Skepticon IV

For all you Midwes- tern godless out there, Skepticon IV is just months away. PZ and I are grandfathered in, so we'll definitely be speaking, along with many other awesome folk. Once again this irreverent ride is brought to you by the MSU Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and as always, in Springfield, Missouri.

The venue this time will be the Gillioz Theatre. Officially from Friday to Sun- day this November 18th to 20th (2011), but no events are yet planned for Friday (there is an excur- sion planned that day for the Strafford Creation Museum, but so far it will probably just be a mill-about-and-get-acquainted day, but something could still get on the schedule for Friday night). For everything you need to know (and to register) see their official website at Skepticon.org (which will be updated with more details over time as everything gets finalized).

It's free, but that  doesn't mean you're guaranteed to get a seat. Registration has already begun, and could fill up this year, so if you plan to go, register now rather than later! (Also, they need donations to keep this grand event free, and continuing into future years, so if you can spare anything and want to help out, visit the donation page on their website.)

For how amazing the event is, see my past blogs: Skepticon III, Skepticon II, and the original Skepticon. This year the speaker roster includes some new people and some folk from last year: 

• Historian and philosopher Richard Carrier
   
• Biologist PZ Myers
   
• The ever lovable FFRF spokesman Dan Barker
   
• Sexuality & atheism blogger Greta Christina
   
• Passionate SSA man & pastafarian of pastafar- ians JT Eberhard
   
• Atheist activist and ex- bible-thumper David Fitzgerald (taking on Mormonism this time!)
   
• The quite unreasonably beautiful but perfectly skeptical Julia Galef (of the Rationally Speaking podcast and blog and the often keen Measure of Doubt)
   
• Godless blogger and genome scientist Jen McCreight (of Blag Hag and Boobquake fame)
   
• The Friendly Atheist who Sold His Soul on eBay (no kidding...it came in at $504) Hemant Mehta
   
• Beloved magic-wielding private investigator Joe Nickel (beware his "accio reason!" spell)
   
• Atheist psychologist Darrel Ray (of God Virus fame, and lately, Sex and Secularism)
   
• President of American Atheists Dave Silverman (just recently lampooned by the Daily Show's John Stewart, somewhat justifiably: although Silverman's quoted remarks were spot on, IMO his lawsuit is misguided)
   
• Atheist evangelist, and ever-entertaining soliloquist Sam Singleton
   
• And the vicious tor- menter of children, I mean, er, founder of Skepchick and femin- ist presenter of fas- cinating things (like Icelandic child-terror- izing Christmas trolls) Rebecca Watson.

No word yet on what everyone's topics will be, but mine will be on Bayes' Theorem. That's right, I'll be teaching you math, bitches! Don't worry, I promise it will be at least mildly fun.
 

September Course

This September (in just a few weeks) I will be visiting lecturer at CFI's online campus, teaching their one-month intro course The Real Origins of Christianity alongside Dr. John Shook (we co-taught the last course, on naturalism). Anyone can attend and receive a certificate of completion (though only students at UB receive college credit). It is all online and all flextime (you can work at any time of day or week).

Course description: This course examines the historical origins of the Christian religion from a secular and skeptical perspective. Course topics include the origins and composition of the New Testament; the sociological, cultural, and religious context and how they caused early Christian beliefs; discerning the historical, mythical and theological Jesus; and explaining early belief in his resurrection. It aims to give students a basic primer on the issue of early Christian origins and how to understand what happened without relying on dogma or the supernatural.

Students will be able to interact with both of us on a near-daily basis in professional-quality forum discussions of lectures and reading materials (or you can just listen in, although participation is required for a completion certificate). There are required readings but no grades, tests, or papers (we assess your level of participation and comprehension from your interactions with us each week). My book Not the Impossible Faith is the required course text (print, kindle, or PDF). Tuition is $60 ($50 for Friends of the Center, and only $10 for college students). To learn more, or register, visit the CFI course page: The Real Origins of Christianity (SCI 233).