The Humanist Association of Connecticut

One of the organizers of this event has had a positive Covid test, so we will not be running the program. Please join us at one of our other events!

Join us for a fascinating conversation on the varieties and complexities of secular parenting with Dr. Christel Manning, a professor of religion at Sacred Heart University.

Dr. Manning has studied non-religious communities for more than a decade and her most recent book is "Losing Our Religion: How Unaffiliated Parents are Raising Their Children" (NYU Press, 2015). Her research has covered the intersection of religion, gender and sexuality; the sociology of new or marginalized religious movements; and the dramatic rise of the so-called "religious nones." Her previous books include "Sex and Religion" and "God Gave us the Right: Conservative Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and Orthodox Jewish Women Grapple with Feminism."

This is our monthly meeting, held on the third Monday of the month.

We usually start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 6:30 PM, followed by the main program after brief announcements at 7:00 PM.

Our book for October is Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It by John Abramson, M.D.

John Cappadona, M.D., a retired general practitioner and activist for medical reform, will be moderating the discussion.

From Amazon:
The United States spends an excess $1.5 trillion annually on health care compared to other wealthy countries – yet the amount of time that Americans live in good health ranks a lowly 68th in the world. At the heart of the problem is Big Pharma, which funds most clinical trials and therefore controls the research agenda, withholds the real data from those trials as corporate secrets, and shapes most of the information relied upon by health care professionals.
In this no-holds-barred exposé, Dr. John Abramson combines patient stories with what he learned during many years of serving as an expert in national drug litigation to reveal the tangled web of financial interests at the heart of the dysfunction in our health-care system…Sickening shines a light on the dark underbelly of American health care – and presents a path toward genuine reform.
"A crash course in the profit-driven systems built by Big Pharma that dominate the U.S. health care industry and how they can cause undue suffering.... Sickening is written in tempered language backed up by hard data and historical examples to illustrate Big Pharma’s enrichment strategies." – Undark Magazine

All members of the Humanist Association of Connecticut are welcome to attend. If you have something to bring to the board or wish to attend, please contact our president. The link to attend will be sent out prior to the meeting.

An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet's Ensh*ttification

The enshittification of the internet follows a predictable trajectory: first, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. It doesn't have to be this way. Corey Doctorow has spent a lot of time thinking about this. Come listen to his 45-minute speech to Def Con 31 and discuss his solutions!

This event has been postponed for a month due to a positive Covid test.

Join us for our monthly Social Dinner, and discuss a wide range of topics with like-minded people.

For more information, see http://www.cthumanist.org

We'll be returning to the Turkish Kebab House in West Haven, which is now open on Mondays again.

Our book for November is An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by science journalist Ed Yong.

From Amazon:
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.

In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats.

“Equal parts science and poetry: Yong guides us through the magic of the animal kingdom in ways that have unlocked something inside of me I didn’t know was there. I’ll never look at our planet the same way again.”
– Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed

All members of the Humanist Association of Connecticut are welcome to attend. If you have something to bring to the board or wish to attend, please contact our president. The link to attend will be sent out prior to the meeting.

This is our monthly meeting, held on the third Monday of the month. The main program is announced closer to the date of the meeting.
We usually start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 6:30 PM, followed by the main program after brief announcements at 7:00 PM.