“Religious faith discourages independent thought, it’s divisive, and it’s dangerous”, says Richard Dawkins. On Wednesday of week three, UMSS will be screening the first part of the Richard Dawkins documentary Root of All Evil?, in which he “examines how religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth”. The documentary includes interviews with a number of prominent members of various faiths, including Ted Haggard (!).

When: Wednesday August 10, 1-2pm

Where: Lowe Theatre, Redmond Barry Building

This event is free and open to the public. However, to support UMSS and help it grow, we ask that you consider signing up for a membership on the day ($1 for union members, $2 for non-members, $4 for non-students). We will also be selling UMSS t-shirts for $20 for members.

RSVP on Facebook.

Also, remember remember we’re co-hosting a trivia night on Thursday August 11. You should definitely be there.

On August 11, UMSS and RMIT Secular Society are holding a trivia night. Save the date now! Entry is completely free, and bookings are not required.

You’re welcome to come with a team, however as it is a social event, you’re absolutely welcome to come solo and form a team on the night (indeed, it is expected that some people will do this).

The event is being held upstairs at the Queensberry Hotel (593 Swanston St, corner of Queenberry street). Arrive any time after 6.30pm for dinner/drinks/socialising. At 7.40, Simon Taylor will be making an appearance and performing a stand-up comedy routine, before questions start at 8.00 (sharp, so make sure you have arrived by then).
There will also be a number of food and drink specials available on the night:

• $5 pints (Carlton)
• $10 jugs (Carlton)
• $8 Jagerbombs
• $5 basic spirits
• $5 house wine/champagne
• $10 burgers/parmas

There will, of course, be prizes for smartest secularists, mainly in the form of free alcohol.

If you need to renew your UMSS membership, you can do so on the night. New members are always welcome, too.

When: Thursday August 11, 7pm
Where: Queensberry Hotel (593 Swanston St)

RSVP on Facebook.

Welcome back for semester two, and hello to all the new members!

For the second week of semester, UMSS is happy to welcome back Fiona Patten, who will be giving a talk about religion, politics, and lobby groups. Fiona Patten is the Convenor of the Australian Sex Party, a civil liberties party that was formed in 2009. The Sex Party has referred to itself as “the major minor party in Australian politics”, having performed very well in their first federal and state elections.

When: 1pm, Wednesday August 3

Where: Lowe Theatre, Redmond Barry Building

This event is free and open to the public. However, to support UMSS and help it grow, we ask that you consider signing up for a membership on the day ($1 for union members, $2 for non-members, $4 for non-students). We will also be selling UMSS t-shirts for $20 for members.

This event is brought to you by the Freethought University Alliance. Additionally, Fiona Patten will also be giving talks at other Victorian universities during the same week.

RSVP on Facebook.

UPDATE: For those who attended the event and want some links to more information (or those who missed out and would like to know what’s going on), a bunch of links have been collated here.

For week 5, the University of Melbourne Secular Society is delighted to announce that former Senator and former leader of the Australian Democrats, Lyn Allison, will be joining us again for an update and discussion on the National School Chaplaincy Program. A year on from Lyn’s last visit, come along to find out what has happened with the program in the last year and what problems it still poses for our secular public education system.

Event details:
Date: Thursday, 31^st March 2011
Time: 1 PM
Venue: Harold White Lecture Theatre, Arts Centre

If you haven’t renewed your UMSS membership yet then don’t fret, you can get your new shiny membership card by signing up at any event during the year. Renewing membership means you’re helping the society grow and gain access to bigger grants, which means more events, guests, free food and merch! Membership is only $1 for Union members and $2 for non-union!

We also have new T-shirts for sale at events, $20 each for members, with two new quotes from Huxley and Sagan (you can see the designs on umss.org). I’ve had random people at uni come up and tell me how awesome they are, so added bonus if you like talking to strangers/meeting new people. If you can’t make the event just shoot a message through to umss@umss.org and we’ll sort something out.

Hope to see you all at the event!

The University of Melbourne Secular Society, in conjunction with the Victorian Skeptics, is pleased to announce a fantastic free public lecture on the 1st of December starring two of the skeptical movement’s biggest names: Brian Dunning and Rebecca Watson.

Brian Dunning is the creator, host and producer of Skeptoid, an extremely popular, weekly podcast that focuses on the critical examination of controversial popular phenomena, such as urban legends, alternative medicines, conspiracy theories and historical inaccuracies. With over 100,000 subscribers and over 200 episodes, Skeptoid has done a lot in furthering the reach of the skeptical movement and critical thinking in general.

Some UMSS members may know Brian from Here Be Dragons, his free short movie about critical thinking that was screened at a recent UMSS event on October 6th. If you didn’t make it, you certainly missed out.

Rebecca Watson is the founder of skepchick.org, a popular women’s blog on skepticism, and a panel member on the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe along with Steven Novella, Jay Novella, Bob Novella and Evan Bernstein, one of the most well-known podcasts in the skeptical movement. The SGU, as it is more common known, has over 60,000 subscribers and has been running for over 5 years, garnering a large amount of respect in the community as a source of both timely and accurate news and entertaining discussion.

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When: Wednesday, 1st December 2010, 6:30pm – 9:30pm (lectures starts at 7:30)

Where: Bridie O’Reilly’s, 29 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Australia

Meal deals for the night are currently being arranged. This event is free to attend; however there will be merchandise available to purchase on the night (and donations are certainly welcome).

You can also RSVP on Facebook.

The semester is almost at an end! While that may mean that the holidays are almost within our grasp, for most of us there’s a stressful period of exams and assessment that we have to pass through first.

That’s why the UMSS is having a relaxing last couple of weeks; this and next Wednesday, we’ll be screening the two part documentary “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial”. The documentary is about the famous Dover trial, in which a Kansas school board was taken to court over attempts to teach Intelligent Design in the classroom.

So come along, sit back, and take an hour off from uni just to relax for a bit (that’s what we’ll all be doing). See you all there!

RSVP on Facebook

Details:
1:00-2:00pm
Wednesday, October 20th
Medley Theatre, Redmond Barry Building,
University of Melbourne