Class 17

Mentors: 

Gretchen Robinson and Jeffrey Tate  (2010 to Present)



Gretchen Robinson holds a MA in English/Creative Writing (Poetry) from Boston University and an MA Psychology and Religion from Andover Newton Theological School.  A lifelong, if closeted, skeptic and freethinker, Gretchen now calls herself an interfaith chaplain (Spiritual Care Coordinator) in a local hospice.  In the past she served as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister, before that spending years as a circuit riding guest preacher.  Gretchen is also a Humanist Institute graduate of Class 14.  

Jeffrey Tate is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Rogers, Arkansas.  He is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he received a BA in Biology.  He is a graduate of Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received his MD degree.  He compled a residency in psychiatry, also at Emory University, where he was chief resident his final year.  He is a graduate of the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute.  He is board certifed in psychiatry, and is certified in psychoanalysis by the American Psychoanalytic Association.  He was been on the teaching faculties of the Baylor School of Medicine, the University of Texas School of Medicine, Houston, and the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.  He has been a lifelong student of philsopphy, and is currently enrolled in a Master's of Arts in European Philosophy program.  He has published on the Humanist and Wertern philosophies and religions.  He is a graduate of Class 13 of The Humanist Institute.  He is an ordained Humanist minister.  He is the "church planter" and lay-leader of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Benton Co. Arkansas.  He has been married since 1974 and helped raise a son and a daughter.

Curriculum and Readings

Session One:  Essential Humanism (August 2010)

Required Readings

  • The Humanist Way: An Introduction to Ethical Humanist Religion, Edward Ericson
  • The Humanist Alternative, Paul Kurtz
  • A Common Faith, John Dewey
  • Religion without Revelation, Julian Huxley
  • Judaism in a Secular Age, Renee Kogel and Zev Katz
  • Freethought Across the Centuries (sections), Gerald Larue
  • Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe, Charles G. Nauert
  • The Enlightenment, Peter Gay
  • Freethinkers, Susan Jacoby
  • Without God, Without Creed, James Turner
  • Religious Humanism in American, Mason Olds
  • Philosophers without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life, Louise M Antony

Guest Presenters

  • Anne Klaeysen: Ethical Culture
  • Rabbi Peter Schweitzer: Humanist Judaism
  • David Schafer: Religious Humanism
  • Roy Speckhardt: Secular Humanism

Session Two: Being Human (December 2010)

Required Readings

The Roots of Religion

  • The Psychology of Religion, 2nd ed., David Wulff
  • Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, Kevin J Christiano

Personality-Moral Development

  • The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development, Robert Kegan
  • Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, James Fowler

Ethical Theories and Problems

  • Moral Philosophy: A Reader, Fourth Edition, Louis P Pojman and Peter Tramel

Family Values, Human Sexuality and Gender Identity

  • The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory and Ethics of Sexual Orientation, Edward Stein
  • Readings in Family Theory, Dr. Thomas R Chibucos (Editor), Dr. Randall W. Leite (Editor), David L. Weis (Editor)

Theories in Counseling

  • Theory & Practice of Counseling & Psychotherapy (7th Edition), Gerald Corey

Session Three: Humanist Ideas in World Religions (April 2011)

Required Readings

Overview

  • Patterns in Comparative Religions, Mircea Eliade

Early Religions

  • The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
  • A History of Pagan Europe, Jones and Pennick

Hinduism

  • The Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion, Swami Bhaskarananda

Buddhism

  • Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction, Richard H. Robinson, Willard L. Johnson, Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Judaism

  • What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew about Judaism, Robert Schoen

Islam

  • No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Furuter of Islam, Reza Aslan

Christianity

  • Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Diarmaid MacCulloch

Session Four: Leadership (August 2011)

Required Readings

  • Leadership on the Line, Ronald Reifetz & Marty Linsky
  • Sychronicity, Joseph Jaworski
  • Leadership, The Inner side of Greatness, Peter Koestenbaum
  • Leadings Minds, Howard Gardner
  • Fearless Leadership, Loretta Malandro
  • The Necessary Revolution, Peter Senge, and others
  • Authentic Leadership, Bill George
  • Quiet Leadership, David Rock
  • Successful Spokespersons Are Made, Not Born, Hal Hart
  • The New PR Toolkit, Deidre Breakenridge and Thomas DeLoughry

Guest Presenters:

  • Leadership -Manuel Manga
  • PR/Spokesperson/Public Speaking -Lori Lipman Brown

Session Five: Critical Thinking (December 2011)

Required Readings

  • The Demon Huanted World, Carl Sagan
  • Nonsense on Stilts, Massimo Pigliucci
  • The Pocket Guide to Critical Thinking, Richard L. Epstein
  • Understanding Philosophy of Science, James Ladyman
  • A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense, Normand Baillargeon

Session Six: Science, Methods and Uses (April 2012)

Required Readings

  • Why Evolution is True, Jerry A. Coyne
  • Calibrating the Universe, F.S. Levin
  • Quantum Physics: A Beginner's Guide, Alastair I.M. Rae
  • The Rough Guide to Climate Change, Robert Henson
  • Stem Cells for Dummies, Lawrence S.B. Goldstein
  • Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Food, Nina V. Fedoroff & Nancy Marie Brown
  • A World Without Women: The Christian Clerical Culture of Western Science, David F. Noble