University of Melbourne Secular Society (UMSS)

In the aftermath of Elevatorgate, many questions about the role of women in the freethinking movement have arisen. Why aren’t there more female atheists? Why aren’t they as prominent as the male celebrity atheists? Does the atheist movement favour males? Should atheists support the feminist movement? Come talk and hear about these issues at the [...]

UMSS is pleased to announce that we are co-hosting the inaugural SkeptiCamp Melbourne! It will be held on campus in the Redmond Barry Building (ground floor) on Saturday, October 22 (end of week 11 of semester) from 9.30am – 5.30pm. What is SkeptiCamp? SkeptiCamps are informal, community-organised conferences borne of the desire for people to [...]

Not a UMSS event, but it may be relevant to your interests. Tomorrow night, Professor Tim Berra of Ohio State University will be speaking at Embiggen Books: “Tim Berra is professor emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State University. An acknowledged Darwin expert, he is the author of over 75 scientific papers and [...]

Renowned theoretical physicist, Lawrence Krauss, will be answering your questions as part of the Secular Society’s regular lecture series. There is no limit on questions, just an open discussion with one of the best scientific communicators around. Krauss is the director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, and a prominent author on subjects [...]

“Religious faith discourages independent thought, it’s divisive, and it’s dangerous”, says Richard Dawkins. Following on from week three, we will be screening the second and final part of the Richard Dawkins documentary Root of All Evil?. In this episode, Dawkins examines childhood indoctrination and morality. When: Wednesday August 17, 1-2pm Where: Lowe Theatre, Redmond Barry [...]

“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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 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 [...]