Meetings

September 11, 2008
"The Dover Trial: Intelligent Design, and the Discovery Institute"
Dr. Marc-Andre Lachance
On December 20 2005, Federal Judge Jones rendered judgment against the local Board of Education in Dover, Pennsylvania, thwarting its attempt to discredit evolutionary theory in the minds of students. The evidence presented by the plaintiff was that evolution is not controversial and that the attacks were religiously motivated – and therefore in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Microbiologist Dr. Marc-Andre Lachance presented some of the key elements of the trial, summarizes essential aspects of "Intelligent Design," and reviewed some of the key players in the current assault on secularism, namely the Discovery Institute of Seattle, Washington.

July 10, 2008
"The Host Program of the Cross Cultural Learners Centre"
Melina Naric
Melina Naric works with the Host Program of the Cross Cultural Learner Centre, a community integration program offered to newcomers to Canada. Melina reviewed where immigrants and refugees are coming from, their experiences prior to arrival, the services offered to them once they arrive, obstacles and hurdles they stumble on after arrival and more.

June 12
"Having a Healthy Heart: Gap Junction and Cardiac Arrhythmias"
Dr. Donglin Bai
Dr. Bai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at The University of Western Ontario.

May 8, 2008
"Global Warning -- A Second Look."
Ralph Graham
Ralph holds a Master's Degree in botany and taught science in several high schools in Ontario, and also for a time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is now retired.

April 10, 2008
"Humanism and Religion"
Dr. Rod Martin
Our member Dr. Rod Martin discussed the nature and function of religion and ways in which a naturalistic, nontheistic humanism might be able to address the religious needs that seem to be an essential aspect of human nature. He argues that humanism offers a viable alternative to the dominant religions in the world today. Dr. Martin is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to studying psychology, he completed a bachelors degree in theology.

March 13, 2008
"Is Cognitive Science Undermining our Humanity?"
Dr. Christopher Viger
Dr. Viger will consider recent work in cognitive science and philosophy of mind, and ask how this might impact on our conception of ourselves as human beings. In particular he will discuss the nature of meaning in a physical world, consciousness and free will. Dr. Viger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at U.W.O.

February 14, 2008
"Two Concepts of Secularism"
Dr. John Thorp
Dr. Thorp presented two different meanings of "secularism." On the one hand, there is "vertical secularism," and on the other there is "horizontal secularism." Dr. Thorp is Acting Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Western Ontario.

January 10, 2008
Annual General Meeting
After the short AGM, there was a DVD presentation of Thomas Homer-Dixon's recent book "The Upside of Down."

December 13, 2007
"How Do People Want to be Perceived by their Romantic Partners?"
Dr. Lorne Campbell, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario
Dr. Campbell discussed research on the above question and discuss how perception affects relationships.

November 8, 2007
"Ethics Without God"
by Don Santor
Don Santor is retired from The Faculty of Education, UWO, where he taught history, world religions and ethics for many years. Don also served as a moral education consultant at the local and provincial level. He co-authored the "Many Faces of Religion," an inquiry into the relgious traditions of humanity. Don Santor is a member of The Humanist Association of London and Area and of The Humanist Association of Canada.

October 11, 2007
"How do Astronomers Determine the Vast Scale of Cosmic Time and Space?"
by Dr. Amelia Wehlau
Dr. Wehlau is a Professor Emerita of Astronomy at UWO. She is a member of both the Canadian and American Astronomical Societies and studies pulsating variable stars. These are stars in the later stages of their life which periodically expand and shrink in size with cycles from an hour to months. Due to this pulsation they vary in the amount of light they emit and in other physical attributes. Because they are old they tell us much about the origin and evolution of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and they can also be used to determine distances to other more distant galaxies in which we observe them.

September 13, 2007
"The View From the Peak"
by Paul Chefurka
Fossil fuel: can civilization survive when it is gone? A global warming skeptic changes his mind. "We need to learn how to be happy while doing less and having fewer material possessions."

July 12, 2007
"A Discussion/Debate on the Impact of Current Humanist Writers"
by Jim Cranwell
A discussion on the writings of Daniel Dennett, Barbara Smoker, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

June 14, 2007
"An Introduction to Taoist Philosophy"
by Dr. You Shen Li
You-Shen Li received his Ph.D. in cancer cytogenetics from Cambridge in England. He was born in China and graduated from a medical school in China. He is author of the book, "A New Interpretation of Chinese Philosophy."

May 10, 2007
"What is Africa to us in the 21st Century?"
by Dr. Arja Vainio-Mattila, Director of the Centre of Global Studies, Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Vainio-Mattila received her Ph.D. in Development Geography and has worked for two decades in development interventions in most of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as in Asia.

April 12, 2007
"Evolutionary Psychology"
by Dr. Peter Ossenkopp, Faculty of Social Science, Uuniversity of Western Ontario
Evolution has created physical changes that enabled our ancestors to survive. Our speaker explained the role of evolution in the function of our brains.

March 8, 2007
"Superstition and Enthusiasm in Hume's Account of Religion"
by Dr. Lorne Falkenstein, Deptartment of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario
A talk outlining Hume's psychology.

February 8, 2007
"Can we Be Good Without God?"
Presentation and discussion of the CBC program, "Can We Be Good Without God?" by Robert Buckman.

December 14, 2006
"Religion and Prejudice: Cause or Cure"
by Dr. Lynne Jackson, Kings University College at the University of Western Ontario
The well-known Psychologist, Gordon Allport, wrote that "religion is paradoxical, it both makes and unmakes prejudice." In this talk, Dr. Jackson will attempt to unravel this paradox by reviewing contemporary research that examines the nature of relations between personal religiosity and prejudice.

November 9, 2006
"Is There a Loving Creator God?"
A debate between Dr. Bruce Tallman and Dr. Goldwin Emerson on this question. Dr. Tallman is a Spiritual Director with a private practice living in London, Ontario. He formerly worked in Adult Education for the Roman Catholic Diocese of London. Dr. Emerson is a retired Philosophy professor from the University of Western Ontario who is a life member of the Humanist Association of Canada.

October 12, 2006
"Nature versus Nurture"
by Bill Chefurka
Nature versus nurture is a shorthand way of describing a long-standing debate about the relative importance of personal experiences (nurture) versus an individual's inate qualities (nature) in producing differences in physical and behavioural traits.

September 14, 2006
"Jest for the health of it"
Dr. Rod Martin discusses some varieties of humour which are not as conducive to good health as others.

August 10,2006
Report from the Humanist Association of Canada's Annual General Meeting in Vancouver Presented by Derek Kaill, Nana Sakamoto and John Pope

July 13, 2006
"Humanism and its relation to Pantheism, and the Unitarian Universalist religion in the USA and Canada."
by Goldie Emerson and Harold Koehler

June 8, 2006
"Are Humanists Morally Obliged to Work to Improve their Society and Their World?"
by John Pope
This presentation looked at what it means to be a Humanists and an Activist in a world plagued with social and environmental problems.

May 11, 2006
"Haiti And Canada's Role There"
by Harold Koehler

April 13, 2006
"We are all Africans"
by Professor Chris diCarlo
A presentation by a controversial Professor who was threatened with discipinary action for saying that humans originated in Africa. A scientifically researched discussion of the anthropological origins of the human species.

March 9, 2006
"The Next Hundred Years, What Part Will Humanists Play?"
by Don Hatch. A presentation based on a series of articles in a recent Maclean's magazine by Allan Abel.

February 9, 2006
"Some Positive About Living and Dying" How can we as Unitarians and/or Humanists find meaning and hope in our lives?"
by Goldie Emerson

January 12, 2006
"Medical Uses of Marijuana"
by Derek Kaill

December 8, 2005
"For Goodness Sake"
by Goldie Emerson
Are morality and religion related? Does goodness depend upon religion?

November 10, 2005
The God Who Wasn't There"
A controversial film by a former evangelical who brings to religion what Michael Moore brings to American weapons manufacturers in "Bowling For Columbine"

October 13, 2005
Professor Robert Scott speaking on NAFTA and its effects on the environment.

September 8, 2005
by Vinay Sharma of London Hydro
A power point show about our energy demand and supply.

May 5, 2005
"The Road To Reason"
A book by Pat Duffy Hutcheon as presented by Don Hatch.

April 7, 2005
"Palestine Is Still the Issue"
A film by John Pilger, presented by UWO professor Michael Lynk. The video presentation was followed by questions and comments.

February 3, 2005
"Darwinism: Godfather of a Religious Revolution"
by Don Santor
Don is a member of the Plato Society of Grand Bend. Charles Darwin was born on Feb 12, 1809 and many humanist societies devote their February meeting to Darwin.

September 2, 2004
Open discussion on "From Socrates to Spin" a book by Kieren O'Hara. Presented by Dr. David Smith

March 4, 2004
"How god Snuck into the Biology Class"
by Robert Scott
This talk by a fish biologist deals mostly with the cultural and sociological relation of science and religion.

January 8, 2004
"Who is Minding the Store?"
by Goldie Emerson
This talk dealt with a number of international, environmental, and political problems which exist at the global level. The talk concluded with the assertion of humanistic principles as espoused by The Humanist Association of Canada.