Archived Events

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Women’s Equality Party

Vanessa King – Making the Most of Your Strengths

Vanessa King teaches on... Making the Most of Your Strengths. A self-development workshop in partnership with Psychologies Magazine (www.psychologies.co.uk)

How to be an Effective Altruist

Peter Singer talks about how effective altruism is built upon the simple but profound idea that living a fully ethical life involves doing the "most good you can do."

Cults and Brainwashing: The hidden – and not so hidden – epidemic

Alexandra Stein will discuss cults and brainwashing, focusing on the leadership, structure, ideologies and processes involved. These attributes are common to a variety of dangerous relationships, from one-on-one cults to extremist political groups. There is an urgent need to teach young people about these phenomena at all levels of education. This talk will include suggestions about creating a culture of awareness in order to prevent recruitment to these systems and to increase accountability of the abuses that occur within them.

CFI UK Conference: Searching for Satan: Miscarriages of memory, fractured families and Satanic panics

Discover how the unreliability of memory has led to grave miscarriages of justice, including panics about Satanic abuse. Can memories really be ‘recovered’ by therapists? To what extent can we rely on the memories of witnesses in historic abuse cases? Some deeply disturbing cases will be investigated.

The Decline of the Honey Bee and the End of Human Kind?

Man and bee have lived together in harmony and symbiotic support for millenia. But recent years have seen dramatic declines in honey bee populations around the world. Luke Dixon will discuss man's responsibilities in the husbandry of bees and the harvesting of honey.

Itay Talgam on Inspiring Brilliance

Itay Talgam, in a rare visit to the UK, tells us what the great conductors can teach us about inspiring unpredictable brilliance in ourselves and others.

The Stage

5×15, 5 speakers, 15 minutes each

Join 5x15 with Irvine Welsh, David Spiegelhalter, Leslee Udwin, Viv Albertine and Itay Talgam.

Values and Humanist Values

Anthony Grayling talks about issues in his new book, "The Challenge of Things" which was published in March 2015.

Buying Happiness

The Guardian’s Oliver Burkeman (This Column Will Save Your Life), psychologist Philippa Perry (How to stay Sane), political economist William Davies (The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold us Well-Being) and leading economist and behavioural scientist Andrew Oswald ask who is responsible for our happiness and have our emotions become a new resource to be bought and sold?

Utrecht Quartet

Pre-concert talk by Roderick Swanston at 5.30pm: Planning the Future of the String Quartet. Schumann warned his Dutch protégé to admire but not copy late Beethoven. What ways out did Schumann and Verhulst manage in their search for new paths?Eeva Koskinen - violin Katherine Routley - violin Mikhail Zemtsov - viola Sebastian Koloski - celloVerhulst: Quartet No.1 Beethoven: Quartet in F Op.135 Schumann: Quartet in F Op.41/2

SoapBox @ Thinkers Corner – Election Analysis

The election will have passed and a government may be in place. In any event, on this day it is a chance for you to have your say.

Eminé Ali Rushton – The Balance Plan: Boost your Body and Mind with Ayurveda

Psychologies’ beauty & wellbeing director Eminé Ali Rushton introduces the principles of Ayurveda – an ancient, sensitive and kind health system that is the ideal antidote to frenzied, modern life. During interactive exercises, learn what your unique constitution says about you (your dosha) and how you can make practical, supportive life-changes. This session will begin and end with meditation led by renowned yoga teacher, Selda Enver Goodwin.

London Thinks – Buying and Selling Sex: the Big Debate

'Sex work' is work. Prostitution is violence against women. These two sentences encapsulate the polarised and often bitter feminist debate over the buying and selling of sex. So what can the two sides agree on?

Parade

What are Professional Ethics?

At a time when British senior politicians have recently had to step down after being exposed by undercover journalists, and a group of former teachers and school administrators in Atlanta, Georgia have been jailed for up to seven years for their involvement in a test cheating scandal, is this not a timely moment to ask the question “What are Professional Ethics”?

A Boring Conference

The Boring Conference is a one-day celebration of the mundane, the ordinary, the obvious and the overlooked – subjects often considered trivial and pointless, but when examined more closely reveal themselves to be deeply fascinating. It was created in response to the cancellation of the 2010 Interesting Conference. It seemed like the obvious thing to do. Ticket details will be announced in due course.

CounterPointe Shorts

Can the Welfare State Survive?

Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University, discusses the future of the welfare state and its sustainability. This event will provide you with the opportunity to listen, discuss and debate issues of social justice with one of the most prominent thinkers in the field.

A Better Life: An exploration of joy and meaning in a world without God

The British Humanist Association presents an exclusive screening of A Better Life, in which Chris Johnson – filmmaker and author of the book of the same name – explores issues of joy and meaning, travelling around the globe, and learning the various ways many atheists have left religion to a better life filled with love, compassion, hope, and wonder. Following the screening, Chris Johnson himself will deliver a short talk, before taking questions from the floor.

Sketching the Coalition

Join the formidable Steve Bell and the Guardian’s political sketch writer, John Crace, and Zoe Williams for their final verdict on the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition years.

Alex City Quiz

Come and join Alex for the occasion that gives the financial community the chance to have a wild punt on things they know nothing about, without bringing down the global financial system at the same time. In aid of Treloar School for disabled children.

All change: Religion & Belief in Britain

The country is going through a massive change in its religion and belief landscape. Yes, there has been an overall decline in religiosity, but that masks important changes in the mix among the religious, as well as complexity among the non-religious. Does it help to think about three dimensions – belief, behaviour and belonging - rather than simply “religion and belief”? Jeremy looks at the evidence from polling and other sources, and highlights the dangers of generalisations. How can thinking people respond to this dynamic environment?

Z-Day 2015 London

The Zeitgeist Movement is a global sustainability advocacy organisation and we warmly invite you to attend our annual event in London this year.

GALHA Election Special

In preparation for the forthcoming general election, we have invited representatives from the major political parties to discuss and answer questions on issues important to Humanists and LGBT people.

Beyond Happiness – with Anthony Seldon

Join us for an inspiring evening with Anthony Seldon as he shares practical ideas for living a more joyful and fulfilling life.

How to Solve a Problem Like the Rich?

Join the New Statesman for a lively debate.

Spiritualists

William Lane Craig’s Eight Reasons for God – Refuted

In 2014, the American Christian apologist W.L. Craig set out his eight reasons for belief in God in the bi-monthly magazine Philosophy Now, issue 99. In this talk, the validity of these eight reasons will be critically examined by atheist Norman Bacrac. Also assessed will be the morality of a God who seems to require us to have the logically impossible faculty of libertarianfree will.

The Women’s Equality Party

Equality for women isn't a women’s issue. When women fulfill their potential, everyone benefits. Equality means better politics, a more vibrant economy, a workforce that draws on the talents of the whole population and a society at ease with itself.

Santayana as Social and Cultural Philosopher

The Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) has been an undeservedly neglected figure in British academia for many decades. This neglect is in marked contrast to the considerable attention he received in the first half of the 20th century. Santayana's range as a philosopher is wide, covering ontology, epistemology, ethics, the arts and sciences, religion, political and social issues. Also, his language possesses classic clarity. So, a revival of interest in him is long overdue - as is, indeed, a talk on him to the Conway Hall Ethical Society.

An Introduction to Beekeeping

Everything you've always wanted to know about beekeeping but were afraid to ask! The Conway Hall beekeepers are running a half day course for newbie beekeepers.We'll cover: the practicalities of beekeeping, how to build a hive, how to put on a bee suit, how to light a smoker, how to open a hive and see a colony of bees, and taste some honey.

London Thinks: How to Topple a Dictator

Tipped for a Nobel Peace Prize and hailed as a world-changer by everyone from the World Economic Forum to Wired magazine, fifteen years ago Srdja Popovic was more interested in punk rock than political protest. In conversation with Nick Cohen he will explain how he became one of the leaders of Otpor! — the movement which overthrew dictator Slobodan Milosevic — and has since gone on to train the pro-democracy activists behind the Arab Spring, Occupy, and many other movements.

Nic Marks – Happiness at Work: A crazy idea, or realistically achievable?

Nic Marks is a recognised expert in happiness and wellbeing research. His TED talk on the happy Planet index and the Five Ways to Wellbeing has been watched over a million times. Recently he founded Happiness Works - a business with a social purpose - to create happier workplaces.

Conway Cohort

The Conway Cohort - a sharing of work in progress. Eight dancers are being given space, mentoring, and performance opportunities as part of an exciting new artists’ residency scheme at London's iconic Conway Hall funded by Arts Council England.

The Anatomy of Modern Wars

A panel of three will discuss the problems of contemporary war. The discussion will kick off with Derek Gregory’s view of the origin of warfare in human society. This will be followed by an examination of the break-up of Yugoslavia and the subsequent wars there by Vlaho Kojakovic. Then John Edwards will analyse the Russia-Ukraine conflict. After some general discussion amongst the panel, the audience will be invited to contribute their views on this vexed subject.

The AHS Convention 2015

The Atheist, Humanist and Secular Societies, The British Humanist Association and Conway Hall Ethical Society presents the AHS Convention 2015. We are delighted to welcome you to the AHS Convention on 27th – 29th March 2015. We’ll be joined by some fantastic speakers, treated to some wonderful entertainment, and have the opportunity to meet non-religious students from AHS societies around the country. The 2015 Convention will consist of the Young Humanists Launch, speaker and panel sessions on the Saturday, followed by evening entertainment and workshops for society members on the Sunday.