Welcome to another installment of Notes from the Classroom.
First, I want to thank those from both the National Capital Area Skeptics and the UMD Society of Inquiry for helping to make our recent workshop on the pseudoscience of dowsing at the University of Maryland such a success. I am happy to announce we will have another JREF regional workshop hot on its heels. The James Randi Educational Foundation will present a half-day workshop on ESP in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, October 22:
Does extrasensory perception (ESP) exist? The answer to this question has long been pursued by investigators from the military, the intelligence community, the media, and researchers form both the mainstream and fringes of science. Participants in this workshop—presented with the help of Atlanta Skeptics—will have a chance to examine the question through an in-depth and hands-on exploration of the often mysterious and always fascinating topic of ESP and the related science.
Speaking of Atlanta, I took great pleasure in making a small contribution to the Skeptrack at this year’s Dragon*Con. I was honored to take part in a panel discussion on the roles of "educating" and "debunking" in bringing skepticism to the public. The panel, which looked at skeptical education in the classroom and beyond, featured JREF staff members D.J. Grothe and myself as well as several members of the foundation’s education advisory panel. You can now listen to the discussion in its entirety on a special Skeptrack edition of the Skepticality Podcast.