Building Humanist Communities at #AHACON22

We’re previewing more of the exciting sessions you’ll see when you attend the American Humanist Association’s (AHA) upcoming 81st Annual Conference. The Conference will be entirely virtual again this year, so you can join us from your very own home, or even set up a watch party with your friends, family, or local group.

The main Conference sessions will be on Saturday, June 25th, and Sunday, June 26th, with a Kick-Off Social Gathering on the evening of Friday, June 24th. We’ll also have a series of networking and social events throughout the Conference so you can meet and connect with other attendees. The sessions we preview this week look at different kinds of humanist community.

On Saturday, Drew Bekius will present Upgrading Our Humanism: Building a Lifestyle of Embodied Values. His session asks, what values do we as humanists embrace and what does it look like to truly live them out and build humanist community? He’ll explore what it looks like to practice our humanism more intentionally, more honestly, and more vibrantly, while also having a bit more fun in the process. A long-time humanist, Drew previously served as president of The Clergy Project, an organization that provides peer support and transition assistance to deconverted religious leaders in more than thirty-five countries across the world. Now working in finance, Drew is also on staff as Speaker Coach for TEDxMinneapolis and serves on the Board at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis.

Sunday’s sessions will include Humanist Chaplaincies: Creating a Space for Students, led by Anthony Cruz Pantojas, MTS. Anthony (they/he/elle) is a cuir/queer Afro-Boricua who is deeply informed by decolonial humanisms and transgressive subjectivities. They currently serve as the Humanist Chaplain at Tufts University. He also serves on the board of the Secular Coalition for America. This session will examine the emergence of diverse humanist chaplaincies, situate the nonreligious in the history of higher education chaplaincy, explore modes of meaningful community outreach, and engage in conversation about how universities can support students by building humanist chaplaincies.

Don’t miss out on these and other vibrant sessions that focus on the panoply of humanist experiences. Register for the Conference now.

See you there!

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