DEAN'S LETTER

My last writing, in the February Newsletter, described the new roles that Suzanne Paul and Kristin Wintermute would be playing in the future development of our Humanist Institute. I am happy to report that they have assumed these responsibilities smoothly and competently. You have also been reading about the consolidation of NACH and the Institute, which recognizes the reality that the Institute is currently our main operation. Letters for the annual fund have just been mailed, and you will want to support and be part of this growing venture. Humanists in North America are affiliated with several strong organizations which differ in emphases. These differences are part of a real and inescapable diversity among humanists—one that fosters our vitality. But we also need an "ecumenical" voice for those emphases that unite us. And the Institute has become that voice.

Ours is a nontheistic humanism, rooted in democratic recognition of human freedom, and in the role of critical intelligence in expanding that freedom to include all of humankind. Such a humanism demands continual analysis and articulation. Yesterday's versions may not adequately address today's problems and opportunities. New generations of humanists will always be reassessing their adopted traditions. The Institute can provide the forum for this sustained re-thinking and re-assessment at the same time as it is training tomorrow's leaders. When you consider how much has already been accomplished with very limited resources, you must surely feel challenged to make this model a success—this time around. There are too few of us to waste time bickering over non-essentials or arguing that some one form of humanism is the only valid version.

Class 9 is in its third year and plans a grand graduation in New York City on March 31, 2001. Plan to be there and see the new leaders we will be sending forth. Class 9 has been experimenting with better ways for students to communicate by email discussions between sessions, and we expect to continue this with future classes. We have just acquired WebCT, a program widely used by universities that will make such communication inexpensive and easy and, at the same time, will let us make readings available by internet. Class 10 is now in its second year and brings together a diverse and exciting group of now-and-future leaders. We plan to start Class 11 in December 2001, and several have already been accepted. Readers of this letter are our best recruiters, so urge candidates to get information from Suzanne Paul.

The fist hardcover version of Humanism Today (volume 14) is appearing this summer from Prometheus Books under the title Multiculturalism—Humanist Perspectives. This new format will expand readership immensely since libraries are much more likely to add books that will be indexed in scholarly sources. Be sure that your contribution status guarantees an early copy for your own use. The volume makes significant new contributions to one of the most controversial topics in contemporary life, and can well showcase the kind of think-tank the Institute has created. The Faculty Colloquium addressed Eco-Humanism in 2000, and the forthcoming volume should become a manifesto for a humanist ethic that views the promise of science and technology from a perspective at once critical and hopeful. Such an environmentalism is almost absent from the public scene today.

No Dean's letter would be complete without some reading recommendations. Our Website contains many suggestions and you should check it from time to time for updates. There you will find links to our supporting organizations. Slightly outside our usual circles, try:

1. Liberal Opinion Week. A compendium of cartoons & columns from the nation's press. #45 per yr. Cedar Valley Times, 108 E. 5th Ave., Vinton, IO 52349.

2. Explorations. American Interfaith Institute, 321 Chestnut St., Philadelphia PA 19106. Jewish-Christian relations, books related thereto.

3. Religion Watch. 10 issues, $19.95 per yr. Good summaries of news and research,

4. Washington Spectator. 22 issues, $15 per yr. Liberal insider reports on Washington scene.

5. Context. 22 issues for $29.95. Martin Marty's newsletter on "interaction of religion and culture. Wide-ranging quotes from books and articles.

Booksellers with mail catalogues and many off-price remainders:

1. Edward R. Hamilton. Falls Village, CT 06031-5000

2. A Common Reader. 141 Tompkins Ave., Pleasantville, NY 10570-3154

3. Daedalus Books. PO Box 9132, Hyattsville, MD 20781-0932

And, to keep you reading, consider:

1. Peter Rinaldo, Atheists, Agnostics, and Deists in America: A Brief History. Briarcliff NY: DorPete Press, 2000. Short and readable, the author has used his sources well and takes on the puzzling question of why U.S. freethought has remained so much a backwater.

2. Tony Davis, Humanism. London, Routledge, 1997. A good introduction to some of the Continental critics of humanism.

3. Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia: Politics and Culture in an Age of Apathy. Basic Books, 1999. A brilliant U.S. historian explores the failure of nerve that comes when vision dies, and only small problems catch the attention of intellectuals.

4. J. R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World. Norton, 2000. A brilliant summary by an historian who strives for accuracy and balance.

5. David H. Levy, The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos. St. Martin's Press, 2000.

6. Barry Glassner, The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are Afraid of the Wrong Things. Basic Books, 1999. A good corrective to urban legends and media distortions.

7. Dean Alger, Megamedia: How Giant Corporations Dominate Mass Media, Distort Competition, and Endanger Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Essential reading for humanists who also row against many streams.

The joy of being a humanist is that there are never set and safe answers to problems. We know that humans flourish best when they tackle their problems from a knowledge perspective. In the old religious sense, there are indeed no cosmic supports. But in a more Darwinian modern world, the cosmos now, and at least here, has nevertheless evolved intelligent creatures who can improve upon an uncaring world. The "meaning of life", if you will, is to create meanings where none have existed.

Robert Tapp