Craig Keating completed his PhD in 20th century European history at McMaster University in 1996. He joined the Department of History at Langara College in January 1992, and has also taught at UBC and Simon Fraser University. To learn more about the BC Humanist Association visit https://bchumanist.ca
"The strongest reasons that count for or against any policy are always moral reasons," wrote philosophy student Stephen Tweedale at the beginning of a six-part blog series on developing an ethical framework for contemporary progressive politics. In this talk, Stephen will summarize his arguments, covering the ideas of John Rawls, TM Scanlon, Elizabeth Anderson and Martha Nussbaum. Stephen Tweedale is a philosophy student at Simon Fraser University and blogs about politics and philosophy at Popco...
SHOULD WE FEAR DRUG IMPAIRED DRIVERS? Kyla Lee is a partner at Acumen Law Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her practice focuses on impaired driving and roadside drug and alcohol testing. She is deeply concerned by new measures to be put in place by the government to address drug impaired driving and has been an outspoken public advocate against putting regulation before science and research. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at https://bchumanist.ca
"Our Moment of Power" highlights emerging transition projects throughout the Lower Mainland that are already revolutionizing how we live, move, work and grow. Moment of Power encourages participants from all age groups and audience types to collaborate on fresh ideas and smart strategies for their own municipalities' post-carbon future. Learn more about Force of Nature Alliance at http://www.forceofnaturealliance.ca Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at https://bchumanist.ca
Should we send politicians back to school? If you want to be a doctor, nurse, teacher, lawyer, firefighter, soldier, or entrepreneur, we have schools for that. So, why don’t we have schools for politicians? Would you go to a doctor who had never been to medical school? Or fly on a plane with a pilot who has never gone to flight school? Of course not – so why is politics different? In this engaging talk, Prof Max Cameron explains how he helped create the world’s first school for politicians, and ...
Alyssa Low is a pharmacy student and discusses the influenza vaccine. Dr Alan Low is a registered pharmacist and Clinical Associate Professor with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, Primary Care Pharmacist at BioPro Biologics Pharmacy and Manager, Reimbursement and Medical Affairs with Servier Canada. Dr Low talks about questions to ask your pharmacist, alternative medicines and overmedication. Unfortunately, the last few minutes of this lecture didn't recorded. Access the slides: ht...
This fall, British Columbians are being asked whether to keep the first past the post method of electing MLAs or switching to one of three forms of proportional representation. Ranil Prasad, Outreach Coordinator with Fair Vote Canada, will help us understand the reasons for the referendum, how it works and what the different options on the ballot are.
The power of fake news and anti-choice lies – how can pro-choice groups compete? Anti-choice groups in Canada get millions in government funding. This presentation will tell the story of how the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada exposed one major source of funding. Over 60 anti-choice groups were receiving federal “Canada Summer Jobs” grants to hire students. When it was revealed that one anti-choice group was using the funds to hire youth to display graphic images of aborted fetuses on city s...
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that law societies in British Columbia and Ontario could reject a proposed law school at Trinity Western University. The Supreme Court of Canada also ruled that courts cannot review the excommunication of a church member. Ian Bushfield, Executive Director of the BC Humanist Association will explore what these latest rulings mean for the state of secularism in Canada and where the next battlelines are likely to be.
When someone makes a claim about their health, can that testimony alone count as evidence to believe their statement? Whether we should take someone’s statements as evidence for anything is an important debate in philosophy, especially since testimony is a fundamental part of how humans interact. Some believe testimony can give a hearer knowledge, while others believe it is too unreliable to depend on. The importance of this debate emerges once we realise that, outside of philosophy, our individ...
What do biologists mean when they say "male" or "female"? Well... it's complicated. We'll be taking a romp through the complexities of sex determination through a wide range of species, including our own, to see that it's not as straightforward as "XX" and "XY". Katie Marshall is an Assistant Professor of Biology in the Department of Zoology at UBC. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at support our work at www.bchumanist.ca
In this interview, recorded on Monday, June 18, 2018, Ian Bushfield executive director of the BC Humanist Association speaks with Wes McMillan who served as pro-bono counsel for the BCHA at the Supreme Court of Canada and with Michael Spratt, cohost of the Canadian legal podcast The Docket. They discuss the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent ruling that upholds the decision by law societies in Ontario and BC to reject a proposed law school at Trinity Western University. TWU is an evangelical schoo...
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: IS THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE PRACTITIONERS IN BC EFFECTIVE? In contemporary healthcare consumers are constantly assailed with health advertising and claims from various healthcare providers. Additionally, the alternative healthcare sector and has grown significantly over the past two decades prompting research into the possible motivators and factors associated with its uptake. With a number of high profile cases in the media recently, there is now growing concern that ...
Dr Penny Gurstein is Professor and Director of the School of Community and Regional Planning and the Centre for Human Settlements at UBC. She specializes in the socio-cultural aspects of community planning with particular emphasis on those who are the most marginalized in planning processes. Her research focuses on developing strategies and interventions that encourage diversity, equity and urban sustainability in the planning and design of communities. Her current research is investigating stra...
Hell's History is an in-depth publication on the USW's fight to prevent workplace deaths and injuries from the 1992 Westray mine disaster through 2016. Written by former Tyee journalist Tom Sandborn, Hell's History revisits a number of tragic workplace deaths, outlining the failures of employers to keep workers safe and the ongoing need for stronger enforcement of the Westray Law. Download a copy or learn more about the campaign at https://www.usw.ca/act/activism/health-safety-and-environment/re...
Molly Babel is the director of UBC's Speech in Context Lab. Broadly, she is interested in speech perception and production, and there is a strong theme of cross-linguistic and cross-dialectal inquiry in her work. More specifically, her research program focuses on the role of experience and exposure to phonetic and phonological knowledge, how social knowledge may be manifested phonetically, and the mental representation of phonetic and phonological knowledge. A significant portion of her work exp...
L.A. Dixon, a writer, academic and high school history and science teacher specializing in critical thinking, discusses whether Steven Pinker's new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, contributes to or detracts from the Secular Humanist cause. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at www.bchumanist.ca
How does Canada's immigration system work? How does Canada accept refugees? What are some of the current concerns? Immigration lawyers Steven Muerrens and Peter Edelmann are part of the team behind the podcast Borderlines that discusses these questions and they joined us to discuss them. https://soundcloud.com/borderlinespodcast Find out more about the BC Humanist Association at www.bchumanist.ca
In the fall BC will vote whether to adopt a system of proportional representation or maintain its current first-past-the-post electoral system. This week we'll have representatives from a group arguing for the current system and a group arguing for change. Arguing for "Yes PR BC" is David Moscrop. David is a political theorist and postdoctoral fellow in the Scholarly Communications Lab at Simon Fraser University. He studies democratic deliberation, citizenship, and how we communicate with one an...
City on Edge: A Rebellious Century of Vancouver Protests, Riots, and Strikes features photographs from the collection of The Vancouver Sun and The Province which capture moments in history when Vancouverites showed up, stepped up, and made some noise—or exploded in anger— about a wide range of issues. Kate Bird is the author of City on Edge: A Rebellious Century of Vancouver Protests, Riots, and Strikes and Vancouver in the Seventies: Photos From a Decade That Changed the City, which was nominat...
Trevor Melanson manages communications at Clean Energy Canada. Clean Energy Canada is a climate and clean energy think tank within the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. They work to accelerate our nation’s transition to clean and renewable energy systems by telling the story of the gshift to clean and low-carbon energy sources. They conduct original research, host dialogues and aim to inspire and inform policy leadership. View the slides at https://www.slideshare.net...
The world is becoming increasingly complex and complexity often leads to despair, retreat and believing a problem is beyond hope. But there are ways to tackle complex problems that are different from approaches that work for simple or complicated problems. We will discuss some of the characteristics that give rise to complex or “wicked” problems and how systems thinking can shift the way we approach them. "Dr Diane Finegood is currently seconded to SFU’s Centre for Dialogue where she is developi...
M. Asadullah is a PhD candidate (ABD) and former sessional instructor at Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology, BC, Canada. Previously, he was a sessional faculty of Peace & Conflict Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley and a guest lecturer at the University of Dhaka’s Victimology and Restorative Justice, Bangladesh. Asad researches Restorative Justice, Nonviolent Communication, Conflict Resolution, Peacemaking Criminology, and Youth Justice. He enjoys supporting communit...
Audience questions & answers from Is Christianity or Secular Humanism a better foundation for human rights?: A conversation Between a Christian and a Secular Humanist This event was hosted on February 28, 2018 by Apologetics Canada in partnership with Westside Church in Vancouver, BC. Women's rights, LGBTQ rights - there is no shortage of causes vying for our attention. Underlying all such causes is the concept of human rights. Which worldview provides a better foundation for it - Christiani...
Germ warfare: The evolutionary struggle between microbes and mammals Dr Claire Cupples is Dean of Science at Simon Fraser University and a Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. Dr Cupples received her BSc at the University of Victoria, her MSc at the University of Calgary and her PhD at York University. She pursued post-doctoral studies at UCLA. She has held academic and administrative positions previously at Concordia University, in Montreal, and at the University of Victoria. Her ...
Is Christianity or Secular Humanism a better foundation for human rights?: A conversation Between a Christian and a Secular Humanist This event was hosted on February 28, 2018 by Apologetics Canada in partnership with Westside Church in Vancouver, BC. Women's rights, LGBTQ rights - there is no shortage of causes vying for our attention. Underlying all such causes is the concept of human rights. Which worldview provides a better foundation for it - Christianity or Secular Humanism? Ian Bushfield ...
Dr Jaymie Matthews is a Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of British Columbia. He's recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, an Officer of the Order of Canada and other teaching awards. What the textbooks don't tell you explores the human stories behind some of the great astronomical discoveries. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association and support our work at https://www.bchumanist.ca
Recovery Canada is a registered non profit organization offering peer led training in cognitive behavioural techiques to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. Their leaders and assistant leaders are unpaid volunteers. The parent organization is Recovery International based in Chicago, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. There are over 600 weekly peer led self help mental health training meetings held around the world. Gordon Chung is the Burnaby Recovery Group Leader. Sigal and Ezra...
Atheism was mandated by the Soviet Union but, as Humanists know well, promotion of "there is no God" can only go so far. The state therefore turned to more positive propaganda messages to promote atheism. What are these messages and how did these messages challenge traditional family relationships and ideas about gender promoted by religion and the Church? Dr Sonja Luehrmann is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Simon Fraser University. Drawing on ethnographic and archival methods, her re...
Barrie Webster is president of the Victoria Secular Humanist Association and the Memorial Society of BC. Barrie will speak about both organizations. The Memorial Society of British Columbia (MSBC) is a non-profit organization formed in 1956 to help its members to plan funerals that are simple, dignified and affordable. As a member of MSBC, you can plan your farewell with the confidence that you have the largest consumer group in B.C. protecting your interests — and the interests of your loved on...
