HAT FORUM, Saturday May 18, 11am,

HAT SATURDAY FORUM

DATE:  Saturday May 18, 11am - 1pm

LOCATION:  OISE 252 Bloor Street West.

TOPIC: A Right to be Forgotten? 

FACILITATOR:  Bill Kennedy

From the Globe and Mail, Sat. May 4, 2013:, Focus F5, Author, Drew Nelles:

"Did Rehtaeh Parsons (the 17-year-old Nova Scotian who killed herself in April after being raped and bullied) have a right to be forgotten? In how many ways does digitization resemble arson?"

HAT FORUM, Sat May 11, 11am-1pm, OISE "Death, Dying, Mortality, Bereavement"

HAT FORUM Date: Sat May 11, 2013, 11am - 1pm Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street W TOPIC: Death, Dying, Mortality, and Bereavement Facilitator: Deborah Jenkins

HAT BOOK GROUP: Sat June 1, OISE, 2:30 "Beyond religion"

HAT BOOK GROUP MEETING DATE: JUNE 1 2013 at OISE, 262 Bloor Street West, from 2:30-4: TITLE DISCUSSED: Beyond Religion: ethics for a whole world By the Dalai Lama, 2011, 188 pages -20 copies available in the Library. FACILITATOR: Jodi Perrin "The Dalai Lama is the leader of one of the most influential religious traditions of the world. Over his years of struggle with the largest atheistic regime (China) and of exile in the largest secular democracy (India) he has come to the conclusion that we need an ethic for humanity based on common human values. “Beyond Religion” is his most recent attempt to present an ethical stance for persons of any religious background or none. Could we find some of his thoughts useful in building our humanist worldstance?"

HAT FORUM, SAT May 4, 11am OISE 252 Bloor Street W

HAT FORUM
DATE:  Sat. May 4, 11am - 1pm
LOCATION:  OISE, 252 Bloor Street West
TOPIC: CHILDREN AND PARENTHOOD
FACILITOR: NORINE EARL

With the Earth’s population approaching 7 billion people and still increasing -– while the earth and its resources remain finite  - what implications (amongst all of the other implications) could this have on the future of parenthood? 

All are welcome.
Reminder:  HAT events are open to the public, and views expressed do not necessarily represent the official views of the Humanist Association of Toronto.

                 

HAT FORUM Sat April 27, 11am - 12:30pm (note time)

[The Forum will be a shorter length this week due to the HAT AGM beginning at 1:30]

HAT WEEKLY FORUM

:LOCATION:  OISE, 252 Bloor Street West
DATE:  Saturday April 27th from 11:00am to12:30pm

TOPIC: Can Humanism include concepts of Transcendence (eg. ideas of 'higher powers', the spiritual, etc.) in its worldstance?

FACILITATOR:  Jodi Perrin

Background: see TVO Steve Paikin's interview with Mario Martinez:"How Culture influences Aging" April 18, 2013.

--

REMINDER: HAT Annual General Meeting, Sat April 27, 1:30 PM

HAT Annual General Meeting - April 27, 1.30pm

HAT AGM
DATE:  Sat April 27, 2013,  1:30pm-3pm
LOCATION:  OISE, 252 Bloor Street West,  Room 4410

We look forward to seeing you there!

HAT FORUM Sat. April 20, 11am - 1pm

HAT FORUM Date: Sat April 20, 2013, 11am - 1pm
LOCATION: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West
TOPIC: LISTENING AND ATTACHMENT
FACILITATOR: William Kennedy

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” - Ernest Hemingway
What is hidden in ‘completely’?
What does complete listening have to do with being a Humanist?

All are welcome.

HAT Spring 2013 Newsletter online

You may download a PDF copy of the Spring 2013 HAT Newsletter HERE

Gender Equality - Stephen Lewis at Ryerson, April 17, Free

General_Public - News & Events - Ryerson University
After the excellent presentation on Education of women and girls in Afghanistan at the HAT monthly meeting yesterday, here is an opportunity to hear Stephen Lewis on Gender Equality at Ryerson

 Gender Equality: the Most Important Struggle on the Planet

All are welcome and admission is free.

• WHAT:

  Gender Equality: the Most Important Struggle on the Planet
• DATE:

  April 17 - April 17,  2013
• TIME:

  6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• WHERE:

  upper level of the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre: 245 Church Street
• CONTACT:

  iidseries@gmail.com
• WEBSITE:

  http://iid.kislenko.com

Our guest will be Stephen Lewis, internationally renowned humanitarian, political figure, diplomat, author, and scholar. Board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, he is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University. Among many accomplishments, he is co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World in the United States and Senior Fellow of the Enough Project. He served on the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and is an Emeritus Board Member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. He also served as a Commissioner on the newly formed Global Commission on HIV and the Law, whose landmark report was released in July 2012. Lewis’ work with the United Nations spanned more than two decades. He was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from between 2001 and 2006. From 1995 to 1999, Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF at the organization’s global headquarters in New York. From 1984 through 1988, he was Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Between 1970 and 1978 Lewis was leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, during which time he became leader of the Official Opposition. His awards include the Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest honour for lifetime achievement, and being named the inaugural recipient of Canada’s Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Lewis is the author of the best-selling book Race Against Time and holds 35 honorary degrees from Canadian and American universities. 

HAT FORUM: Saturday April 13, 11am

TOPIC:  Atheism in the Public Sphere
DATE:  Sat. April13, 2013
LOCATION:  OISE, 252 Bloor Street West
FACILITATOR:  Deborah Jenkins

Reminder: HAT MONTHLY MEETING SAT April 13, 1:30-3pm "Afghan Women and Girls"

You are cordially invited to attend the HAT Monthly Meeting, Saturday, April 13, 1:30 - 3:00 pm: Topic: Afghan Women and Girls: Their Courage and Resilience OISE, 252 Bloor St. west, room 2-214 "Afghan Women and Girls: Their Courage and Resilience" Elizabeth Watson, representing Canadians in Support of Afghan Women The organization Canadians in Support of Afghan Women http://www.canadianssupportafghanwomen.ca - is an affiliate of the national organization, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan - http://www.cw4wafghan.ca. It is made up of volunteers and focuses on the empowerment of women and girls through education by its projects. The talk is based on what is happening in Afghanistan now regarding Afghan women, girls, and education in Afghanistan and what the organization is doing to address the issues. Elizabeth Watson is a retired teacher of the deaf. She joined Canadians in Support of Afghan Women in 2001, especially interested in helping to support schools in Afghanistan. She found not only the opportunities to do that but also to connect with Afghan women by obtaining and selling their goods and by talks to the public. By beinginvolved in this organization Liz has also been involved in the rewriting of a human rights kit for use in Canadian schools and has done several talks in schools, thus exposing many students to the curriculum materials and to the situation in Afghanistan. When Liz is not doing something for the organization she enjoys music, loves to fiddle, to travel and the outdoors, and reading inspiring stories, and those where folks are struggling. Come and listen to Elizabeth Watson, and ask questions about the situation in Afghanistan, and what we, as humanists, can do.

HAT FORUM SAT April 6, 11am-1pm, OISE 252 Bloor Street West

HAT SATURDAY DISCUSSION FORUM DATE: Sat April 6, 2012, 11am -1pm LOCATION: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, ask for room at front desk TOPIC: Social Justice - a discussion of terms FACILITATOR: Erich Kronlacher The opinions expressed in their forum are those of the participants, and not necessarily of HAT

The Peace by Piece Initiative: Competing Narratives and Competing Truths of Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Conflict

The Peace by Piece Initiative: Competing Narratives and Competing Truths of Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Conflict Call to Dialogue

Israeli-Palestinian dialogue is often criticized as a method of “normalizing” the conflict or “preaching to the converted.” Goals to reconcile disparate narratives between “Palestinian” and “Israeli” positions are frequently cited as impossible, if undesirable, owing to the sensitivity of the past and the desire to maintain the independence of the narratives involved. Efforts to foster tolerance are continually viewed as cloaked tactics of perpetuating uneven power relations, maintaining the status quo, and furthering “facts on the ground” that are inimical to brokering final and lasting peace, security, and justice. Together, these criticisms of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue are indicative of, on the one hand, a desire to respect the disparity between so-called “Israeli” and “Palestinian” narratives and historiography and, on the other, a growing need for alternative models of dialogue that focus on mutual understanding, respect, and dignity, rather than striving for what are increasingly considered chimerical aims of reconciliation and tolerance.

In view of these criticisms, the “Competing Narratives and Competing Truths” (CNCT) project has three main goals: (1) to engage in dialogue as an end in itself, viz., for participants to enter into dialogue as a means to bring about greater mutual understanding, dignity, and respect for the multitude of narratives and truths endemic to Israeli-Palestinian peace and conflict; (2) to develop a model of dialogue as a corrective to the salient criticisms of traditional dialogue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict noted above; and (3) to provide qualitative information about the assumptions, reasoning, logic, and mythoi behind the competing narratives and competing truths of Israeli-Palestinian peace and conflict that can advance interlocutors’, facilitators’, and researchers’ understandings of the inherited, Diasporic, trans-generational, and intergenerational perspectives of Israeli-Palestinian peace and conflict in a Canadian context.

The CNCT project seeks graduate and undergraduate students as well as faculty—with informed opinions of Israeli-Palestinian politics—as partners in dialogue

 

Tuesday April 9, 2013 9:00am – 3:00pm

University of Toronto’s Multi-Faith Centre

 

 

Registration is limited.

If you have any further questions, we invite you to contact our executive director, Matt Gordner (PhD Student, University of Toronto, Dept. of Political Science), at matt.gordner@mail.utoronto.ca.

HAT Forum: Saturday, March 23, 11.00am-1pm, Creativity

HAT Forum
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 11.00am-1pm
TOPIC: Creativity
LOCATION: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West

Most people associate creativity with the fields of art and literature. It is also the driving force behind the act of creation, and it is generally perceived as being associated with intelligence and effective thinking. In a recent global survey of approximately 1600 CEO's, the leadership trait that was considered to be most crucial for success was creativity. This suggests that the world of business is beginning to accept that creativity is of value in a diversity of industries, rather than being simply the preserve of the creative industries. Creativity is viewed differently in different countries. Creativity has been thoroughly researched in the northern hemisphere, but there are cultural differences, even between countries or groups of countries in close proximity. For example, in Scandinavian countries, creativity is seen as an individual attitude which helps in coping with life's challenges, while in Germany, creativity is seen more as a process that can be applied to help solve problems. (Reference Wikipedia)

It is thought that Canada has become less creative in the last decade with our one innovation being the Blackberry. Schools struggle to understand how to teach creativity and develop creative thinking in students.

Why is creativity an important concept for Humanists of Toronto? Is it important for our society. Where have you learned to be creative?
Under what conditions are you most creative?
What can we do to develop creativity in our community and in our others?

HAT Monthly Meeting, Saturday, April 13, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Afghan Women and Girls: Their Courage and Resilience

HAT Monthly Meeting
Saturday, April 13, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
OISE, 252 Bloor St. west, room 2-214
"Afghan Women and Girls: Their Courage and Resilience"
Elizabeth Watson, representing Canadians in Support of Afghan Women


The organization Canadians in Support of Afghan Women -
www.canadianssupportafghanwomen.ca - is an affiliate of the national
organization, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan -
www.cw4wafghan.ca. It is made up of volunteers and focuses on the
empowerment of women and girls through education by its projects.


The talk is based on what is happening in Afghanistan now regarding
Afghan women, girls, and education in Afghanistan and what the
organization is doing to address the issues.


Elizabeth Watson is a retired teacher of the deaf. She joined
Canadians in Support of Afghan Women in 2001, especially interested in
helping to support schools in Afghanistan. She found not only the
opportunities to do that but also to connect with Afghan women by
obtaining and selling their goods and by talks to the public. By being
involved in this organization Liz has also been involved in the
rewriting of a human rights kit for use in Canadian schools and has
done several talks in schools, thus exposing many students to the
curriculum materials and to the situation in Afghanistan. When Liz is
not doing something for the organization she enjoys music, loves to
fiddle, to travel and the outdoors, and reading inspiring stories and
those where folks are struggling.