For Book Club selections, click here.
Past Meeting Topics
2009
January Secular Options for End-of-Life…Vaughn Seavolt, Life Story Funeral Home
February Darwin’s Theory of Evolution…Greg LaCross, Northwestern Michigan College
March Local and Global Reproductive Issues…Janna Deering, Planned Parenthood
April Invasive Species in Grand Traverse Bay…Christine Crissman, Inland Seas
May Creationism’s Trojan Horse…Barbara Forrest (video…Eric Berling cancellation)
June Evolutionary Biology and Genetics…Christian Orlic, Michigan State University
July Evolution and Morality…Eric Berling, Michigan State University
August Constructing a Humanist Morality…Roy Speckhardt, executive director, AHA
September Gabriel said ‘Wamb:’ My Journey to Humanism…Mark Gustafson, retired prof.
October Roundtable: Individuals’ Journeys to Humanism
November Highlights from the AHA Conference…Larry Dean, GTH member
December Green Burial (Conservation Cemeteries)…Kimberli Bindschatel
2010
January Global Freshwater Issues…Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue
February Adult Vaccination…Dr. Karen Spiers, Munson Medical Center
March Domestic Violence…Valerie Kirn-Duensing, Women’s Resource Center
April Community Sustainability and Resiliance…Dave Barrons, retired broadcaster
May Roundtable: Being a Humanist in a Religious Society
June Secular Treatment Options for Addiction Recovery…Doug Moser, Munson MC
July Humanism, Film, and the Grail…Mark Gustafson, retired professor
August Turning Sewage into Water…Scott Blair, Traverse City Wastewater Treatment
September Science and Morality, Sam Harris TED lectures (video…Dan Scripps cancellation)
October Critical Thinking: An Unnatural Act?…Dave Terrell, retired NMC professor
November Roundtable: Skeptics Night, Michael Shermer and James Randi TED lectures
December End of Life: the Humanist View…Linda Wasielewski, attorney & Vaughn Seavolt
2011
January Eastern Religions: What do 2.8 Billion People Believe?…David Bunce, educator
February Roundtable: The ‘Collins Effect’ (discussion of Francis Collins as head of NIH)
March Women’s History Project of NW Michigan…Kathy Houston and Nancy Bordine
April Dare to Be Radical…Dean Robb, attorney
May Afghanistan, Libya, and the Greater Middle East: America’s Changing
Relationship to the Islamic World…Jack Segal, former political advisor to the
commander of NATO
June Galapagos, Darwin, and Evolution…Mark Elliott, GTH member
July Can We Be Good Without God? A Discussion of Three Films…Mark Gustafson
August Sleeping Bear Dunes…Kerry Kelly, Chairman of Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes
September Roundtable: What’s in a Name?(Humanist, atheist, agnostic, freethinker…)
September 26 Peter Popoff and his Television Miracles…Jim Skinner, history professor
October Secular Allies…Kendal Taylor, Petoskey’s Freedom From Religion Foundation
November Roundtable: Current Issues in the Separation of Church and State
December End of Life: Munson Hospice…Kristin Harrison and Patty Amalfitano
2012
January Campaign Communications and the Media…Stephen Tuttle, columnist
January 30 Antarctica…Bo Clampitt, explorer
February Roundtable: Humor in Humanism
March Women of Humanism…GTH members DeAnna, Mary, Kieran, Gail, Jennifer
April Global Freshwater Studies Program…Constanza Hazelwood & Hans Van Sumeren, NMC
April 30 Filling out our End of Life Notebooks…Kimberli Bindschatel & Larry Dean
May Report on the Reason Rally and AA Convention…Heather and Scott, GTH members
June Roundtable: The Face of the Secular Movement
July Working with What Is…Mission of Humanism…Suzanne Paul, UU minister
July 30 Celebration of the Arts…GTH members
August You Are What You Breathe: The Biology of Air Pollution…Dr. Robert Brook, U Mich
September Israel and Nuclear Iran…Jack Segal, NATO advisor
October The Danger of Relativism in Reason…Mella McCormick and Chris Kuchuris, NMC
November Roundtable: “Election Dissection”…How do the election results affect Humanists?
December GTH Fifth Anniversary…State of the Humanists
2013
January Ernest Hemingway’s Search for Truth and Affirmation…Ken Marek, retired professor
February The Science of Evolution…Greg LaCross, biology professor, NMC
March Atheism 2.0…TED talk by Alain de Botton (video: Chava Bahle cancellation)
April No Santa, No Tooth Fairy, No God: The Need to Challenge Faith in America…author Michael Spry
May E.E. Barnard: A Lifetime of Astrophotography…physicist Jerry Dobek
June Everything You Always Wanted to Know from a Rabbi…Rabbi Chava Bahle
July Past, Present, and Future of the State Theatre…John Robert Williams, co-founder of TC Film Festival
July 29 The Young Atheist’s Survival Guide…Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist
August Highlights of the 50th Anniversary American Atheists Convention…GTH Board members
September Special viewing and discussion of film God Loves Uganda
October 11 Hope After Faith: An Ex-Pastor’s Journey from Belief to Atheism…Jerry DeWitt
October Great Lakes Water Levels…Hans Van Sumeren
November Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and GT Conservation District…land conservancy
December LGBT in TC…round table discussion
2014
January The Art and Soul of Local, Sustainable Cuisine…Eric Patterson
February Does Religion Make People Better?…Jeremy Beahan of CFI Michigan
March The Evolution of Morality: Fact and Fiction…Chris Kuchuris & Mella McCormick, NMC
April Walk This Way…TART Trails and Michigan Land Use Institute
May Judicial and Governmental Reform…Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver
June The Writing Life…Robert Downes, founder of Northern Express
July Winemaking in the Grand Traverse Area…Larry Mawby, vintnor
August Sierra Club….Rebecca Skeels
September Handling Non-Critical Thinking with Friends, Family, and Community…roundtable
October TED talks and discussion…Hans Rosling, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt
November Devil in the Woods: The Demonization of Fire in our Culture…Jed Jaworski
December Justice: The Endless Pursuit…Isiah Smith, retired Deputy Assistant General Counsel
2015
January Water’s Future…Carl Ganter, founder and director of Circle of Blue
February What’s Wrong with the Middle East?…Jack Segal, former NATO advisor
March Rehab: Then and Now…Doug Moser, addiction counselor
April Carbon Fee and Dividend Legislation…Lisa Del Buono of Citizens Climate Lobby
May Roundtable…Our Secular Community
June Bad Biology: How Adaptationist Thinking Corrupts Science…PZ Myers
July Field Trip to the Rogers Observatory…Bob Moler of Grand Traverse Astronomical Society
August Humanism in the Movies…Mark Gustafson, retired NMC professor
September Aid in Dying: The Ultimate Human Right…Ed Gogol of Final Options Illinois
October Who Watches the Watchers? Humanism and Star Trek…Craig Olsen
November How the Media Controls and Shrinks Our Identity…Mella McCormick, NMC professor
December Sending Love into the Universe: The Healing Power of Music…Jeff Haas
2016
January Raptors…Rebecca Lessard, founder and director of Wings of Wonder
February Planned Parenthood…Carrie Ullery-Smith, education specialist
March Roundtable: Justice and Redemption…TED talks by Bryan Stevenson, Shaka Senghor
April Healthy Eating: Rethinking your Plate…Ali Lopez, chef
May Naneek documentary viewing and discussion…Tim Keenan of Veterans for Peace
June Reason Rally and 75th AHA Conference Highlights…conference attendees
July Enduring the Extremes...Cara Ocobock, Grand Valley State University professor
August “1971” documentary viewing and discussion…John and Bonnie Raines, activists
September Roundtable: Communication…TED talks by Monica Lewinsky, Celeste Headlee, Sally Kohn
October Neuroscience and Humanism…Mark Reimers, MSU professor (via Google Hangouts)
November Homelessness in TC…Mike McDonald of Safe Harbor and Karen
December Pollinators…Cyndie Bobier-Roach of the Butterfly House and Bug Zoo