"Sounds from the Big Bang: The Music of Creation" Mark Whittle, Professor of Astronomy, University of Virginia, presented an entertaining and informative lecture on the infancy of our universe, how it looked and sounded -- phenomena captured by a NASA telescope, just a year ago. With a series of images and recordings, he traced the amazing process scientists used to more precisely determine the age of the universe, its constituent properties, the stages of its early evolution, and even how it sounded during its first 100 million years.

"The Juvenile Justice System" Nicholas D. Reppucci, Professor of Psychology and Director of Community Psychology at the University of Virginia, presented a brief history of the juvenile justice system and provided a framework for understanding some current issues in this area. His presentation, along with a videotape concerning the story of one such juvenile offender, stimulated a lively discussion centering on the question: Are youths adults because of the crimes they commit?

"A Primer on Homeschooling" A panel featuring CVSH member Silvia Barrett, founder of Albemarle Homeschoolers; Will Shaw, Past-President and former lobbyist for Virginia Home Education Association; and Mary Wilson, Secretary, VHEA. The panel talked about a wide variety of issues concerning homeschooling and distributed printed handouts listing sources for information and materials on homeschooling.

"Free Will and Determinism" WASH Board member Don Wharton discussed this topic with an emphasis on Daniel C. Dennett's book, "Freedom Evolves." This discussion tourhced on concepts such as choice, determinism, self, and responsibility.

"The Church/State Debate in Revolutionary America" Frederick Schmidt, Adjunct Professor of Social Science at Piedmont College sketched the historical background of Virginia's Statute for Religious Freedom, an important benchmark in our nation's progress toward separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson took so much pride in the authorship of this statute that he asked that it be acknowledged on his tombstone. Although Jefferson first drafted a resolution to separate church and state as early as 1776, it was not passed by the legislature until ten years later, when reintroduced by James Madison, who sensed that the time was finally ripe for its passage.

"God on Trial: Judgment Day for the Pledge" Presented by Mary Ellen Sikes, Associate Director, Institute for Humanist Studies and founder of CVSH. The story of Dr. Michael Newdow's challenge to the legality of the altered version of the Pledge of Allegiance (U.S. Supreme Court: Elk Grove Unified School District v Michael Newdow), and its special significance to American atheists, humanists, and freethinkers.

"The Blank Slate", a Skeptics Society videotape of Steven Pinker's highly informative examination of human nature. This lecture is based on Pinker's book of the same name. Prof. Pinker was, until recently, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at M.I.T., and is currently on the faculty at Harvard. He is also author of the highly acclaimed and best-selling books: The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and Word and Rules: and is one of the smoothest lecturers in academia.

ESP & COLD READING: A VIDEOTAPE DEMONSTRATION featuring Bob Steiner, professional magician and author. Steiner was National President of the Society of American Magicians and served as Chair of the Occult investigation Committee for ten years. He is a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, and is on the Board of Advisors of the National Association of Bunco Investigators.

In this Skeptics Society videotape, Steiner demonstrates cold reading and what passes (among the unenlightened) as extrasensory perception. The tape also includes film footage of a faith healer in action, using cold reading, and an amusing description of how one faith healer was caught using radio transmitted tips from his wife to make it appear that he miraculously sensed detailed, personal information about members of his audience. Steiner shows how even intelligent people can be taken in by con artists claiming paranormal powers.

'WHOSE BRAIN IS IT, ANYWAY?" William B. Levy, Professor of Neurosurgery & of Psychology and Director of Research, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia in a lecture on the biological basis of cognition. Dr. Levy presented an overview of his research using neural network simulations of the hippocampus and associated cortical regions to explore the physiological mechanisms behind the psychological technique of "chunking." The model of hippocampal functioning derived from this research is biologically realistic and can perform any cognitive tasks that have been shown to depend upon an intact hippocampus in other studies.

"WHAT DOES SCIENCE TELL US ABOUT MORALITY?" Jonathan Haidt, Associate Professor of Psychology UVA - Recent advances in research on morality, along with their implications for moral education, for tolerating one's ideological enemies, and for effectively coping with a morally diverse world .

ETHICAL OPTIONS AT THE END OF LIFE - John Nugent, former Hospice President and Sara Elder CVSH Chapter Coordinator - Examine important end-of-life issues, insuring the kind of care desired, avoiding overzealous treatment, getting pallitive care when cure is no longer an option, and considering proactive alternatives.

WESTERN HUMANISM, PAST PRESENT & FUTURE - Perez Zagorin, Wilson Professor of History Emeritus, U of Rochester & Fellow of the Shannon Center for Advanced Studies UVA - Born in Ancient Greece, humanism gave rise to a civilization whose intellectual, political and artistic achievements were nothing less than astounding. Centuries later it reemerged to usher in the Renaissance and inspire an Age of Enlightenment, only to decline in influence during the 20th century. What is Humanism? Why has it been such a powerful force in history? What form might it take in the 21st century?

HUMANISM - ORGANIZED AND OTHERWISE - Mary Ellen Sikes, Associate Director of the Institute for Humanistic Studies. The national humanist movement is in transition. Where is it headed and Why?

IT'S ONLY A THEORY - (In celebration of Darwin Day 2003) - Bob Kretsinger, Commonwealth Professor of Biology UVA - A discussion of scientific theory & law and of evolution by natural selection.

GLOBAL WARMING - Stuart Jordan, Astrophysicist (&President of Washington Area Secular Humanists) - What "drives" climate? An overview of the efforts to determine the extent to which global climate is influenced by human activity.

PERSPECTIVE ON NUCLEAR ELECTRICITY GENERATION - Albert Reynolds, Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering UVA - How nuclear plants work, their safety, their future role, waste storage safety, and weapons proliferation.

QUANTUM WEIRDNESS - Carey Stronach, Professor of Physics at Virginia State University - An examination of some curious aspects of quantum physics.

CHUCH AND STATE AS VIEWED BY OUR NATIONS FOUNDERS - Robert S. Alley, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at U of Richmond and noted church-state scholar - An examination of the historical evidence for our nation's founders' views on the relationship between church and state.

LET THERE BE LIGHT (A Solstice Program) - Throughout the Northern Hemisphere people have traditionally responded to the Winter Solace, the darkest time of the year, by illuminating their homes with a multitude of tiny lights, both inside and out. Secular Humanists have another form of light to celebrate - that of the Age of Enlightenment, when the darkness of a daemon-haunted world would begin to give way to the light of reason and understanding. Members of CVSH were invited to share some of their personal experiences of intellectual discovery - discoveries that make the world more intelligible and meaningful to them.

"IS THE DEATH PENALTY MORAL?" Henry Heller, Executive Director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, explaining his organization’s position on this provocative topic.

"THE ART OF REASONING TOGETHER." - Retired educator and Unitarian-Universalist clergyman Curtis Crawford leading a discussion about his proposal for achieving constructive dialogue.