Suandria Hall explores the impact of being raised in fundamentalism and then leaving as a nonbeliever. How does life get a restart? Ms. Hall is a mental health counselor and life coach, based in Denver, Colorado. A preacher’s kid from the Bible Belt South, she faced firsthand the difficulties of leaving a dogmatic religious foundation and learning to stand in one’s own truth.
Presentation by Gordon Orians. Communication is a complex process with many objectives, only one of which is to truly inform. The rules that have governed the evolution of communication are strict and constrain what can and cannot be expressed. Orians is Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Washington. He has served as its Director of Environmental Studies. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1989 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990.
Winners of Annual Humanist Essay Contest speak. The topic for this year's essay is: “How has the Covid epidemic caused you to rethink your plans for college and career?
Jeff Seward reviews formal assessments of the state of American democracy and talks about criteria that have been used in these discussions. He then gives his own professional evaluation of how American democracy is doing. Is our system deeply flawed? Or is it not? Seward has a Ph.D from Stanford. He has had a career in public television as a political reporter, news anchor, and film producer. He is a professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Pacific University. He has presented to us many times in the past.