Recurring Group Meetings—Weekly Topics

every Wednesday, 8-9:30pm
location: Nairobi conference room, Graduate Community Center (GCC), 750 Escondido Rd (unless otherwise noted)
[map; the GCC appears not to be listed yet, it is across the street from Blackwelder Court and the Escondido Village Housing Maintenance Center]

Sept. 28	Visions, Goals, and Strategies: Setting the Stage for a New Year with Rational Thought
Oct. 5	What is Humanism? An Introduction to the Multitude of Secular Thought
Oct. 12	New and Returning Members Introduction Round
Oct. 19	Ice Cream Social and Mark Steel on Darwin
Oct. 26	Women and Humanism: Why Either is Important to the Other (location: Women's Community Center)
	rest of quarter TBA

Wednesday, Sept. 28
"Visions, Goals, and Strategies: Setting the Stage for a New Year with Rational Thought"

An organisation can only survive for so long without a compelling vision and an action strategy to match. The time has come for Rational Thought to formulate its vision and to come up with tangible goals and strategies for achieving this vision. This kind of meeting is probably not what you would expect if you've just joined, and you might be reluctant to attend, but it will be a great way to find out what Rational Thought has done last year, and to help set the stage for what we will set out to do this year.

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Wednesday, Oct. 5
"What is Humanism?"
presenter: Bill Jacobsen, Director, South Bay Humanist Community

This meeting is intended as an introduction to humanist thought as a direction in philosophy, but also as a very practical outline of how humanistic ideas can and should influence our lives if we are to collectively live the good life.

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Wednesday, Oct. 12
"New and Returning Members Introduction Round"

What is your philosophy? Which issues are important in your life? Would you like to find out what motivates other people in Rational Thought when they deal with questions of religion, science, and politics? Come and find out...

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Wednesday, Oct. 19
"Ice Cream Social and Mark Steel on Darwin"

Come join us for some free ice cream and a screening of the British comedian Mark Steel's "Darwin: The Lecture". With all the intellectual rigor of our group [that's a joke, but only partially ;-) ], it is easy to forget to have a good time in life, especially as a secular person. What better way than ice cream and a funny movie to remind us of life's simple pleasures!

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Wednesday, Oct. 26
"Women and Humanism: Why Either is Important to the Other"

Panelists:
Masuma Ahmed (Humanist Voice from the East)
Sena Havasy (Humanist Celebrant)
Chris Lindstrom (Founder of the Garrison-Martineau Project)
Molleen Matsumura (Author of the "Sweet Reason" Advice Column)
 
Moderator:
Anna Schapiro (Stanford freshman)

Dinner will be served!

Humanism is a life philosophy that intrinsically values all human beings, irrespective of their gender, race, sexual orientation, or social status. The gender inequalities that are present in many religions simply have no place in Humanism. Nevertheless, we all sometimes struggle to apply our ideals to our daily lives. Come hear about the contributions to the non-believers' movements by outspoken secular women in the past, why it is important to hear women's voices when tackling today's issues, and how the four panelists use their humanistic ideals to make the world a better place---for both women and men.

location: Women's Community Center
directions: From Embarcadero Rd, bear right after El Camino Real onto Arboretum Rd, take a left turn at Palm Drive, and a right turn at Campus Drive. Go through seven stop signs (not kidding), and take a left turn onto Santa Teresa St at the eighth one. Then follow the common directions below.

From Sand Hill Rd, turn onto Stock Farm Rd, go through one stop sign, and take a right turn at Campus Drive. At the next stop sign, take a left turn onto Santa Teresa St. Then follow the common directions below.

From Junipero Serra Blvd/Alpine Rd, turn onto Campus Drive West (not Campus Drive East; Campus Drive West meets Junipero Serra Blvd at the lane going up to the golf course). At the next stop sign, take a right turn onto Santa Teresa St. Then follow the common directions below.

Common directions: Once on Santa Teresa St., drive forward through two stop signs. The Fire Truck House will now be on your left. If there's no parking on the street, you may turn back, take two left turns, and park at the back of Tresidder Student Union, from which it's an easy walk back to the Fire Truck House.

The flyer for the event is here.

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