| Advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers |
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| Advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers |
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The Church of the Larger Fellowship of the UUA serves the needs of members who are not located near congregations. One of the needs is for educational programs - on-line courses. Four curricula have been developed including "Humanism Today: Issues and Origins" and "Transforming Whiteness" (the latter is in the general area of Ethics and Social Justice). The cost of the courses are $40 per course/
The course on "Humanism Today" is described as follows:
The heritage of humanism is a central strand in Unitarian Universalism. We will explore the history of this idea in classical philosophy, western intellectual development, and American religious development. We will also examine the variety of institutional forms of contemporary humanism, the issues it confronts, and the unique spiritual resources that it offers in the context of our UU movement. The course is taught by the Rev. Drs. Kendyl Gibbons and Bill Murry, two of the most noted humanist scholars in our UU movement.
The course on "Transforming Whiteness" has a longer description, part of which follows:
White people don't experience the racial oppression that people of color experience. Whiteness is the norm in our society. As a result it is hard for those of us who are white to see our own white power and privilege. When we as whites talk about race we talk about other communities: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, or Asian Americans. But there is a taboo about talking about our own white racial identity. In this workshop we will identify what whiteness is, clarify the ways it operates on our lives, and explore ways of transforming whiteness into a force for justice.... This course will be taught by the Rev. Melissa Carvill-Ziemer and the Rev. Bill Gardiner. They serve as co-chairs of the Unitarian Universalist Allies for Racial Equity Education Committee and lead transforming whiteness workshops for congregations and community organizations.
The Online Learning Center, in which the course is located, "provides a structure in which teachers are able to post class materials and assignments on the site, and students are able to post their responses, which the software then distributes to teachers and participants. Although some classes may include online chats or larger audio files, most class work takes place in email format, and will work for those with slower internet connections.... " For more details see, http://clf.uua.org/learn/
By Tony Pinn. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Anthony B. Pinn (Tony) is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University and has served as a mentor for The Humanist Institute. He also is the Director of Research for the Institute for Humanist Studies Think Tank. Here is how his book has been described on-line, at -- www.flipkart.com/african...anthony/1403966249-xnx3ftnanc - India -
As Anthony Pinn argues in his latest collection, humanism comes in many colors. When more attention is given to issues of race as connected to other forms of oppression, it is easier to see the manner in which humanism has lived and functioned within African American communities. Using the biblical figure Nimrod as symbol, African American Humanist Principles demonstrates African American humanists' intellectual and praxis-related grounding in a history of rebellion against over-determined and oppressive limitations on human doing and being. Pinn maintains that it is this quest for a fuller sense of being -- for greater existential and ontological worth -- that informs the basic principles of African American humanism. African American Humanist Principles is one of the only books to present the inner workings of humanist principles as the foundation for humanism from the African American perspective -- its form and content, nature and meaning.
By Rodrigue Tremblay. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2010.
Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay, professor of economics at the University of Montreal since 1967 and professor emeritus since 2002, is a member of the AHA's Humanist Teacher Corps and developer of a course on "Humanist Ethics and Comparative Ethics" which is described in Category B. 3.2.
Dr. Tremblay has published this code for global ethics which elaborates ten humanist principles designed for a world explores issues surrounding these ten principles: preserving individual dignity and equality, respecting life and property, tolerance, sharing, preventing domination of others, eliminating superstition, conserving the natural environment, resolving differences cooperatively without resort to violence or war, political and economic democracy, and providing for universal education. His analysis of humanist ideals makes an important contribution to laying the foundations for a just and peaceful global community.
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