Dogmatic Delusions, Confronting Anti-Asian Racism, and more at AHACON21!
This year the American Humanist Association (AHA) is celebrating eighty years of humanist thought and action by bringing our humanist community together for the 2021 Virtual Conference.
We hope you’ll join us on Saturday, July 24th and Sunday, July 25th for two days of exciting sessions, awards and presentations, as well as in the week preceding those days for social, networking and training opportunities. This year, we’re also adding a Virtual Lobby Day on Monday, July 26th. Whether you’re new to humanism or a longtime AHA member or humanist activist, this virtual conference will keep you inspired, engaged, and connected.
Mark Reimers
We’re so excited to welcome a variety of innovative humanist speakers from around the country—right in your own home.
AHA audience favorite, Mark Reimers, will present Dogmatic Delusions on Sunday, July 25th, examining the surge in conspiracy theories and other delusions in the United States. What properties of the human mind make us so susceptible to these kinds of delusions and how can we strengthen the role of reason? Reimers is an associate professor in the neuroscience program at Michigan State University where he integrates statistical analysis with neuroscience theory in order to interpret the very large data sets now being generated in neuroscience, especially from the technologies developed by the BRAIN initiative. He presented a sold-out seminar for the AHA’s Center for Education in February, so don’t miss out on this chance to hear from him.
Mary Zhang
Also on Saturday, we’ll hear from Mary Zhang on Anti-Asian Racism as a Humanist Issue. The recent seemingly sudden peak of anti-Asian violence worldwide is certainly disturbing and terrifying, but is it as shocking as it seems? Growing up as an atheist Chinese girl in the deep American South, much of the Sinophobia Zhang experienced was deeply intertwined with anti-atheism and sexism. Zhang’s session will take a story-telling style—telling her own story and experiences with racism, Sinophobia, sexism, and anti-atheism—and starting a discourse on what humanists can do to concretely make our community safer for marginalized peoples. Zhang is an emerging secular leader currently serving as a member of the Secular Student Alliance National Board of Directors.
Don’t miss these presentations and more at the AHA’s 80th Annual Conference! Tickets for the Conference are just $15 for Full Registration and $5 for students. The ticket includes all the Conference Events, except the Celebrant Training, Lobby Day and the Center for Freethought Equality Annual Meeting which will require separate registration. (Watch for more details about those events soon!)
Registration is open now! Just go to conference.americanhumanist.org for more information about speakers and schedule, and click on “Ticket Registration” to secure your spot today.
We’ll have more speaker profiles and session previews in the coming weeks, so watch this space for plenty of Conference updates.