Category: Speaker

Alfred Jan

April 3, 2016

Who coined the word “blurb”, published a short story in 1905 which anticipated the 1980s movie “Ghostbusters”, and was responsible for Picasso getting his first solo exhibition in America? Gelett Burgess, a truly remarkable Renaissance man, started out as a civil engineer and became a West Coast bohemian who responded to the European Decadent movement with nonsense poetry. He wrote essays and short stories about the nature of humor, the function of art, gender relations, and the basis of empathy. Our speaker, Alfred Jan, is a practicing optometrist with an M.A. in Philosophy specializing in Aesthetics. He compiled a collection of Gelett Burgess’ works called “A Gelett Burgess Sampler: Ethics and Aesthetics” in 2012, and has lectured several times about Burgess since.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2016-04-03): Gelett Burgess, a Renaissance Man (Alfred Jan) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Zahra Billoo

March 27, 2016Watch Full Movie Online Streaming Online and Download

Zahra Billoo is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations – San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) chapter. She is also a 2010 recipient of the San Francisco Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award and a 2011 recipient of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California’s Public Interest Attorney of the Year Award. She spoke to us about Islamophobia in 2013. With the present political climate, the prejudice and stereotyping Muslims face has worsened. She will present an update to the challenges facing American Muslims and other minorities, and to what we can do to improve the situation.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2016-03-27): Prejudice Against Muslim-Americans (Zahra Billoo) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Ron Gerber

March 20, 2016

When our ancestors lived in nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, they evolved with emotional instincts for loyalty to their tribe and aggression toward other tribes. Later, when humans settled into large communities, some new behaviors were required, and religion was an evolutionary adaptation for this new social environment. These groupish instincts are with us still and are contributing to our religious and political polarization. Humanist Community member Ron Gerber will discuss the writers Nicholas Wade’s and Jonathan Haidt’s review of our evolutionary history and suggestions for resolving our current predicament.

Click here to see the slides that were presented at this Forum.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2016-03-20): Evolutionary Psychology (Ron Gerber) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Richard Hobbs

March 13, 2016

The new American dream will be all about caring, productive, educational, participatory, and enjoyable activities, not about individual net worth. U.S. economic, political, and social institutions need to be re-structured to allow universal access to these humane activities. Our individual and institutional values should incorporate democracy, equality, cooperation, kindness, and sustainability. Unlike corporate structures, these values allow personal and social realization. Richard Hobbs is the Executive Director of the local human rights non-profit Human Agenda (www.humanagenda.net), the moderator of Move To Amend and the Santa Clara County Cooperative Collaborative, and a member of two local cooperatives in formation.

 

Humanist Community Forum (2016-03-13): The New American Dream (Richard Hobbs) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

 

Amy Halpern-Laff

March 6, 2016

Factory farming has devastating impact, not only on the animals but also on the factory and slaughterhouse workers, many of whom are undocumented, the planet, and public health. We’ll look at the animal agriculture industry and its repercussions, and discuss how we can make a difference. Amy Halpern-Laff earned her JD at Stanford Law School, and is a full-time advocate and mentor, apportioning her time among animal rights, prison reform, poverty reduction, and education equity. She gives presentations for the Factory Farm Awareness Coalition (ffacoalition.org).

 

Humanist Community Forum (2016-03-06): The Impact of Factory Farming on Animals, Poor People, and the Planet (Amy Halpern-Laff) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.Watch Full Movie Online Streaming Online and Download