About us
Minnesota Atheists is Minnesota's oldest and largest atheist organization. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization that seeks to promote the positive contributions of atheism to society, provides a community for nonbelievers, educates the public about atheism, and promotes separation of state and church. We help make atheism part of mainstream society. We look forward to meeting you!
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Upcoming events
137
“Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science”
Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, US“Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science” by Renée Bergland
Minnesota Atheists - Hybrid Meeting
Free and Open to the PublicIn person and via Zoom
Zoom Meeting ID: 856 9893 7389; Passcode: 166449NEW LOCATION!
(Same place as November 2025 and January 2026 meeting.)
Merriam Park Library
1831 Marshall Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55104
(There is a small library parking lot, but there is also free parking in the neighborhood.)The room is one floor down in the basement level of the library, then down a hallway. You can get there by stairs or elevator.
1:00-1:30 pm - Library opens. Social Time. Zoom starts.
1:30-1:50 pm - Business Meeting. (Open to the public.) Includes elections for the Minnesota Atheists board of directors.
1:50-2:00 pm - Break
2:00-3:30 pm - Public Meeting: “Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science” by Renée Bergland”
3:30 pm - Leave for Dinner ** Longfellow Grill
2990 W. River Pkwy.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
(1.4 miles west of the library, just over the Mississippi River, where Marshall Ave. in St. Paul turns into E. Lake St. in Minneapolis.)—————————————
Our speaker will appear live via Zoom. She will be projected on the library screen or you may watch from home.
—————————————“Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science” by Renée Bergland
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809. In that month we often have a speaker on evolution. This year we are pleased to feature a merging of science and art. In 2024, Prof. Renée Bergland published her book Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science.
Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was a young naturalist aboard the Beagle and Dickinson was a student in Amherst, Massachusetts. Poetry and science started to grow apart, and modern thinkers challenged the old orthodoxies, offering thrilling new perspectives that suddenly felt radical – and too dangerous for women.
Natural Magic intertwines the stories of these two luminary nineteenth-century minds whose thought and writings captured the awesome possibilities of the new sciences and at the same time strove to preserve the magic of nature. Just as Darwin’s work was informed by his roots in natural philosophy and his belief in the interconnectedness of all life, Dickinson’s poetry was shaped by her education in botany, astronomy, and chemistry, and by her fascination with the enchanting possibilities of Darwinian science.
Casting their two very different careers in an entirely fresh light, Renée Bergland brings to life a time when ideas about science were rapidly evolving, reshaped by poets, scientists, philosophers, and theologians alike. She paints a colorful portrait of a remarkable century that transformed how we see the natural world.
Prof. Renée Bergland is the Program Director of Literature and Writing in the Department of Humanities at Simmons University in Boston. She has published articles, essays, and reviews for general readers in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Nautilus, and The Boston Globe.
Reviews of the book Natural Magic:
“A New Yorker Best Book We’ve Read This Year”
“Winner of the Hughes Prize, British Society for the History of Science”
“Taking the form of a joint biography, Natural Magic alternates between Darwin and Dickinson…. While Bergland offers comprehensive portraits, building on the extensive work of other biographers and scholars, the book’s own magic shines in the dialogue created between its subjects’ bodies of work.” – Kaitlin Mondello, Science
“A riveting narrative that crisscrosses the Atlantic, Natural Magic tells a story of two figures driven by their wonder at the intricate delicacies of the natural world. It shows Dickinson and Darwin enthralled by surprising proximities that the study of nature lays bare. At its heart, Natural Magic reillumines a time in which scientific thinking is still linked to mystery and a marvelous connectedness.” – Anna Henchman, author of The Starry Sky Within
Please help support Minnesota Atheists by becoming a member or by making a donation
13 attendees
Freethought Toastmasters HYBRID
Larpenteur Estates Party Room, 1260 Larpenteur Ave W, St Paul, MN, USYou’re invited to attend Freethought Toastmasters (http://freethought.toastmastersclubs.org/), a club of Toastmasters International (http://www.toastmasters.org/). Build your leadership and communication skills in a supportive, freethinking environment; a place where you will find familiar faces you know from Minnesota Atheists.
Most club members do not RSVP on Meetup since they attend most meetings and coordinate through the 'Toastmaster' of the evening if they cannot attend, so don't let the low RSVP numbers dissuade you from attending.
Join us IN-PERSON or join us ONLINE! This meeting will be HYBRID, but we expect most participants to be there in person. For those wishing to join us on zoom, send an email to George.Francis.Kane_AT_gmail.com to receive the new URL.
We open the party room at 6:00 PM for socializing before the meeting. We encourage zoom participants to join the meeting between 6:15 and 6:25 to socialize and iron out any technical issues. Use the meeting url to access the meeting, this will allow you to join via your computer or smartphone zoom app and will use your devices built in speakers/microphone/video. Message us or comment below if you need the call-in alternative.
Schedule:
• 6:00pm - The party room opens for in-person attendees, a meal is provided
• 6:15pm - Join the Zoom meeting for a pre-social
• 6:30pm - Freethought Toastmasters Business Meeting
~6:40pm - Toastmaster calls the meeting to order
~6:50pm - Scheduled Speeches
~7:25pm - Table Topics: impromptu speaking opportunity
~7:40pm - Evaluations
~7:55pm - Closing
• 8:00pm - Meeting Ends, optional post-socialToastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. While in many other Toastmaster Clubs the culture deters any mention of religion, so atheists feel guarded and often stay "in the closet," this club provides not only training in public speaking, but also continuous education in topics of interest to atheists.
This club offers the opportunity to talk about a wide range of topics. We welcome people of all worldviews, but of course our members tend to be non-religious. We take current events seriously, but our politics range from capitalist to socialist, from liberal to conservative. Our ages run from the 20s to the 60s (and beyond).
If you decide to join, you can learn to be a better, more confident speaker. No matter what our worldviews, we are committed to mutual respect, tolerance, honesty, encouragement and constructive criticism. If you become a member, you will have the opportunity to prepare and deliver speeches regularly, and receive constructive evaluations of your speeches. It’s a great place to become comfortable as a speaker. With the help of other members, we learn to prepare and present effective speeches on a wide range of topics from humorous to serious. We also learn to think fast during our "Table Topics" sessions (impromptu speeches). We never know quite what to expect from our speakers, but we can always count on an interesting evening together.
As a club of Toastmasters International, we charge the standard rate with no additional club dues. To join Toastmasters, it costs $60 per six months (prorated depending on when you join) plus a $20 new member fee. The new member fee pays for the educational program and the general membership fee pays for district events (local educational sessions for the greater Toastmasters community), general overhead, and a Toastmasters magazine members can opt to receive in the mail.
1 attendee
Past events
4166
