Public Forum Series
Hosted by
The First Unitarian Church
10AM-11AM, Sunday

The forum series offers a venue where people can speak and hear points of view not often heard in Lubbock Texas. All Public Forum Series presentations are free and open to the public. Free child care is provided.

2008

May-July :  Forum on recess for summer.  Please attend Intersections!

April  20: Richard Wilde on the origin of life.

April  13: Insanity to redemption—Rescuing animals in shelters-Leann Landmesser.

April 6:   Video: Free Lunch, unfair advantages of the rich.

March 30: Video: education, U.S. vs. India.

Feb. 24, '08: Richard Wilde will talk on the origins of life.

Feb. 17, '08: Troy Lescher will present “Bali to New York City, the Tempest”.

May - August '07

Coffee and Conversation

April '07

April 1: WTOS presentation by Kris King.

March '07

March 25: Meteorite exhibition and discussion by Dr. Joseph Hilbe.

February '07

February 25: Video speech by Salman Rushdie and discussion.

February 18:  TBA

February 11:  "The Real Eve".  Video and discussion led by Brett Chaney.

February 4:  Dennis Fehr, "The National Education Task Force: We Catch Children Left Behind." Dennis has been in contact with Nancy Pelosi, and Texas Tech is very excited about his efforts in this area.  Come hear him talk!

January '07

January 28:  Harvey Madison: "Space Race History and Personal Experiences."

January 21:  Another snow day!  Coffee and Conversation.

January 14:  Snow day!

January 7:  Craig Cooley:  "Why Do We Believe Things that Ain't So? - Urban Legends."

December '06

December 24,31:  Coffee and conversation.

December 17: 10-11AM.  Peter Westfall, "Psychometric Measurement:  Scientific Fraud or New Age Hoax?"  Peter delves into the tawdry history of psychometric measurement, from the early measurement of IQ to a modern "proof" of the existence of god, uncovering various deceptions, cover-ups, and outright fraud that has been perpetrated in the name of the enterprise.

December 10: 10-11AM.   Billy Martinez, union labor organizer, will talk about the state of the labor movement.

December 3: 10-11AM.  Marilyn Westfall, "A New Focus on the American Humanist Association."  (Marilyn is in the national board of directors of the AHA.)

November '06

Much coffee ... much conversation...

October '06

October 15: 10-11AM.  Laura Calkins, Oral Historian and Assistant Archivist Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University.  "Recording the Vietnam War: Were any Lessons Learned?"

October 8: 10-11AM.  "Global Warming".

October 1: 10-11AM.  "What do Unitarians believe?"   Discussion led by Harvey Madison.

September '06

September 24: 10-11AM.  "Why men earn more than women".  Video and discussion.

September 17: 10-11AM.  Discussion of the recent ABC "documentary" called "The Path to 9/11"

(Summertime, summertime...)

May '06

May 21: 10-11AM.  Video and discussion of "Questionable Professors" about professors whose main qualification is that they are card carrying leftest activists.

May 14: 10-11AM.  Video and discussion. Peter Peterson, author of "Running on Empty", takes a non-partisan look at the immorality of our current economic climate.

May 7,  10-11AM. 'Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon,' videa and discussion of a book by by Daniel C. Dennett. (Second of a two-part series).

April '06

April 30,  10-11AM.  'Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon,' videa and discussion of a book by by Daniel C. Dennett. (First of a two-part series).

April 23,  10-11AM.  "The Voter's Bill of Rights," discussion led by Craig Cooley.

April 16,  10-11AM.  "Is there an artificial god"?  Readings from Douglas Adams, led by Brett Chaney.

April 9,  10-11AM.  "The Proper Scope of Government in a Free Society." Joe Biles' (B.A. History, Texas Tech '05) presentation will be a libertarian/conservative-themed presentation that includes discussion of anti-liberty Supreme Court decisions on eminent domain and medical cannabis.

April 2,  10-11AM.  "The Revenge of Gaia: The Global Warming Crisis."  Harvey Madison discusses a new book by James Lovelock, the originator of the "Gaia Hypothesis."

March '06

March 26,  10-11AM.  "The Human-Animal Nexus."   Mary Hatfield (Lubbock Pet Project Board Member), Bev Bucklew (Lubbock Pet Project Board Member), and Fred Sanderson (Lubbock City Animal Control Manager) will discuss the human-animal connection - why it is important, what the human responsibilities are (including responsible coexistence with the city's feral cat colonies), and the issues surrounding pets belonging to low-income families and individuals.

March 19, "Implications of the explosion of technology". Questions and answers about Ray Kursweil's book "The Singularity is Near".   Video and discussion.

March 12, "Coffee and Conversation"

March 5,  10-11AM. "Collision Course with the Milky Way,"  Ron Wilhelm, Professor of Physics, TTU.

February '06

February 26,  10-11AM. "Pandemic,"  Gary Bell, Dean of TTU Honors college.

February 19,  "Can Science Discover the Unexplainable?"  Computer Scientist Tom English.

February 12,  "Arguments in Favor of Intelligent Design," Tim Dallas, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and chair of Texas Tech University Christian Faculty/Staff Association.

February 5, 10-11AM. "Issues in candidacy"    Roberts Ricketts, Democratic congressional candidate.  (Republicans have been contacted repeatedly with requests to present a forum, but still have not responded.)

January '06

January 29, 10-11AM. "Censorship",  Dennis Fehr.

January 22, 10-11AM. "Archeology of Lubbock,"   Richard Hopson

January 15, 10-11AM. "Politics in Bangladesh".  Professor John Barkdull presents.

January 8, 10-11AM. "Intelligent" design.  Video and discussion.

December '05

December 18, 10-11AM. "Genesis and Geology: History of a Controversy," Mark Stoll.  An encore performance of his (controversial?) presentation at Texas Tech.

December 11, 10-11AM. "The Life and Times of C.W. Post, founder of Post Cereal and Post, Texas," discussion led by Marilyn Westfall.

December 4, 10-11AM. "A Video Slot Machine in Every Store: The Curious Vision of the 'Moral' Right," discussion led by Kris King, chair of West Texas Organizing Strategy (WTOS).

November '05

November 27, 10-11AM. "Coffee and Conversation"

November 20, 10-11AM. "Supersize Me," part II, discussion led by Trudy Gullette and Brett Chaney.

November 13, 10-11AM. "Supersize Me," part I, discussion led by Trudy Gullette and Brett Chaney.

November 6, 10-11AM. "Libertarianism," discussion led by Ron Bennett.

October '05

October 30, 10-11AM. "Intelligent Design versus Evolution," discussion led by Harvey Madison.

October 23, 10-11AM. "The Future of Computing," Dr. Phil Smith, Director of Texas Tech High Performance Computing.

October 16, 10-11AM. "The Virtue of Selfishness," video and discussion of Ayn Rand.

October 9, 10-11AM. "Teaching for Social Justice," presented by Dennis and Mary Fehr, Myra Brown, and Doug Simpson, of Texas Tech University.

October 2, 10-11AM. Rachel Griffin discusses Women's Protective Services and Family Violence Awareness month.

September '05

September 25, 10-11AM. "Freakonomics". Discussion of the book written by Steven Levitt, led by Harvey Madison.

September 18, 10-11AM. "Polyamory". Discussion led by Kathryn Cornell.

September 11, 10-11AM. "The Biological Basis of Pleasure and Pain". Discussion led by Dr. Ted Reid, Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Cell Biology and Biochemistry and Chemistry and Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

September 4, 10-11AM. "The Brain". Discussion led by Dr. Alice Young, Prof of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at TTU.