exist?  There will be several several seminars from 10am-6pm, including a 'table talk' seminar where attendees may visit one of 15 tables with signs of different topics on each table.  Following a dinner break, featured guest speakers will include Dan Barker, Michael Shermer, Eddie Tabash and PZ Myers.  Pre-Registration: Jan 1 through May 8, 2010; $40 for morning and afternoon sessions, $50 for evening session, $80 for both, Student Fee: $35,$45 and $65 respectively.  Register at: http://www.freethoughtalliance.org/

May 20, Thursday at 7:00 PM

The Humanist Book Club discusses Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis.  Besides being an effective satire targeted against religious hypocrisy, Elmer Gantry provides insight into the clash of cultural forces in America in the 1920s. During this period, traditional religious believers were deeply disturbed by the encroachments made on faith by science and secularism. They also decried the growth within the church of the “higher criticism,” that sought to understand the Bible based on modern methods of scholarship.  We will meet at the Living Room Café, 5900 El Cajon Blvd., three blocks west of College Ave. Please call Michael at 690-5491 to reserve and to get details of the location and an update on possible changes.

May 23, Sunday at 2:00 PM

Lecture Series on Science and Religion: Sex, Love, & Death: Socioevolutionary Theory and Science with Dr. Brian H. Spitzberg with the School of Communications at SDSU.  This presentation, based on Dr. Spitzberg’s plenary lecture from the SDSU symposium dedicated to Darwin’s impact on the humanities and social sciences, deals with issues about differentiating “science” and “pseudo-science” with particular regard to challenges in socioevolutionary theory and research. This technical lecture, which touches upon the works of Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn, and Gould, is focused on how to see the way forward in guiding future socioevolutionary exploration.

Dr. Brian H. Spitzberg, is the Senate Distinguished Professor in the School of Communication at San Diego State University and author or co-author of 3 scholarly books, co-editor of 3 scholarly books; and author or co-author of over 40 scholarly articles and over 40 scholarly book chapters. Included among these are four books on ‘the dark side’ of communication and relationships. His 2004 book Dark Side of Relationship Pursuit: From Attraction to Obsession and Stalking won the International Association for Relationship Research book award in 2006.

June 4-6, Friday-Sunday

Don't miss one of the largest gatherings of humanists, atheists, and freethinkers from across the country! The Annual Conference of the American Humanist Association will feature informative breakout sessions, activist training sessions for humanist chapter leaders, banquets honoring distinguished awardees, book signings by celebrity authors, and more!  For more information and to register, go to the AHA website:  http://www.americanhumanist.org/.  You can also contact Debbie Skomer at debbie-hfsd@cox.net.  Humanists from San Diego will be in attendance, and you are sure to make many friends from around the country.

June 17, Thursday at 7:00 PM

The Humanist Book Club discusses The Humanist Tradition in the West by Sir Alan Bullock.  Humanism is universally recognized as one of the most basic concepts in the development of Western civilization, and yet the meaning of the term itself is far from clear. By following an historical rather than an analytical approach, the author demonstrates that it is possible to make sense of the different meanings which have been attributed to humanism, and to place them within a coherent framework.  We will meet at the Living Room Café, 5900 El Cajon Blvd., three blocks west of College Ave. Please call Michael at 690-5491 to reserve and to get details of the location and an update on possible changes.

July 15, Thursday at 7:00 PM

The Humanist Book Club discusses Salvation Boulevard by Larry Beinhart.  From the Edgar Award-winning novelist and author of Wag the Dog and The Librarian comes a new mystery novel about a private investigator and a case that tests his courage, character and soul. The victim is an atheist professor, the main suspect—who has confessed and is in custody—a Muslim foreign student, the defense attorney a Jew and the detective a born-again Christian. As P.I. Carl Van Wagener gets deeper and deeper into the investigation of the death of Professor Nathaniel MacLeod, his most basic beliefs and relationships are tried and his world is turned upside down. Salvation Boulevard is a page-turning thriller in the tradition of John Grisham and Richard Condon that grapples with the ecstatic and entropic nature of religious faith in contemporary Amer  We will meet at the Living Room Café, 5900 El Cajon Blvd., three blocks west of College Ave. Please call Michael at 690-5491 to reserve and to get details of the location and an update on possible changes.


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