A Brief Overview of One Student’s CSICon 2012 Experience

October 29, 2012

For those who missed it, a brief overview of the CSICon experience, from a student perspective.

Thank you Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and Committee for Skeptical Inquiry!

A very big thanks to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for sponsoring college students such as myself to attend CSICon. It was a blast meeting the CFI On Campus team Debbie and Sarah! After four days of never ending science, skepticism, and coffee I can truly say this was the highlight of my fall this year.

I enjoyed all the presentations, and as a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga majoring in psychology, getting to hear from top psychologists such as James Alcock, Carol Tavris, Richard Lippa, and Elizabeth Loftus was a real treat. However, not only did I get to hear from them, but I was able to ask questions and meet them one on one afterwards.

Saturday was the most memorable, as Dr. Richard Lippa and Dr. Carol Tavris lead a panel on Gender Issues and Science that was incredible. Dr. Lippa presented us with brand new quantitative data he had collected on gender differences followed by a very powerful qualitative analysis by Dr. Tavris which captivated the entire room.

I was able to ask Dr. Tavris the following question, "As a single father, who often times has to play the role of mom as well, what is the most important scientifically informed point I could relay to my daughter about gender differences or the lack thereof?" She responded, "Enjoy the ones that matter and ignore the ones that don't," later reassuring me that my daughter would not want to be a pink princess forever and to enjoy it while it lasts.

To top the weekend off, I got an excuse note for the two days of class I missed to attend CSICon from none other than Dr. Eugenie Scott, Director of the National Center for Science Education, and I knew my professors could not argue with that!

Excuse note from Dr. Scott

CSICon was a blast, thank you for supporting college students like myself—the future is in good hands!

About the Author: Thomas J. Coleman III

Thomas J. Coleman III is currently a Psychology major attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He works as the Assistant Project Manager at his school conducting cross cultural research studying spirituality between the USA and Germany. He is a board member for the Chattanooga Freethought Association, as well as a founding member of the UTC Secular Student Alliance and Hamilton County for Separation of Church and State.