Quite an attention grabber, isn’t it?  Of course, in this case the letters WTF refer not to the commonly used epithet but to the Women Thinking Free Foundation (which, I suppose, would technically make it WTFF).  In any case, I wanted to share with you all some news about this wonderful organization of which I am a part (I serve as the WTFF’s secretary).  The WTFF is the brainchild of Skepchick Elyse “Mofo” Anders, and it focuses specifically on promoting science, critical thinking & skepticism to women of all ages.

In the time the WTFF has existed (about a year and a half), we’ve done a lot of interesting things – from holding the first Chicago Skepticamp which featured many female speakers, called Skepchicamp; to hosting a “Psychic Fair” where we exposed for fun the tricks used by psychics of all stripes; to organizing and running a free vaccination clinic at Dragon*Con 2010.

And I would like to emphasize that last one, the issue of vaccination and, by extension, the anti-vaccination movement: the WTFF is engaging in major initiatives on that front, as spreading the word about the good that vaccines do and the bad the anti-vaccination movement does is something very near and dear to us.  In this spirit of pursuing our primary interest, last fall while at Dragon*Con we initiated a project called Hug Me, I’m Vaccinated!

We at WTFF feel that, as ordinary concerned citizens – not as doctors, not as the government – we can help to bridge the gap between those official medical & authoritative outlets and concerned parents who have been manipulated by anti-vaccine propaganda.  Through initiatives like the Hug Me, I’m Vaccinated! campaign, it is our hope to not only promote good critical thinking but also good practices in people’s lives. In an effort to take our vaccine outreach to the next level, the WTFF is going to be partnering with the JREF on an important project that will be announced this month.

So, if you are interested in knowing more about the WTFF and what we’re doing, please consider signing up for our newsletter titled “WTF Is Going On?!”  Signing up is easy, simply go to this link and input some basic information and you’ll start to receive our newsletter, which should go out about twice per month.

 

Matt Lowry is a high school & college physics professor with a strong interest in promoting science education, skepticism and critical thinking among his students and the population in general.  Towards these ends, he works with the JREF on their educational advisory board, and he also works with a number of grassroots skeptical, pro-science groups.  In what little spare time he has, he blogs on these and related subjects at The Skeptical Teacher.