Category: Speaker

Vic Schachter

11 a.m., May 5, 2019

In this presentation, Vic Schachter, the president of The Foundation for Sustainable Rule of Law Initiatives (FSRI), will discuss his journey from Silicon Valley litigator to founder of an NGO created to promote the establishment of dispute resolution centers around the globe in countries with heavily backlogged courts cases, and thereby provide access by underserved populations to fair, timely and peaceful resolution of their claims and preservation of their human rights. He will share some of his experiences across the globe, spanning from Asia,the Balkans, and South America to Africa.

Please join us for a buffet lunch at 12:30pm. If you’re a student, or a first-timer to an HCSV event, lunch is on us. Otherwise, please help by chipping in $10 (or whatever you can afford).

Enhancing Human Rights in the World through Peaceful Dispute Resolution – Vic Schachter from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

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Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Jim Barnett, Ph.D.

11 a.m., April 28, 2019

Efforts to understand the universe, live a good life and build a just society without relying on supernatural revelations have a long history, stretching back half a millennium BCE to the Greeks and other ancients. The resulting humanism was often oppressed by powerful religious institutions. Early in the 20th century, the principles of modern humanism were articulated in the first humanist manifesto. The document reflected the changes in thinking in response to scientific advances and addressed the economic, political and social issues of the time. Does humanism offer solutions to the challenges of the 21st Century?

After retiring from the bio-pharmaceutical industry a few years ago, Jim attended the Humanist Institute (now the education department of the American Humanist Association) where he studied humanism in depth. He is one of the founders and the board president of the Bay Area Humanists in San Francisco.

Please join us for a buffet lunch at 12:30pm. If you’re a student, or a first-timer to an HCSV event, lunch is on us. Otherwise, please help by chipping in $10 (or whatever you can afford).

Humanism: Principles, History and Relevance – Jim Barnett, Ph.D. from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

RSVP on Meetup here.
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See videos of our past Forums here.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Peter Bishop

11 a.m., April 21, 2019

Peter Bishop, a longtime Humanist Community member and leader (before his move back east a few years ago), will talk about the transition from Edwin H. Wilson at the American Humanist Association (AHA) and Arthur Jackson’s arrival in San Jose, and the early very successful years of the Humanist Community after Arthur Jackson arrived, what happened to bring it to an end, and the struggle to reconstitute the Community with Peter Bishop as an early leader.

Please join us for a buffet lunch at 12:30pm. If you’re a student, or a first-timer to an HCSV event, lunch is on us. Otherwise, please help by chipping in $10 (or whatever you can afford).

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Hawley K. Rising III, Ph.D.

11 a.m., March 24, 2019

When we hear about climate change in the news, it is often in the form of votes (polls) or it is in the form of very general statistics. In reality, science isn’t a vote, and climate change affects much more than the frequency of storms or the sea level. This talk will examine some of the rest of what it affects, by looking at where some of the theory came from and what it means. This will be a talk about how it is easier to break things than to put them back together.

Dr. Rising is a mathematician, and has worked in the Tech industry doing various topics related to coding and understanding of media. Before that, I did my doctoral research on chaos and dynamical systems in fluids. One of the topics in that subject at that time (the mid 1980s) was the climate change results from NASA Goddard, and the possibility of runaway climate change. Although there is more data by far now than there was then, much of what so disturbed fluid dynamics scientists at that time is still relevant, particularly the notion of tipping points.

To see the slides that were shown during the talk, click here.

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

What The Press Doesn’t Tell You About Climate Change – Dr. Hawley K Rising III from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

RSVP on Meetup here.
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See videos of our past Forums here.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.