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Permaculture and Military Veterans
03/08/2020
Penny Dex

Presentation by Penny Dex. Discover how military veterans use permaculture to enrich their lives, Eco-literacy is the ability to comprehend the patterns which drive the life-sustaining systems of planet Earth. The veteran demographic is plagued by suicide, post traumatic stress, moral injury, and survivors guilt. Veterans need to find a new purpose for being alive. Permaculture is a good way to find that purpose.Penny Dex served in the Army from 2004-2008 and saw firsthand the true cost of war. Upon discharge she began working with veterans' groups, helping to develop the first veteran-taught permaculture course in the United States. Her work focuses on the one question, “How do we make tangible, concrete differences in veterans lives?"

Is the U.S. Becoming Authoritarian?
02/09/2020
Jeff Seward

Regimes like Putin’s Russia, Erdogan’s Turkey, and Maduro’s Venezuela don’t seem to be straightforward dictatorships, but they are not functioning democracies either. Political scientists refer to these regimes as “competitive authoritarianism.” They involve a facade of democratic practices, but the political playing field is severely tilted in favor of the ruling party. Is the United States under Donald Trump turning into a “competitive authoritarian” regime? Jeff Seward is a professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Pacific University and has been a frequent guest speaker at HGP. He has taught comparative politics, political philosophy, and courses on Latin America. Prior to his academic career, he was a reporter and documentary film producer. In 2018, Routledge Press published his book about politics in Brazil.

Existentialism as Humanism
02/02/2020
Kellye McBride

Existentialism is a philosophy emphasizing the existence of individual persons as free and responsible agents. This presentation provides an overview of existentialism in the early 20th century, as well as its origins in phenomenology and in the works of Heidegger and Nietzsche. Ms. McBride received a Master’s degree from Kingston University London and Université Paris VIII. Her interests include psychology and philosophy, horror studies, queer theory, and film studies. She has presented at national and international conferences on various philosophical topics.

American Politics Through the Mirror of the 1890s
01/26/2020
Al Christians

Al Christians presents a list of American social and political problems left unanswered in the 1890’s. These problems resemble issues now troubling us. Al invites a discussion to draw from the audience sound humanist principles to guide us past the stumbling blocks. Al has a B.S. degree in economics from Cal Tech. He worked thirty years as an actuary and fifteen years as a software developer. He is a long-time history fan. Since retiring, he reports that he has more fun as a Humanist than is logically possible.

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