BC Humanists Podcast

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...

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 Fr...

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 S...

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 dial...

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 approa...

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...

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...

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 po...

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. Wh...

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 w...

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 traini...

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 Profes...

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 ha...

Barrie Webster is president of the Victoria Secular Humanist Association and the Memorial Society of BC. Barrie will speak about both organizations. The VSHA is one of Canada's oldest Humanist groups in Canada (since 1953). They offer a community for the non-religious in the Victoria area, and a forum for discussing and advancing a secular worldview based on our common humanity. They have a variet...

Anne George is Associate Professor Emerita Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on public and population health, and on examining social determinants of health, including: The health and well-being of populations, including immigrant and refugees, and aboriginal peoples alcohol and alcohol-related risks, including alcohol exposure during pregnancy improved health...

Ian Bushfield, executive director of the BC Humanist Association, explores Humanist views on the paranormal at the Sunday, October 29, 2017 Vancouver meeting. Learn more about the BCHA and support our work at http://www.bchumanist.ca

Zero Waste Canada (ZWC) is a non-profit grassroots organization, dedicated to helping end the age of wasting through better design & education! Zero Waste Canada works with individuals, businesses and communities across Canada to support continuous reuse of resources and promotes the elimination of landfills and waste-to-energy plants. They also advocate at all levels of government for responsible...

Dr Kanbawaza (Ba or Eddie) Win is a Burmese Canadian and political scientist. During his years in Burma he witnessed students shot at point-blank range during protests against the junta in 1962. He took part in the 8888 Movement and is an active supporter of democracy and federalism in Myanmar. Dr Win will cover the modern history of Burma leading to the current crisis facing the Rohingya people....

The Government of BC has recently introduced a revised curriculum (https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/) for all students that moves an emphasis from content to competencies. What does this mean for teachers and science education? Sonia Milbradt is a high school science teacher in Burnaby. She has a MSc in Physics from Simon Fraser University and a BEd from UBC. From 2013-2015 she taught in England. The...

Muju Naeem - From Islam To Atheism by BC Humanist Association

On Remembrance Day About 180 people joined us (despite the rain) in Vancouver at Seaforth Peace Park Saturday Nov 11 at 2:30 pm for Let Peace be Their Memorial - Mourning Less-Recognized Victims of War a wreath laying ceremony commemorating civilian victims of war and conflict. This free, public, city sanctioned event was again co-hosted by Vancouver Peace Poppies and the BC Humanist Association a...

No Kidding! was founded by Jerry Steinberg in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1984. After searching for a social club for childfree couples and singles and finding that none existed, he decided to take the initiative and start a group on his own. Today, No Kidding! has over 40 active chapters. Jerry has recently retired from No Kidding! to become the Founding Non-Father Emeritus, but he is glad the organ...

On Monday, October 30, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met to continue its discussions over the bill to amend the criminal code. The BC Humanist Association last week submitted our brief to the committee setting out why we support the government's decision to repeal sections 296 and 176 which prohibit blasphemous libel and disrupting a religious service respecti...