Social Dinner at Tom & Deidre Kennedys' Home

Tom and Deidre Kennedy kindly volunteered to host an evening social dinner at their home in Shelton. This replaced our usual annual brunch.

Annual Meeting, Potluck Dinner, and Solstice Party

We started with a potluck dinner at 7:30 PM, then held a short annual meeting and election of officers for 2014, starting after 8 PM

At the end of the annual meeting we started our Winter Solstice Party with the traditional reading of Lois Woodrow’s “Ode to the Tilt,” this year performed by Tom Platt as David Schafer was unable to attend.

The party included music from Micky Koth & friends, and our own Steve Boshi and Charlotte Moulyn. We also held a silent auction.

Book discussion: The Swerve, by Stephen Greenblatt

Our scheduled discussion of “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern” by Stephen Greenblatt was postponed to January due to snow.

Humanist Conversations: Michael Sandel

We watched and discussed an interview with Michael Sandel about his latest book.

November board and standing committee meetings.

This was the last board meeting of the year.

Monthly Meeting: Paul Chiariello of the Yale Humanist Project

We’ve all heard the mantras about humans being ‘social animals’.  But what does any of that really mean?  In an increasingly individualistic society, knowledge of this fact has lingered, while most people forget about the deeper benefits and necessities of community life.  The internet, increasing self-sufficiency, growing norms of self-reliance, and so on have made much of social interaction easily avoidable – even for those that aren’t intending to avoid it.  And with the growing irrelevancy of the Church’s worldview, the institutions that nurture and provide a framework for social interaction are fading away.

Paul discussed some personal stories as well as some of the new science behind the need for community coming out of Positive Psychology.  In the second half of the talk he outlined some of the history of the new Yale Humanist Community as well as their plans for the future.

Paul is a co-founder and the current Director of Operations of the Yale Humanist Community.  In addition to the YHC, Paul works with the Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy, mostly with their blog Appliedsentience.com, as well as Camp Quest as the Program Director for Camp Quest New England – whose first full week of camp will be here in CT this upcoming summer! He is also the Director of the Humanist, Ethics, and Philosophy Curriculum at Camp Quest Inc.  Paul has a MSc in Sociology of Education from Oxford, where he focused his field research on ethno-religious identity and education in post-conflict Bosnia, and has also completed a year of course work in Philosophy on a Yale PhD fellowship focusing on ethics and philosophy of religion.

Humanist Conversations: “Purpose and the Universe”

It seems we often discuss questions of meaning and purpose as though answers may be found in scientific searching. The keynote address at last summer's AHA, “Purpose and the Universe” given by Sean Carroll, a leading, contemporary, physicist, provides a brilliant outline of the development of theories about the matter of our universe and puts in perspective the proper uses of this knowledge in examining the purposes of life. We watched and discussed this video as well as reviewing some of the discussions at the October SANE Conference.

Special Meeting: Michael Werner

We were pleased to be able to host Michael Werner, author of the recently published “Regaining Balance: The Evolution of the UUA,” which was reviewed in the current edition of the Humanist.

Mike has been President of the American Humanist Association; Vice President of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist group HUUmanists; member of the North American Committee for Humanism; an adjunct faculty member of the Humanist Institute; speaker for United Coalition of Reason; and current President of the Humanist Foundation. He was one of the founders of SMART Recovery, a Self-Management and Recovery Training program for addictions.

October board and standing committee meetings.

Monthly Meeting: Doug Peary “Felix Adler, Humanist Hero”

Our October monthly meeting featured the latest in Doug Peary's "Humanist Hero" series of biographies of famous humanists, this time on Felix Adler, the founder of the Ethical Culture movement.

Doug Peary is a Unitarian minister and a former president and vice-president of the Humanist Association of Connecticut.

Book discussion: Free Will, by Sam Harris

We discussed “Free Will” by Sam Harris at Stephany Cousins's home in Bethany. (See the newsletter for directions.)

The book is available at a few public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Humanist Conversations: “Israel, Facing the Future”

We watched and discussed a recent PBS special report on Israel and its reaction to the Arab Spring.

September board and standing committee meetings.

(We held the board meeting a week later than the normal date so that more board members could attend.)

Book discussion: Why I Am Not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell

We discussed “Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects” by Bertrand Russell.

Monthly Meeting: John Pawelek “A Scientist’s Quest To Understand Metastatic Cancer”

Our September monthly meeting featured a return visit from Yale cancer researcher and USNH member, Dr. John Pawelek.

John Pawelek, PhD is a long-time member of the research faculty in the Department of Dermatology and the Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine. His research interests focus on cancer cell fusion with migratory white blood cells as a mechanism of metastasis. He has authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed papers in the areas of skin pigmentation and melanoma and is past president of the Pan American Society for Pigment Cell Research.

Humanist Conversations: “Strange Fruit”

We watched and discuss a PBS video on the classic anti-lynching song, “Strange Fruit,” made famous by Billie Holiday, and the surprising origin of the song.

Alain de Botton's "Atheism 2.0"

At a special afternoon meeting we showed Alain de Botton's TED talk "Atheism 2.0" and discussed de Botton's ideas about secularism, lifestyle, and ethics.

August board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: The Life You Can Save

We discussed “The Life You Can Save” by Princeton University Professor of Bioethics, Peter Singer.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Monthly Meeting: Daniel Finn of Pioneer Valley Local First

Our guest speaker, who had previously talked at one of our Hartford area dinner meetings, was a little late due to car problems, but got straight to work when he managed to get to Hamden. Mr. Finn is an advocate of local food, local businesses, and sustainable development.

Humanist Conversations: Ben's Mill

Steve Boshi showed the 1982 Academy Award-nominated documentary "Ben's Mill," which shows the operation of a water-powered woodworking shop in a mill in Barnet, Vermont, and the ingenuity of its owner, Ben Thresher.

The mill is now run by a trust.

Book discussion: The Golden Compass

We discussed “The Golden Compass” by British humanist author, Phililp Pullman.

The book (and the film of the book) is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

July board and standing committee meetings.

Monthly Meeting: Dr. Gregory Shenk “The Science of Smart”

Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s first cousin, is considered by many historians to be the father of heritability and intelligence research. But the reliability of heritability calculations and the techniques for making them have been called into question many times over the last several years. A crude proxy for direct effects of genes on specific traits, it was nonetheless the best tool researchers had to work with. That is, until now. Developments in DNA sequencing technology have made it possible to hunt for specific genes and analyze large samples. This presentation will address recent developments in the evidence for “nature” that these studies have exposed.

Humanist Conversations: Desertification & Accounting

“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it's happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.

June board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: The Believing Brain

We discussed “The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truth” by Michael Shermer.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

(Rescheduled from Februrary)

Monthly Meeting: Steve and Susan Boshi “Humanists in Italy.”

Steve says, “In the early fourteenth century a new spring awakening began to grip Europe, predominantly in the Italian city of Florence. Building on Greek and Roman concepts nearly forgotten for a thousand years, this intellectual fervor grew to what has become known as the Renaissance.

“Join us for an evening of pictures and conversation of our fall trip to see the highlights of Bella Italia and a magnificent coda in the Swiss Alps.”

(1 week later than usual!)

Humanist Conversations: The Soloist

We watched and discussed the 2009 film, “The Soloist,” featuring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.

Annual Picnic at the Raffords' home in Middlebury

Hartford-Area Humanists dinner at Wood-n-Tap, 12 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill. .

HAC is pleased to announce the establishment of a new affiliate organization, Hartford Area Humanists. The May dinner guest speaker was James Hughes, Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Dr. Hughes, a professor at Trinity College, discussed what neuroscience reveals about the physiology and neurochemistry of happiness, morality, self-control and transcendence.

May board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: Deer Hunting with Jesus

We discussed “Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War” by the late Joe Baegant. Although the book was enjoyed by everyone, its assertions were not documented.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

(Rescheduled from March)

Monthly Meeting: Ken Feder on “Lye Stones, Cider Presses, and Sacrificed Virgins: Converging Evidence at the Mystery Hill Site in New Hampshire.”

Ken said, “Researchers rely on multiple, independent channels of evidence converging on the same explanation to support a particular hypothesis. I’ll assess the converging evidence for the object called ‘The Sacrificial Table’ located at the Mystery Hill site in New Hampshire.”

Ken is a professor of Archaeology at Central Connecticut State University and is the author of several books on archaeology.

Humanist Conversations: Self & Self Identification

Following the book discussion about Greg Epstein’s “Good Without God” and Robert Tapp’s talk, we continued the discussion about “secular” and “spiritual” and, perhaps, get to a few more of the touchy ideas like “agnosticism,” “atheism” and “purpose.” To this end, we’ll have three short videos related to defining or explaining important ideas that we probably mostly take for granted, like “self” and “mind.” The videos are: a March 2011 TED talk by Antonio Damasio, “The Quest to Understand Consciousness;” Neil Degrasse Tyson on being claimed by/as atheist; and Andrew Newberg, “Why God Won’t Go Away.”

Hartford-area dinner at Wood-n-Tap, 12 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill. .

HAC is pleased to announce the establishment of a new affiliate organization, Hartford Humanists. Hartford Humanists will plan, coordinate and implement activities and events of interests to humanists living in the greater-Hartford area, including the monthly dinner series in Rocky Hill. Although its events and activities will typically take place in the greater-Hartford area, all Hartford Humanist events will be open to all HAC members. Our April Harftord-area dinner was be dedicated to discussing and planning the new organization.

April board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: Good Without God

We discussed “Good without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe” by Greg Epstein, the current Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University.

Anniversary Meeting: Dr. Robert B Tapp

Best-selling books have spotlighted Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens. Of course traditional religious thinkers have criticized them. But they have also faced criticisms from many humanists. How are those controversies related to the increasing percentage of Americans who identify as “religious Nones” or as “Spiritual But Not Religious?”

We are very pleased to have Robert B. Tapp, Ph.D, as our anniversary speaker. Dr. Tapp has been a tireless educator of humanists for decades. Random highlights of his lengthy career include Summer Lecturer, Starr King School for the Ministry, 1959; Dean, Humanist Institute 1993-2005; Professor of Humanities and Religious Studies, University of Minnesota, 1972-1994. He has been published regularly since 1953 in such varying publications as American Journal of Theology & Philosophy, Journal for Humanistics (Utrecht), and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

We will start with a potluck dinner at 7:30 PM. (Please bring a dish to share.) The main program will follow brief announcements at 8:00 PM.

Humanist Conversations: Doug Peary on Death with Dignity

Douglas Peary will discuss HB 6645 - legislation currently under consideration in Connecticut that would allow terminally ill, mentally competent patients get a doctor’s prescription for medication to end their suffering.

Doug Peary is one of the founding members of the Humanist Association of Connecticut, was its vice-president for many years and took a turn at president in 2000. Raised a conservative Baptist fundamentalist Christian on a Maine potato farm, Doug’s spiritual journey led him to become an ordained UU Minister in 1979. In 2004 he published his first book, “Humanist Heroes,” a compilation of his very popular presentations. He is now working on volume two.

More recently, Doug has become an active advocate for Compassion & Choices, a group that provides education, counseling and advocacy concerning end of life choices. He has been actively involved in the effort to pass this legislation and will give us an update on its progress through the State Legislative process.

Refreshments will be served.

Hartford-area dinner at Wood-n-Tap, 12 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill. .

Our Guest Speaker for our Hartford Area Dinner in March was our own Doug Peary, who has recently been active advocating for Compassionate Ending legislation. Doug talked about the history of the death with dignity movement and the push to get legislation passed in Connecticut.

March board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: The Plague

We discussed the short, classic novel “The Plague” by Albert Camus.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

POSTPONED

Monthly Meeting: Ken Feder on “Lye Stones, Cider Presses, and Sacrificed Virgins: Converging Evidence at the Mystery Hill Site in New Hampshire.”

Book discussion: The Better Angels of Our Nature

Back in February we decided to postpone this discussion due to forecasts of snow. Time to discuss “The Better Angels of Our Nature, The: Why Violence Has Declined” by Steven Pinker.

Steven Pinker’s 2007 TED talk was the impetus for writing the book and introduces the major themes.

Pinker was recently interviewed about “Better Angels” in a live “podcast” by Point of Inquiry. You can hear what Pinker has to say about the Newtown massacre.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Humanist Conversations: The Abolitionists

Despite numerous technical problems, we watched parts of the PBS American Experience series on the Abolitionists .

Hartford-area dinner at Wood-n-Tap, 12 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill. .

Our Guest Speaker for our Hartford Area Dinner in February was Dan Finn, Director of Pioneer Valley Local First. Dan talked about how consumers can strengthen their communities by buying local and about the growing Fair Trade movement.

February board and standing committee meetings.

Book discussion: The Better Angels of Our Nature

We had intended to discuss “The Better Angels of Our Nature, The: Why Violence Has Declined” by Steven Pinker, but due to forecasts of snow and mixed precipitation, we decided to play it safe and postpone the discussion

Monthly Meeting: Kim Hynes of Connecticut Common Cause on the effect of the Citizens United decision on elections

Kim Hynes of Connecticut Common Cause talked to us about how the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court in 2010 affected the 2012 election. She spoke to the issue of secretive and special interest spending on political advertising.

Connecticut Common Cause is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens lobby dedicated to improving the way state government operates. Whether it is advocating for opening committee meetings to the public or compelling the passage of the strongest campaign finance law in the nation, Connecticut Common Cause has been a leading voice in reforming state government.

How to Get Media Attention and Promote Your Group – A workshop with Fred Edwords

Fred is the national director of the United Coalition of Reason. He has over 35 years experience in freethought leadership, having served as executive director of the American Humanist Association, editor of the Humanist magazine, and president of Camp Quest. The event was sponsored by the Connecticut Coalition of Secular Organizations, of which the HAC is a member.

In this intensive training workshop, participants were taught the ins and outs of :

• writing effective letters to the editor;
• writing effective press releases;
• holding press conferences and carrying out publicity stunts;
• preparing talking points for media appearances; and
• handling yourself on radio, TV, and with print reporters.

Humanist Conversations: Incredible Edible Community Building

Pam Warhurst cofounded Incredible Edible, an initiative in Todmorden, England dedicated to growing food locally by planting on unused land throughout the community. Pam gave a TED talk in August of 2012, where she tells us, "We started with a simple question: Can we find a unifying language that cuts across age and income and culture that will help people themselves find a new way of living?" Throw away all of your preconceived notions of what the term "community gardening" means.

Hartford-area dinner at Wood-n-Tap, 12 Town Line Road, Rocky Hill. .

Our guest speakers at our Hartford-area dinner were Jane Kinney-Knotek and Claudia Mangan of Statewide Legal Services of CT, who discussed the pardon process in Connecticut and the Pardons Project's efforts to assist low-income clients obtain a fresh start.

Monthly Meeting: Humanists in Italy – POSTPONED

Humanist Conversations: After Newtown

At our first Humanist Conversations of the year we discussed the recent (poorly edited) PBS special “After Newtown.”