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Upcoming Meetings and Topics
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Next Meeting
"God on Trial" -- Author Richard Morris Discusses and Signs His Book
Speaker:
Richard Morris
August 08th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Author Richard Morris will discuss and sign his book, "God on Trial."
Synopsis: Blasphemy, murder and the Lord don’t mix when
religion and reason collide in court. When university graduate student David Stone publicly challenges Pastor, he unknowingly threatens Pastor and Sister Leah’s lifestyle of crime, corruption, and debauchery. David is arrested for blasphemy and contends the State must first prove the existence of God in court, using the standard Rules of Evidence. This book is about critical thinking and challenges the reader to ask:
What do I know and how do I know it?
Dr. Richard W. Morris, a lawyer licensed in two U.S. states and England, is a member of Mensa, a former teacher and adjunct professor. In his half-century as a pilot (airline transport pilot, flight and ground instructor licenses) he flew as pilot-in-command (captain) in some forty countries on four continents.
He began his legal career as a prosecutor, and did criminal defense before limiting his practice to civil matters. His published credits include articles in such diverse periodicals as the San Diego Realtor magazine, San Diego Mensan, American Atheist, Playboy, Truth Seeker and Art World News.
Richard also co-authored The Art Fraud Virus, with Richard W. Stevens, and is now working on his next Sister Leah novel, Murder at the Hospice of God.
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The Proliferation of Casino Gambling; SMART Recovery® for Gambling Addiction
Speaker:
Dr. Harold Saferstein & Dr. Emmett Velten
August 22nd, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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We will have two speakers to address casino gambling and addiction problems.
Dr. Harold Saferstein is a retired dermatologist and longtime HSGP member, who has spoken to us in the past on a variety of subjects. He is a retired Board Certified Dermatologist, licensed to practice medicine in Arizona. He earned his MD at University of Illinois Medical School in 1958 and completed 4 years of residency at Temple University Skin and Cancer Hospital in Philadelphia. He then practiced Dermatology in Wheeling, WV for 30 years and retired to Arizona in 1993. He was Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at West Virginia Univ. Medical School and a Lecturer in Dermatology at Pittsburgh University Medical School. He did some clinical part-time practice here in AZ for a few years.
Dr. Emmett Velten is a clinical psychologist licensed in Arizona and California, with forty years of professional experience. He holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the Univ. of Chicago and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Univ. of Southern Calif.
He had a long-term association with the late Dr. Albert Ellis (AHA Humanist of the Year for 1971) and the Albert Ellis Institute, where he served for nine years on its Board of Trustees. He was also a training supervisor and a member of its Board of Professional Advisors. He has been on the clinical faculty at the Univ. of Calif., San Francisco; taught at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco; was a Volunteer Advisor to Self Management And Recovery Training (SMART Recovery®); a past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, and editor of SMART Recovery®’s newsletter.
He co-authored two books with Albert Ellis -- When AA Doesn’t Work for You: Rational Steps To Quitting Alcohol, and Optimal Aging: Get Over Getting Older. He was editor and wrote three chapters in Under the Influence: Reflections of Albert Ellis in the Work of Others. In early 2010 he published (with Patricia E. Penn, Ph.D.) REBT for People with Co-occurring Problems: Albert Ellis in the Wilds of Arizona. Later this year, he will publish Albert Ellis: American Revolutionary.
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Your Religion is False, by Joel Grus
Event:
Book Club
August 28th, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st St., Mesa |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Amazon.com:
"The funniest book ever written about why your religion is false!
Whether you're a Christian or a Jew, a Muslim or a Hindu, a Rasta or a Jain, an Environmentalist or a Cheondoist, a Scientologist or a Giant Stone Head Worshipper, your religion is false.
But don't feel bad -- so is everyone else's! When you want to know what not to believe, this is the only book you need."
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Philosophy, Consciousness, Neuroscience
Speaker:
Dr. Bernard W. Kobes
September 12th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Dr. Bernard W. Kobes has been an Associate Professor of Philosophy at ASU since 1992. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from UCLA. He has written numerous professional articles for publication. In addition, he holds lifetime memberships in the American Association for Artificial Intelligence; the American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, and the U.S. Chess Federation.
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Orientalism, by Edward W. Said
Event:
Book Club
September 25th, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st St., Mesa |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Amazon.com:
"The theme is the way in which intellectual traditions are created and transmitted... Orientalism is the example Mr. Said uses, and by it he means something precise. The scholar who studies the Orient (and specifically the Muslim Orient), the imaginitive writer who takes it as his subject, and the institutions which have been concerned with teaching it, settling it, ruling it, all have a certain representation or idea of the Orient defined as being other than the Occident, mysterious, unchanging and ultimately inferior." --Albert Hourani, New York Review of Books
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Feminist Ethics and Genetic Patents
Speaker:
Dr. Maureen Sander-Staudt
October 10th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Dr. Sander-Staudt returns for her fourth talk to HSGP! She holds a BA in English Literature from Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI and an MA from the Univ. of WI-Milwaukee. Dr. Sander-Staudt completed her Ph.D.at the Univ. of Colorado-Boulder where she specialized in gender theory and feminist ethics. Her dissertation work was on the topic of the political implications of the ethics of care, and in it she develops the beginnings of a political philosophy of care. During this time, she received several fellowships and served as a teaching mentor to her department.
Her current scholarly interests continue to be in the area of care ethics, as well as applied ethics, particularly bioethics, reproductive technologies, and moral education. Her most recent work examines the impact of women’s responsibilities as care-givers on their political understandings and activism. Dr. Sander-Staudt has also written an essay using feminist ethics to assess the development and use of artificial womb technology. She has continued an interest in philosophy and popular culture, Eastern philosophy, and the applications of gender and sexuality to reproductive technology, criminal justice, and spirituality. Future projects include a paper on the role of bodily perception in moral experience, an analysis of the human genome project and stem cell research from the perspective of Care Ethics, and an application of Care Ethics to the comparative status of fetuses in abortion and crimes against pregnant women.
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The Post American World, by Fareed Zakaria
Event:
Book Club
October 23rd, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st St., Mesa |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Amazon.com:
"'This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else.' So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination."
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An Analysis of the Election
Speaker:
Dr. Bruce Merrill
November 07th, 2010 9:00 am
Location: HomeTown Buffet, 1312 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale |
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Dr. Bruce Merrill last spoke to us in November, 2008, and we are pleased to welcome him back! He is Research Director for Walter Cronkite Media Research Center at Arizona State University. His undergraduate major was mathematics and his master’s is in political science. His doctorate in political behavior is from the University of Michigan, where he trained at the Institute for Social Research.
When the journalism-telecommunication faculty was expanded in 1988, Dr. Merrill -- an ASU faculty member since 1971 -- was sought out because of his reputation as a researcher in the areas of political behavior and political media communications.
Professor Merrill’s first major assignment in fall 1988 was to establish a Media Research Program in the Cronkite School. Under his direction the School launched the Cactus State Poll in conjunction with KAET-TV in 1990. The Media Research Program is used to conduct public opinion polls and to train students in the design and interpretation of the polls.
Dr. Merrill has overseen more than 500 surveys during the past decade and has served as a consultant to scores of newspapers, television stations and corporations. The surveys have focused on a variety of issues as well as marketing and advertising strategies. Results have been disseminated widely by major national and international newspapers and electronic media outlets.
Dr. Merrill teaches courses in public opinion, political communication and quantitative research methodology with an emphasis on survey research. He also has interests in marketing and advertising strategy.
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Hadji Murad, by Leo Tolstoy
Event:
Book Club
November 20th, 2010 10:00 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st St., Mesa |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Amazon.com:
"A simmering feud between Russians and residents of Chechnya boils over into a bitter, bloody war. Sound familiar? In this case, the tumultuous events took place more than a century ago. Tolstoy's little known but critically acclaimed novella draws upon the legends surrounding the Avar warrior chieftain known as Hadji Murád."
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The Age of Wonder, by Richard Holmes
Event:
Book Club
December 18th, 2010 10:30 am
Location: Mesa Main Library, 64 E. 1st St., Mesa |
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The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Mesa Main Library, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)
From Publishers Weekly:
"The Romantic imagination was inspired, not alienated, by scientific advances, argues this captivating history. Holmes, author of a much-admired biography of Coleridge, focuses on prominent British scientists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including the astronomer William Herschel and his accomplished assistant and sister, Caroline; Humphrey Davy, a leading chemist and amateur poet; and Joseph Banks, whose journal of a youthful voyage to Tahiti was a study in sexual libertinism. Holmes's biographical approach makes his obsessive protagonists (Davy's self-experimenting with laughing gas is an epic in itself) the prototypes of the Romantic genius absorbed in a Promethean quest for knowledge. Their discoveries, he argues, helped establish a new paradigm of Romantic science that saw the universe as vast, dynamic and full of marvels and celebrated mankind's power to not just describe but transform Nature. Holmes's treatment is sketchy on the actual science and heavy on the cultural impact, with wide-ranging discussions of the 1780s ballooning craze, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and scientific metaphors in Romantic poetry. It's an engrossing portrait of scientists as passionate adventurers, boldly laying claim to the intellectual leadership of society."
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