Judaism Discussion

Date: Wednesday, January 30
Time: 6:30pm
Location: UChicago Hillel, 5715 S. Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, Illinois
RSVP: Facebook event here.


Info: Chana is leading a discussion about Judaism and whether the practice of the law is essential to it. Any of you atheist Jews or people just interested in Judaism might be interested in coming by Hillel and having bagels. It'll be fun! 

Weekly Update 4: Bubbles, Oobleck, Boy Scouts and Jewish Law

Fourth week! Midterms are starting, the snow is melting and...oh wait it's going to be cold again tomorrow. Hope you're all bundled up!

We have a meeting this Thursday, January 31st, 5:45 pm, in the UnCommon Room! (Remember: down the hall and to the left in the Rockefeller Chapel basement.)

First week we talked about tragedy. Second week we did thought experiments. Third week we discussed bias. These are big heavy topics. Obviously, we need a light, relaxed, AWESOME meeting to chill us out. 

And what is both relaxing and AWESOME? Science. 

So we're either going to make polyhedral (cubical, pyramidal) bubbles:

which are both AWESOME and have to do with surface area to volume ratios and surface tension.

OR

We'll make oobleck

which is the coolest thing ever and is also about nonnewtonian fluids and shear and also goopy messes that are fun to play with. 

We'll let you know which when we decide. 

Announcements/Upcoming events: 

• This Wednesday, January 30, I'm leading a discussion about Judaism and whether the practice of the law is essential to it. Any of you atheist Jews or people just interested in Judaism might be interested in coming by Hillel and having bagels at6:30 pm. It'll be fun! Facebook event here.
• Sex Week is happening sixth week! It's going to be a whole amazing week of great events, which you can find out about through the website (www.sexweekuchicago.com) and by signing up for the listhost, which you can do through the website. There will be no fewer than THREE amazing atheist speakers: Greta Christina, talking about Atheism and Sexuality; Cliff Pervocracy, talking about consciousamory, an approach to sex and relationships, and Natalie Reed, talking about fourth wave, or trans-feminism. Also, my sister, Giuliana Serena, is going to be talking about body-positive approaches to menstruation, for both men and women. It's going to be awesome. Finally, Jay Feldman and I are going to be leading a workshop on what sex ed should look like. 
• Interested in cool talks about skepticism? Skepticamp is a free event/gathering of skeptics taking place March 2, from 11am to 6pm, at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago, IL 60630 (more information in the facebook group)

Links: 

• Israel has admitted to nonconsensually administering birth control to Ethiopian citizens. Beyond awful, and totally racist. 
• You guys might have heard of a proposed Arizona bill to make high school students swear an oath to graduate. An oath that mentions god, thereby excluding the nonreligious. Luckily, they've backed off, in part thanks to the wonderful work ofSerah Blain, who you should all know and love. 
• We tend to talk about people who are anti-atheist or anti-gay as being on the "wrong side of history." Ian Cromwell thinks maybe we should stop using that phrase. What do you guys think?
• Boy scouts won't discriminate against gay people anymore! But they still don't want atheists. :(

See you guys Thursday!

Weekly Update

Meeting Reminder: Next meeting tomorrow, Thursday, January 24th, 5:45 pm, in the UnCommon Room, which is the room down the hall and to the left in the Rockefeller Chapel basement.

And what is this meeting about? Well, in the theme of the evening, we'll be talking about bias, personal and scientific. We'll talk about people's experiences in and out of the secular movement, the evidence about bias and how it operates (ever heard of chilly climate? You will!) and all other related things. Is there bias? How much? How should we address it? Feel free to bring your own stories and check out Harvard's Implicit Association Test and also this piece on chilly climates. 

Following that, we will all be walking over to Kimberly Veal's talk about Freethinkers and Freethought in the Civil Rights Movement. If you can only make it to the meeting, that's fine, but I'd really love for everyone who can to come to this talk. It's going to be great.  Facebook event here. 

The meeting will have just hot drinks, but Kimberly Veal's talk is going to have lots of yummy snacks, brought to you by Emma Tehrani :)

Announcements/Upcoming events: 

• Sex Week is happening sixth week! It's going to be a whole amazing week of great events, which you can find out about through the website (www.sexweekuchicago.com) and by signing up for the listhost, which you can do through the website. There will be no fewer than THREE amazing atheist speakers: Greta Christina, talking about Atheism and Sexuality; Cliff Pervocracy, talking about consciousamory, an approach to sex and relationships, and Natalie Reed, talking about fourth wave, or trans-feminism. Also, my sister, Giuliana Serena, is going to be talking about body-positive approaches to menstruation, for both men and women. It's going to be awesome. Finally, Jay Feldman and I are going to be leading a workshop on what sex ed should look like. 
• Interested in cool talks about skepticism? Skepticamp is a free event/gathering of skeptics taking place March 2, from 11am to 6pm, at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago, IL 60630 (more information in the facebook group)
• If you're interested in speaking at Skepticamp, email ChicagoSkeptics@gmail.com right away!

Links:

• Do you guys know we have a website and a twitter? Johnny Antos is doing an excellent job of running them now, so go check them out.
• Inauguration news: Obama Urged to Resign Over Beyonce Scandal
• Speaking of Obama, did you all catch that he recognized us nonbelievers on Religious Freedom Day?
• Andrew Tripp, who you'll all meet tomorrow if you're coming to the Kimberly Veal talk, is having a really interesting blog discussion with Greta Christina over oppression of atheists and how it compares to other oppression. His first post here, her response, his response to that. They'll be continuing in days to come.

Skepticamp

Date: March 2, 2013
Time: 11am-6pm
Location: Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago, IL 60630
RSVP: facebook group

Details: Interested in cool talks about skepticism? Skepticamp is a free event/gathering of skeptics.  If you're interested in speaking at Skepticamp, email ChicagoSkeptics@gmail.com right away!

Sex Week UChicago

Date: 6th Week
Time: Check Website below
Location: Check Website Below
RSVP: Sex Week Website

Details: It's going to be a whole amazing week of great events.  There will be no fewer than THREE amazing atheist speakers: Greta Christina, talking about Atheism and Sexuality; Cliff Pervocracy, talking about consciousamory, an approach to sex and relationships, and Natalie Reed, talking about fourth wave, or trans-feminism. Also, Chana's sister, Giuliana Serena, is going to be talking about body-positive approaches to menstruation, for both men and women. It's going to be awesome. Finally, Jay and Chana are going to be leading a workshop on what sex ed should look like.

Speaker Kimberly Veal

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2013
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Stuart 105
RSVP: Facebook Event

Details: Kimberly Veal, Executive Director of Black Nonbelievers of Chicago, will be speaking about the Civil Rights Movement and the unappreciated role of secular, nonreligious and freethinking individuals within it.

Snacks and drinks will be provided.

Dinner With Blake Page

Date: Monday, January 21st
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Pick Me Up Cafe
3408 N Clark St, Chicago, Illinois 60657-1606
RSVP: Facebook Event

Details: Blake Page, a representative from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is going to be visiting Chicago. Come get dinner and hang out!

You may remember Blake as the cadet who resigned in his last year at West Point over religious exceptionalism.

Weekly Email 1! Or is it 2? Does the last one count? Who cares, it's here!

Announcements/Upcoming events:

• We're going to the Latino/a Atheist monthly meeting this Saturday, January 19. It'll be on the early side, but it'll also get you all back home in time to nap and do all your homework. It will be really fun, so you should all RSVP on the facebook event here.
• Monday, January 21, there is going to be a dinner with Blake Page, who recently quit West Point because of their treatment of atheists. It should be very interesting and fun, so come on out! Facebook event here. 
• Kimberly Veal, president of the Black Freethinkers Association, is coming to speak at UChicago about the role of freethinkers in the Civil Rights movement on January 24th, at 7:30 pm, in Stuart 105. Facebook event here. 
• Sex Week is happening sixth week! It's going to be a whole amazing week of great events, which you can find out about through the website (www.sexweekuchicago.com) and by signing up for the listhost, which you can do through the website. There will be no fewer than THREE amazing atheist speakers: Greta Christina, talking about Atheism and Sexuality; Cliff Pervocracy, talking about consciousamory, an approach to sex and relationships, and Natalie Reed, talking about fourth wave, or trans-feminism. Also, my sister, Giuliana Serena, is going to be talking about body-positive approaches to menstruation, for both men and women. It's going to be awesome. Finally, Jay Feldman and I are going to be leading a workshop on what sex ed should look like. 
• Interested in cool talks about skepticism? Skepticamp is a free event/gathering of skeptics taking placeMarch 2, from 11am to 6pm, at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago, IL 60630 (more information in the facebook group)
• If you're interested in speaking at Skepticamp, email ChicagoSkeptics@gmail.com right away!

Links:

• A blog post about atheism and death, very much related to what we talked about last week. 
• The piece about shootings and mental illness that I promised I'd send.
• A hilarious probability fail on the part of a Catholic priest. 
• Is humanism a well-defined concept? What do you guys think?