We're excited to announce our third annual Yale and New Haven Humanism Week lineup, featuring talks by award-winning authors, service projects, a full day conference, a party, and an animal gratitude ceremony. Scroll down for details. All are welcome -- we hope to see you in April!
SATURDAY, APRIL 2
Connecticut Assembly for Reason and Ethics Conference
8 AM to 5 PM
The Mark Twain House and Museum
351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT
Open to the public (registration required)
Join us for the Connecticut Coalition of Reason's full day conference with speakers, workshops, and community building! Speakers include Hemant Mehta (the "Friendly Atheist"), The Citizen Lobbyist author Amanda Knief, and Jason Heap, National Coordinator for the United Coalition of Reason. Visit
conference.ctcor.org to learn more and register.
SUNDAY, APRIL 3
'Mommy, Who is God?': How to Talk to Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious
Wendy Thomas Russell
1 PM
The Grove
760 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
At this
Humanist Haven -- YHC's semi-monthly Sunday community gathering where we come together to explore big questions and build a sense of community -- author Wendy Thomas Russell will offer nonreligious parents a playbook for addressing faith issues with young children. Children are welcome to attend, and child care will be provided.
MONDAY, APRIL 4
Day of Action: STEAMMM and AIDS Project New Haven
STEAMMM
3 PM
Clemente Leadership Academy
360 Columbus Ave, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
Needs of New Haven with AIDS Project
7:30 PM
The Happiness Lab at The Grove
756 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
Acting to improve the world is central to Humanism, so we're hosting a day of service to the community. The first opportunity to serve will be our monthly STEAMMM (science, technology, engineering, art, math, and medicine mentoring) activity with youth at Clemente Leadership Academy. All are welcome!
The second opportunity to serve will be our monthly Needs of New Haven meeting. April's guest will be a representative from AIDS Project New Haven, who will discuss the organization's work and how you can help impact the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS in Greater New Haven. Please bring non-perishable food items to benefit their Caring Cuisine program -- a program that delivers prepared meals and grocery items to individuals living with HIV and their families. This event is organized in conjunction with Pride month at Yale.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5
Question All Authority: Intersectional Journalism as a
Humanizing Force
Jamil Smith
7:30 PM
Dunham Laboratory (DL), Room 220, Yale University
10 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
Jamil Smith, a Senior National Correspondent with MTV News, will discuss how journalism about the underrepresented aids the purposes of humanism, why intersectionality is key to telling stories, and how his perspectives on faith and doubt have been affected by covering human struggle and tragedy. With special guest Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib. This event is hosted in collaboration with the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism and the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6
Green Light Project Crowdfunding Launch Party
7:30 PM
The Happiness Lab at The Grove
756 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
Join us for a celebration launching our crowdfunding campaign for the Green Light Project, an initiative to create a seasonal nonreligious art installation for the New Haven Green! Hosted in the Happiness Lab at The Grove -- a crowdfunded community space -- we'll celebrate with food, fun, fellowship, and door prizes from great New Haven businesses. Come learn more about our ambitious project to bring light and warmth to the Green through an interactive sculpture that will go up for decades to come and house a time capsule to be opened on New Haven's 500th anniversary. With support from BL&D, The Happiness Lab at the Grove, Strange Ways, Vintanthromodern, and others to be announced.
THURSDAY, APRIL 7
The Agnostic Adventure: How Mystery and Doubt Keep Us Human
Lesley Hazleton
7:30 PM
Mason Laboratory (ML), Room 211, Yale University
9 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
Going beyond worn-out stereotypes to explore the vital role of both mystery and doubt in keeping us human, psychologist and award-winning author Lesley Hazleton will celebrate the agnostic stance as an invitation to an ongoing, open-ended adventure of the mind. This event will also serve as the East Coast book launch for her new book Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, released April 5!
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
Twenty Gods or None: Belief, Unbelief, and the Making of a Nation
Peter Manseau
6 PM (doors open at 5:30)
RSV Room, Yale Divinity School
409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
From the very beginning, the United States was shaped by remarkable religious diversity. Examining this forgotten history through a controversy involving Thomas Jefferson's supposedly "atheistical" library, author and Smithsonian curator Peter Manseau will recount America's past from the perspective of believers and non-believers whose stories have gone untold. This event is hosted with support from the Yale Seminar in Religious Studies.
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
Animal Gratitude Ceremony
Laurie Santos
1 PM
Canine Cognition Center at Yale parking lot*
175 St. Ronan Street, New Haven, CT
Free and open to the public
This nonreligious animal gratitude ceremony, inspired by the Catholic tradition of "animal blessings" and led by Canine Cognition Center at Yale director Dr. Laurie Santos, will allow us to communally express gratitude toward our own companion animals and publicly appreciate how our lives have been enhanced by our animal friends. This event is hosted in collaboration with the Canine Cognition Center at Yale and the New Haven Animal Shelter.
Please bring a photo of your pet for the gratitude ceremony. Well-behaved/socialized dogs are also welcome to attend in person.
*In the event of inclement weather, this event will be moved to The Grove, 760 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT.
These events are organized with support from the Yale Undergraduate Humanist Society and the None/Others at Yale Divinity School.
