CFI Inaugurates New Educational Centre in the UK
Centre for Inquiry, London will be having an opening ceremony on 18 January 2008. This marks the beginning for CFI's contributions to education, enrichment, and research in the United Kingdom and mirrors these same developments in North America, Europe, and other parts of the world. The theme of the opening conference is "Secularism in the Multicultural Society: The Civil Limits of Tolerance." The conference will be held at Conway Hall, which is now also home to CFI London. Conway Hall is a landmark for progressive thought and free speech and is home to the South Place Ethical Society's collection of Humanist Research resources, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the United Kingdom. The ceremony will begin at 11a.m. with welcoming remarks from distinguished representatives of the British academic, secular and humanist communities. There will be presentations and discussions throughout the day finally concluding with the keynote address at 8p.m.
CFI London has entered into an agreement with the administrators of Conway Hall to deliver courses and lecture series, as well as hold special events of interest to secularists, humanists and those interested in the humanist worldview. Following the opening of the Centre, a week's course of lectures will be given at Conway Hall to inaugurate the educational program into its new home. Please contact Samantha Dornfeld for further information.
Speakers
Paul Kurtz is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, founder and chairman of the Center for Inquiry Transnational, and editor-in-chief of Free Inquiry magazine.
R. Joseph Hoffmann is a distinguished historian of religion who chairs the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, senior Vice President of the Center for Inquiry
Simon Glendinning is Reader in European Philosophy and Director of the Forum for European Philosophy at London School of Economics.
Mark Vernon began his professional life as a priest in the Church of England. He is now a writer, broadcaster and journalist.
Daphne Hampson is Professor Emerita of Divinity at the University of St Andrews, where she held a chair in Post Christian Thought.
Stephen Law is currently senior lecturer in philosophy at Heythrop College. He is also the editor of THINK and author of The Philosophy Gym and The War for Children’s Minds.
Azar Majedi is chairperson of Organization for Women’s Liberation and one of the leaders of Worker-Communist Unity Party. She is the author of numerous publications including her recent book, Women’s Rights vs. Political Islam (2007).
Julian Baggini is the author of The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other Thought Experiments (2005), The Philosopher’s Toolkit (2002), and is a co-founder and editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine.
Ibn Warraq is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry Transnational and a member of the CFI Collegium.
Nigel Warburton is the Senior Lecturer at the Open University and author of a number of Philosophy books including the bestselling Philosophy: The Basics (4th ed.), Philosophy: The Classics (3rd ed.) and Thinking from A to Z.
Peter Cave is lecturer in philosophy at the Open University and City University. He writes for various philosophy journals and currently is Chairman of the Humanist Philosophers’ Group.
DJ Grothe is Vice President and Director of Outreach Programs for the Center for Inquiry, an associate editor of Free Inquiry magazine and host of Point of Inquiry.
Simon Blackburn is Professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He is also a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association and a former editor of the journal Mind.
Schedule
| Time | Event | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00A - 11:10A | Introduction | R. Joseph Hoffmann |
| 11:10A - 11:20A | Words of Welcome 1 | Norman Bacrac |
| 11:20A -11:50A | The Challenge of Multisecularism | Paul Kurtz |
| 11:50P - 12:20P | The Religious Roots of Secularism? | Simon Glendinning |
| 12:20P - 12:50P | A Case for Agnosticism | Mark Vernon |
| 12:50P - 1:30P | 'Enlightenment 2008' | Daphne Hampson |
| 1:30P - 2:30P | Break | |
| 2:30P - 3:00P | Secularism: a simple test | Stephen Law |
| 3:00P - 3:30P | Minority Rights vs Citizen Rights | Azar Majedi |
| 3:30P - 4:00P | Break for Tea | |
| 4:00P - 4:30P | The Challenge of the Spiritual | Julian Baggini |
| 4:30P - 5:00P | TBA | Ibn Warraq |
| 5:00P - 5:30P | No Platform Arguments | Nigel Warburton |
| 5:30P - 6:00P | With and Without Absurdity - the Message from McTaggart's Cat | Peter Cave |
| 6:00P - 8:00P | Break | |
| 8:00P - 8:15P | Welcome and Intro | R. Joseph Hoffmann |
| 8:30P - 9:30P | Human Nature, Gods, Darwin, and Us | Simon Blackburn |
