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Speakers Upcoming Events Thursday, November 17, 2011 - 7:30 PM Science Research and Teaching Center (SRTC), Room 155 Portland State University Speaker: Peter Boghossian, Ph.D. Faith, Belief and Hope: From Cognitive Sickness to Moral Virtue and Back Again In "Faith, Belief and Hope: From Cognitive Sickness to Moral Virtue and Back Again," Dr. Peter Boghossian empowers educators and members of the academic community to directly confront faith-based beliefs in the classroom. He discusses six common obstacles as to why educators fail to engage student beliefs, and then challenges each of these orthodoxies. Ultimately, he argues that faith-based beliefs are a cognitive sickness that have been turned into a moral virtue. To counter this phenomenon, he argues that faith-based beliefs should be treated like racist beliefs--given no countenance and stigmatized. The talk will be followed by an extensive question and answer period. Detractors are especially welcome. About Peter Boghossian Dr. Peter Boghossian's primary research areas revolve around critical thinking and moral reasoning. His doctoral research studies, funded by the State of Oregon and supported by the Oregon Department of Corrections, consisted of using the Socratic method to help prison inmates to increase their moral reasoning abilities and to increase their desistance to criminal behavior. Boghossian's publications can be found in Dialogos, Education Policy Analysis Archives, The Clearing House: Educational Research Controversy and Practices, The Radical Academy, Offender Programs Report, Teaching Philosophy, Corrections Today, American Journal of Distance Education, Informal Logic, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Educational Philosophy and Theory, Inside Higher Ed, Essays in Philosophy, and the Journal of Correctional Education. Boghossian was a councilman for the State of Oregon (LSTA) and an advisor to Sockeye Magazine and The Weekly Alibi. He wrote national philosophy curricula for the University of Phoenix and was a research fellow for the National Center for Teaching and Learning. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Prison Advisory Committee for Columbia River Correctional Institution, a faculty member of the Philosophy Department at Portland State University, an Affiliate Research Assistant Professor at the Oregon Health Sciences University, and serves on the board of directors of various non-profits. DIRECTIONS From north on I-5: get in left lane on Marquam Bridge. Cross bridge & merge with I-405. Take Exit 1D (Beaverton, 12th Ave). From south on I-5: Stay in the center lane approaching the city. Take Exit 299B to I-405. Stay right to exit 1D (Beaverton, 12th Ave.) Stay right, exit on 12th Ave. Park in Structure 3 (on the left in next block past Montgomery St.) Parking is free after 7:00 PM. Don’t park in reserved spots. Walk across 12th going east on Mill. SRTC is in the 2nd block on the right. NOTE: SRTC was formerly Science Bldg 2 PSU Map: http://www.pdx.edu/map.html PSU Parking information: http://www.pdx.edu/transportation/short-term-parking Past Speakers "Infrared Imaging applications and Skeptical Investigations" - John L. Miller, Ph.D. Chief Technical Officer of Government Systems Division, FLIR - November, 2010 "The Vaccine Pseudo-Controversy" Mark Crislip, MD - June 4, 2010 Neurobiologist, PSU professor and author of the book "If Not God, Then What?" - November 5, 2009 Tour the new state of the art nanotechnology facility on campus with lab manager John Donovan. - August 15, 2009 When Table-Rapping Nearly Upset the Apple Cart of Science - Loren Pankratz, Ph.D. - June 4, 2009 Biodiesel: Engaging Students in Science and Sustainable, Clean Energy Practices -- David Hackleman, Ph.D. - April 24, 2009 Snake Oil Science: The Evidence for Alternative Medicine" - - "The SkepDoc" Harriet Hall, MD - March 21, 2008 University of Oregon nanotechnology / scanning electron microscope lab - November 15, 2007. Saving the Willamette Valley, - John Lombard - October 20, 2007 Cold Reading Workshop - Ray Hyman, Ph.D. January 13, 2007 "Parapsychology: How To Make Something Out of Nothing" - Ray Hyman, Ph.D. November 3, 2006, 7:30 PM Natural Medicines - "The SkepDoc" Harriet Hall, MD - May 6, 2006 A Scientific Critique of Chiropractic - "The SkepDoc" Harriet Hall, MD - May 5, 2006 You "Gotta" be Smarter Than the Drugs You Take - Phil Levine, Ph.D - November 4, 2005 Fads and Fallacies in Autism - Jim Laidler, MD - June 23, 2005 Charles Darwin: The Devil's Chaplain? - February 15, 2005 Jim Pace, Magician - January 28, 2005 Natural Medicines: A Skeptical View - Harriet Hall, MD - October 29, 2004 UFO Sightings: The Evidence - Robert Sheaffer - October 13/15, 2004 The Molecular Basis of Life: Evidence for Evolution or ID? - Mitchell Cruzan - February 13, 2004 Trish Randal, stand-up comic - January 23, 2004 Debunking Audio Myths - Thomas Kite - November 21, 2003 Frauds and Fallacies in Autism - James Laidler, MD - June 27, 2003 Paleontology before Darwin: Suitible for Young Audiences? - William Thwaites - February 15, 2003 Crop Circles: Man-made or What? - Ted Clay - October 3/25, 2002 Pseudo-Technology in the New Millennium - James "The Amazing" Randi - July 18, 2002 Earth is Ancient (Despite What Some Creationists Say) - Dr. Brent Dalrymple - January 17, 2002 Science Toys Night (Annual meeting) - November 30, 2001 Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction - Charles Wynn - August 20, 2001 Houdini: A Magician Among the Spirits - Massimo Polidoro - August 15, 2001 A Skeptical Examiniation of Theraputic Touch - Bela Scheiber - May 18/19, 2001 What's up with Genetically Engineered Food? - Terri Lomax - February 23, 2001 Secrets of the Psychics - Massimo Polidoro - August 21, 2000 Mad Cows, Mad Corn, Mad Communities - Melissa Finucane - December 7, 2000 Keys to Critical Thinking - Ray Hyman - April 6, 2000 Creationism, Evolution, Science and Science Education - Eugenie Scott - November 2/3, 1999 Did You Mean What You Meant? - William Hoth - 1999 Science and the Media - Richard Hill - March 5, 1999 Crop Circles: Graffiti of the Gods - Ted Clay - November 13, 1998 Error and Misinterpretations in Alternative Medicine Research - Wallace Sampson, MD - August 24, 1998 Kooks and the Kook Tradition - Donna Kossy - April 24, 1998 Won't the Creationists Ever Give Up? - William Thwaites - January 23, 1998 How Brain Damage Affects Critial Thinking - Joel Alexander - October 24, 1997 Neurology of the Wierd - Barry Beyerstein - May 16, 1997 Junk Science in the Courtroom - William Masters - March 7, 1997 Suing the Devil - Michael Dwyer with Loren Pankratz - November 11, 1996 Wenatchee: What Went Wrong? - Kathryn Lyon - May 20, 1996 Teaching Independent Thinking - Paul Nickel - April 4/6, 1996 The Politics of Health Fraud - Joe Schnabel - March 8, 1996 How We Perceive Reality - Jerry Andrus - November 10, 1995 Palentology vs. Creationism - Richard Thoms - April 28, 1995 Evaluating Eyewitness Testimony - Loren Pankratz - January 27, 1995 Psychics & Scientists - Ray Hyman - October 21, 1994