THE HUMANIST INSTITUTE
Class IX

J. Calvin Chatlos & David Schafer, Mentors

SESSION 1 - CONTEMPORARY HUMANISM

Goals: 1) To demonstrate a firm foundation of knowledge of 20th century Humanist experience.

2) Beginning with our personal relationship to this foundation, identify specific areas for exploration in future sessions

• Nicolas Walter, Humanism: What's in the Word
• Humanist Manifesto I and II
• Edwin Wilson, The Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto
• Corliss Lamont, The Philosophy of Humanism
• Paul Kurtz, The Humanist Alternative
• J.P. Van Praag, Foundations of Humanism
• John Dewey, A Common Faith
• AEU Statement of Purpose
• Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian
• Erich Fromm, Marx's Concept of Man
• John-Paul Sarte, Existentialism as a Humanism; Essays in Existentialism

SESSION 2- SCIENCE AND HUMANISM

GOALS: To demonstrate a basic understanding of the process and knowledge of contemporary science.

To use the tools of science and knowledge to begin exploring the experience of being.

Assignment: To choose a topic in any field of science and to become knowledgeable and current in its efforts during the 3 years to become familiar with the ongoing process of science

• Ian Barbour, Religion & Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues
• John Brockman, The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution
• Richard Dawkins, River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
• Martin Gardner, The Night Is Large.
• Paul Gross & Norman Levitt, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science
• Eric Kandel, A New Intellectual Framework for Psychiatry
• Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
• Jean Piaget, Six Psychological Studies
• Philip Regal, The Anatomy of Judgment (xerox materials)
• Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
• Edward O Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

SESSION 3- VALUES AND HUMANISM

Goals: To explore approaches to values and the possibility of a universal foundation for Ethics in Humanism

• Robert Arrington, Western Ethics: An Historical Introduction
• David Cooper (ed), Ethics: The Classic Readings
• Edward Frost (ed), With Purpose and Principle: Essays About the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism
• James Gouinlock (ed), The Moral Writings of John Dewey

SESSION 4 - HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND MORAL VALUES

Goals: To explore human development and moral values

To identify ways to facilitate moral growth toward Humanist values

• James Fowler, Stages of Faith:The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning
• Jean Piaget, Six Psychological Studies
• Joseph Reimer, et.al., Promoting Moral Growth:From Piaget to Kohlberg
• Susan Harter, Causes, Correlates, and the Functional Role of Global Self-Worth: A Life-Span Perspective

SESSION 5- RELIGION AND HUMANISM (SPIRITUALITY; FAITH PROCESS)

Goals: To gain a basic knowledge of the religious roots of humanity including contemporary Humanism and to explore the experience of Humanism as a religion.

• Ninian Smart and Richard Hecht (eds.), Sacred Texts of the World
• William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
• N.J. Dawood, The Koran
• David Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists
• Mason Olds, American Religious Humanism
• Edward L. Ericson, The Humanist Way
• Howard B. Radest, Toward Common Ground
• Sherwin T. Wine, Judaism Beyond God
• Paul Kurtz, The Transcendental Temptation
• John S. Spong, Why Christianity Must Change
• Ian Barbour, Religion and Science
• John Dewey, A Common Faith
• James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith
• J. Calvin Chatlos, The Human Faith Project, Humanism Today13 (1999) 129-153

SESSION 6- GENDER, FAMILY AND HUMANISM

Goals: To experience the power of family on our lives and demonstrate its role in developing Humanism.

• Sexuality / Gender Identity
• Family Values / Moral Education

• Arlene Skolnick & Jerome Skolnick, Family in Transition
• Carol Tavris, The Mismeasure of Woman
• Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice

SESSION 7- SERVICE AND HUMANISM

Goals: To demonstrate skills in pastoral care and social service consistent with Humanism.

• Daniel Bonevac, Today's Moral Issues: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives
• George Soros, Crisis of Global Capitalism
• Humanism Today 12 (1998) Globalization and Humanism

SESSION 8 - LEADERSHIP AND NON-RATIONAL EXPRESSION

Goals: To demonstrate skills in the creative expression of Humanism.

• John Dewey, Art as Experience
• James MacGregor Burns, Leadership
• Algernon Black, Without Burnt Offerings
• Humanistic Judaism Vol XXVII, Winter/Spring 1999 “Celebrating Life's Passages”
• Corliss Lamont, A Humanist Wedding Service
• Corliss Lamont, A Humanist Funeral Service

SESSION 9 – COUNSELING

• Leonard Austin, The Counseling Primer
• William J. Kennedy, Counseling in the New Millenium