Tag Archives: Skepticism

February 12th: 2012 Darwin Day Celebration

31 Jan

Sunday, February 12, 2012, 1:00 PM

112 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK

Enter the Biology/Geology building, walk ahead past the displays and through some doors, turn left

February 12th is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and “Darwin Day” is a global celebration of science and reason. The Minister of Education has recognised February 12, 2012 as Darwin Day in Saskatchewan!

The University of Saskatchewan Freethought Alliance, Saskatoon Skeptics and Centre for Inquiry Saskatchewan are proud to host the fourth annual Darwin Day celebration in Saskatoon on February 12 from 1:00-5:00 pm.

Come and help us celebrate Darwin’s 203rd birthday with 2 presentations followed by discussions. Speakers this year are from the U of S Biology department: Prof. José Andrés and Prof. Dick Neal (Emeritus). Birthday cake and coffee will be available and the Museum of Natural Sciences is nearby for touring and working on a scavenger hunt.

Schedule of Events (subject to change):

1:00 pm Introduction & 1st Presentation

2:45 pm Birthday Cake & Coffee; Museum Touring

3:15 pm 2nd Presentation

5:30 pm Pub Discussion (anyone interested can join us for further discussion & cheer – probably at nearby Alexander’s)

You are welcome to attend all or any part of the event.

Donations are welcome and appreciated. Suggested minimum donation: $10 (not required). Charitable donations to the Centre for Inquiry Saskatchewan are eligible for a tax receipt if contact information is provided.

Come out for an afternoon celebrating science!

We are looking for volunteers to help with the following tasks:
1) Event set-up – 12:30pm Feb 12
2) Event assistance (e.g. door greeter, sales table, display table, speaker contact at event) – during event Feb 12
3) Event clean-up – 5-6pm Feb 12 (some may be done during the last lecture, so that we can get out and to the pub discussion promptly;)

Please email Kendra if you are able to help out in any way.

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September 26: James Randi! – Guest Speaker

8 Aug

Monday, September 26, 2011, 7:00 PM

The Roxy Theatre

320 20th St West , Saskatoon, SK (map)

Main Theatre
James Randi is coming to Saskatoon!  This is a great event to attend with your family and friends to attend – whatever their beliefs.  We are looking for volunteers to help out on the day of the event with greeting, set up, and clean up. Let us know if you are willing to lend a hand.

Without your support, the Centre for Inquiry cannot put on major events such as this. We encourage you to donate or become a Friend of the Centre today (more information below).

James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world’s most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

Randi has pursued “psychic” spoonbenders, exposed the dirty tricks of faith healers, investigated homeopathic water “with a memory,” and generally been a thorn in the sides of those who try to pull the wool over the public’s eyes in the name of the supernatural.

He is the author of numerous books, including The Truth About Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, Flim-Flam!, and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. His lectures and television appearances have delighted — and vexed — audiences around the world.

Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) with a mission is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today. The JREF offers a still-unclaimed million-dollar reward for anyone who can produce evidence of paranormal abilities under controlled conditions. Through scholarships, workshops, and innovative resources for educators, the JREF works to inspire this investigative spirit in a new generation of critical thinkers.

Agenda
7:00 pm Welcome and presentation
9:00 pm Social (Location TBD)

Advanced Tickets (Ticket prices will increase by $5 at the door)
General Admission: $20
CFI Friends of the Centre: $10
Students: $10

Purchase your tickets online through Eventbrite at http://randi-saskatoon.eventbrite.com/.  Tickets will also be available at the door for an extra $5  if they are not sold out.

Without your support, the Centre for Inquiry cannot put on major events such as this. We encourage you to donate or join as a Friend of the Centre.  Tickets for Randi are discounted for CFI Friends, so join today!

CFI is a nationally registered educational charity and all donations over $10 are eligible for a tax receipt.  CFI recently launched the Next Big Step Challenge – if we can raise enough money by Sept 30, a major donor has promised $200,000 to help fulfill the vision of CFI homes for reason, skepticism and freethought in key cities across Canada.

When donating online, you can add a comment that you would like the funds to remain in Saskatchewan, if you wish.  You can also join or donate in person at one of our events and you can send cheques to:

Centre for Inquiry Saskatchewan
Box 31043 RPO Broadway & Taylor
Saskatoon, SK, S7H 5S8

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August 26: How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass (Guest Speaker: Chris DiCarlo)

4 Aug

Friday, August 26, 2011, 6:00 PM

Rusty Macdonald Branch Library – Auditorium

225 Primrose Drive, Saskatoon, SK (map)

Go in the main doors. The auditorium door is ahead and to the right.

Mark your calendars and tell your friends!  We hope everyone will try to attend and support this event.  We are also looking for volunteers to help out on the day of the event with greeting, set up, and clean up. Let us know if you are willing to lend a hand.

Without your support, the Centre for Inquiry cannot put on major events such as this. We encourage you to donate or become a Friend of the Centre today (more information below).

Chris DiCarlo will be reading from and speaking on his new book, How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Critical Thinker’s Guide to asking the Right Questions .

A really good pain in the ass is someone who is empowered with the ability to spot faulty reasoning and, by asking the right sorts of questions, hold people accountable not only for what they believe but how they behave.

This book revolves around asking and answering five very important questions. They are so important, they are called the Big Five:

  1. What can I know?
  2. Why am I here?
  3. What am I?
  4. How should I behave?
  5. What is to come of me?

Chris was in Saskatoon last August for the We Are All African! Can scientific proof of our commonality save us? event.  He is a great public speaker and the event was very well received.

Agenda
6:00 pm Doors Open
6:15 pm Welcome and presentation followed by questions
8:30 pm Meet & Greet Social (Location TBD)

About DiCarlo (see also  DiCarlo’s website)
Voted TV Ontario’s Big Ideas Best Lecturer and Canadian Humanist of the Year by Humanist Canada in 2008, Dr. DiCarlo presents highly insightful and lively discussions. He is a past Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard University and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Here, he conducted research for two books he is currently writing titled: The Comparative Brain: The Evolution of Human Reasoning and The Evolution of Religion: Why Many Need to Believe in Deities, Demons, and the Unseen. He has been invited to speak at numerous national and international conferences and has written many scholarly papers ranging from bioethics to cognitive evolution.

Without your support, the Centre for Inquiry cannot put on major events such as this. We encourage you to donate or join as a Friend of the Centre.  We are planning a lunch with DiCarlo for CFI Friends, so join today!

CFI is a nationally registered educational charity and all donations over $10 are eligible for a tax receipt.  CFI recently launched the Next Big Step Challenge – if we can raise enough money by Sept 30, a major donor has promised $200,000 to help fulfill the vision of CFI homes for reason, skepticism and freethought in key cities across Canada.

When donating online, you can add a comment that you would like the funds to remain in Saskatchewan, if you wish.  You can also join or donate in person at our meetup on August 14 and you can send cheques to:

Centre for Inquiry Saskatchewan
Box 31043 RPO Broadway & Taylor
Saskatoon, SK, S7H 5S8

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Film: Dawkins’ “The Enemies of Reason”, June 11th

26 May

Rusty Macdonald Branch Library – Auditorium – Friday, June 11th, 6PM

225 Primrose Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7K 5E4
(306) 975-7600

Come out to a public film screening of “The Enemies of Reason“, followed by a discussion. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Hosted by the Saskatoon Freethinkers and the Saskatoon Skeptics.

Agenda

6:15 pm Welcome

6:30 pm Film

8:15 pm Discussion

There will be coffee. We’ll probably continue the discussion at a pub – maybe the soccer centre (next door to the library) if the weather is good.

Film Summary

From the Richard Dawkins Website:

There are two ways of looking at the world – through faith and superstition or through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence – in other words, through reason. Reason and a respect for evidence are precious commodities, the source of human progress and our safeguard against fundamentalists and those who profit from obscuring the truth. Yet, today, society appears to be retreating from reason.

Apparently harmless but utterly irrational belief systems from astrology to New Age mysticism, clairvoyance to alternative health remedies are booming. Richard Dawkins confronts what he sees as an epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking…

He explains the dangers the pick and mix of knowledge and nonsense poses in the internet age, and passionately re-states the case for reason and science.

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Skeptics in the Pub, this Wednesday!

24 May

Skeptics In the Pub – Wednesday May 26 – any time between 7:30 to 11:30

Hose Brew Pub
612 11th St E
Saskatoon, SK S7N0G3
(306) 477-3473

Agenda:

  • Chip Coffey was in Saskatoon now a local psychic is having a psychic kids class
  • Does Mexican Coke taste better than Canadian Coke.  Mexican Coke does not use corn syrup.
  • Martin Gardner passed away Saturday. He was one of the original skeptics.
  • Any Issue People wish to bring up.

Skeptics In the Pub
Wednesday May 26

Any time between 7:30 to 11:30

Hose Brew Pub
612 11th St E 
Saskatoon, SK S7N0G3
(306) 477-3473

Agenda

Chip Coffey was in Saskatoon now a local psychic is having a psychic kids class

Does Mexican Coke taste better than Canadian Coke.  Mexican Coke does not use corn syrup.

Martin Gardner passed away Saturday. He was one of the original skeptics.

Any Issue People wish to bring up.


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Skeptics in the Pub

18 Apr

There will be a new Skeptics In the Pub on Wednesday Apr. 28. Show up at the Hose & Hydrant Brew Pub any time between 7:30 and 11:30 to talk about Sylvia Browne, climate change, or whatever topic of the day you feel interested about!

Hose Brew Pub
612 11th St E
Saskatoon, SK S7N0G3
(306) 477-3473

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