Dawkins at UMTC


Richard Dawkins will be speaking in Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota on 4 March, at 7pm. Get your tickets now!

There will also be a post-lecture pub event. I’ll post more information on that as it comes available.


For those of you who are pining for a visit from Richard Dawkins, here is his calendar. It looks like we Minnesotans are among the fortunate few.

Comments

  1. NewEnglandBob says

    Minnesota in March is as bad as here.

    I wish RD was speaking within a couple hundred miles of here!

  2. NewEnglandBob says

    I just noticed that the lecture is on the same page as:

    Center for Spirituality & Healing

  3. Qwerty says

    Maybe I’ll finish “The Selfish Gene” prior to his visit.

    PZ, you think he’ll fill Northrup? It’s a fairly big venue.

  4. squall25 says

    Hey PZ, are you ever going to come to Chicago? If you do, I will gladly offer you a homecooked meal or a drink.

  5. says

    I need to move toward colder climate to get away from the credulous cretins in Nashvegas. I’ll have an Earl Grey latte in honor of the ethologist.

  6. Prometheus says

    Nine dollars, a 4,800 capacity venue. You guys make me woozy. They booked him in a broom closet in Norman, Oklahoma, gave all the tickets away in an hour and the fundies are already throwing a fit over equal time. People are offering a bounty for tickets on Craig’s List like Elvis was resurrected. I am hustling political big wigs for tickets so that I can send my elderly atheist scientist parents (they find him adorable).

  7. Kimpatsu says

    Hey, PZ, do you think Mark mathis will have you thrown out of this event as well, just like the last time?

  8. Kimpatsu says

    Hey, PZ, do you think Mark mathis will have you thrown out of this event as well, just like the last time?

  9. says

    Hello Pharyngulites!

    The event is being hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists (CASH). You can find out more about his talk March 4th “The Purpose of Purpose” at our website, http://cashumn.org/. Questions/comments can be sent to cash@cashumn.org.

    See you at the show!
    Jeff Campbell
    Activities Director
    CASH

  10. says

    To answer the questions that have come up:

    – I have no idea if his wife is coming
    – I’m told that Dr. Dawkins will be bringing a film crew

    Jeff

  11. Xena says

    Thanks for the heads up. I’ve been waiting for tickets to go on sale. Mine are now purchased and a room reserved.

  12. SEF says

    Is Minnesota getting preferential treatment because of your presence, PZ, or is there a more all-encompassing tour of universities?

  13. AH says

    Aw, that’s just down the road from me… maybe I can persuade the boyfriend to go. And maybe I can persuade my philosophy of religion professor to give me extra credit for going, she’s reading The God Delusion now. hehehe

  14. Uvifera says

    So exciting! May I recommend the Kitty Kat for afterwards?

    Should I worry about getting tickets early? I’ll hop on that just in case.

  15. Eric says

    Don’t forget about…

    Can We Be Good Without God? A Debate between Dan Barker and Dinesh D’Souza

    Sponsored By: Campus Atheists and Secular Humanists
    Additional Sponsors: Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)

    Thursday, January 29, 2009
    7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

    Cost:
    Free!

    Room 125 & 175
    Willey Hall
    Minneapolis Campus

  16. Qwerty says

    Jeff @ 17 – You should’ve plugged your next event also. Tomorrow night CASH is co-sponsoring an event with Campus Crusade for Christ entitled “Can You Be Good without God” at 7:30 pm at Wiley Hall – Room 125.

    Hope you have a good turnout as I am sure the crusaders will be there.

  17. LisaJ says

    Jealous! If it wasn’t snowing so hard here in Ottawa right now I would totally make the trip… In all seriousness though, I’m thinking that perhaps my student council group should give some thought to inviting Dr. Dawkins to give a talk at the University of Ottawa. That would be a fantastic experience.
    On this same note, PZ have you ever dreamed of visiting Ottawa to enrich some curious Canadian grad. student minds (if you haven’t already)?

  18. Kimberly says

    I am really excited for him to be coming to Omaha in March (and it is free)! No one ever comes here so I am forced to wish I was in Minnesota most of the time. (PZ came to UNK but on a school night and since it is a few hours away, I missed it!)

  19. TBRP says

    Really? Minnesota? Michigan? You’d think he’d want to get away from crappy weather. And on a related note, here in Southern California was a sunny 75 degrees F today…

  20. Greg Esres says

    So, how much does Dawkins get for these appearances? It’s got to be expensive flying back and forth over the pond, as well as exhausting.

  21. says

    Whatever they pay him, it isn’t enough. You have to love a world in which a mild mannered (and undeniably brilliant) zoologist can become an international celebrity for ridiculing the irrationality of religious faith. The 6 hour drive (each way) that I’ll be making to see him at MSU will be well worth it.

  22. Ferre says

    Dawkins is VERY MUCH NEEDED, look at how this conversation ends up, it’s on one of the largest web development forums and the topic is titled “Persecuting Christians again!”……in Texas…

    http://www.v7n.com/forums/politics/110923-persecuting-christians-again-texas.html

    I don’t know if one Dawkins will ever be enough. *sigh*

    ps. I thank Mr. Mr Myers and the commenters on here for the so much needed dose of confidence in society I often need. Thank you guys.

  23. Jeremy says

    I’ve got tickets to see him in East Lansing MI on March 2…I’m really looking forward to it.

  24. Eric says

    Don’t forget about…

    Can We Be Good Without God? A Debate between Dan Barker and Dinesh D’Souza

    Sponsored By: Campus Atheists and Secular Humanists
    Additional Sponsors: Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)

    Thursday, January 29, 2009
    7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

    Cost:
    Free!

    Room 125 & 175

    Minneapolis Campus

  25. MattE says

    Bah, meant to reply to LisaJ @ 31, but got mixed up with Qwerty’s comment. Oh well. I’m just happy something exciting is happening in Ottawa for once.

  26. Bride of Shrek OM says

    I would absolutely KILL to see the great man in person. Not only is he one of the world’s great intellects but I think he’s a dead-set spunk too ( and if you ever happen to read that Dr Dawkins it is entirely meant in a respectful manner, indeed where I come from that’s pretty much the highest form of flattery).

    Strangely however, when I check his calender, I find no upcoming visits to Ipswich, Australia… Ah well, back to watching the Ippy hoons do doughnuts in their V8 Monaro’s for Saturday night entertainment.

  27. cpsmith says

    Why can’t Dawkins come to Ottawa? Or even Toronto? The closest he’ll be to me is still an 18 hour, $200 bus ride away….*whines*

  28. Otto says

    The venue, Northrop Auditorium, makes it very difficult
    to buy tickets, impossible if you bought some in the past:
    Their password requirement are utterly convoluted and it is
    quite impossible to remember what one is forced to use.
    Will try to phone tomorrow, but I seem to remember that they
    use an automated service just as user hostile.

  29. Otto says

    The venue, Northrop Auditorium, makes it very difficult
    to buy tickets, impossible if you bought some in the past:
    Their password requirement are utterly convoluted and it is
    quite impossible to remember what one is forced to use.
    Will try to phone tomorrow, but I seem to remember that they
    use an automated service just as user hostile.

  30. Wowbagger says

    Bride of Shrek wrote:

    Strangely however, when I check his calender, I find no upcoming visits to Ipswich, Australia

    Yeah, I think it’s time he paid a visit down under as well. Maybe PZ should think about it as well; I’d make the trip to the east coast for that – unless they got really sensible and came to Adelaide instead. But I wouldn’t recommend it at this time of year; it reached 113°F yesterday and it isn’t expected to cool down until next week at the earliest.

    Thank science for airconditioners.

  31. LisaJ says

    Thanks for letting me know that Daniel Dennett is coming to Carleton! Funny how even though we’re in the same city, with many similar research departments even, we don’t always know when these sorts of events are happening. I am totally going to show up for this talk… well, as long as I can find my way over there without our buses still running, that is.

    Thanks for the link to Richard Dawkins’ calendar, PZ. I figured he was a very busy man. Still, maybe one day I’ll see him speak!

  32. cpsmith says

    I second LisaJ (#31) comments. I too was seriously considering shelling out $208 for bus fare to go see Dr Dawkins, but alas I am but a poor student and I need that money for food and rent. But many thanks to MattE (#39)! I didn’t realize Carleton was hosting anything that nifty. I will certainly be in attendance. I’m surprised that not one of my biology professors have mentioned this in class.

  33. Sarah says

    Woo hoo! Dawkins is coming to Minnesota. I’ll be there for sure, and I’ll bring a few friends with me.

  34. LisaJ says

    cpsmith @#49:
    Are you a U Ottawa student? I am also surprised that I’ve heard nothing about this until now. However, I am quite sure that most of the scientists in my department won’t even know who Daniel Dennett is when I bring his name up. It saddens me that alot of them are not fully engaged in the world of science, but express interest largely in only the narrowly focused area of neuroscience that they study. Oh well, more for us I guess.

  35. says

    Yeah, I think it’s time he paid a visit down under as well.

    National Science Week is in late August, last year I got to meet Dr Michael Shermer. Though I’m betting that most of the people involved will be physicists, what with this being the international year of astronomy and all.

  36. Wowbagger says

    Though I’m betting that most of the people involved will be physicists, what with this being the international year of astronomy and all.

    Maybe we can get heddle to come over – I’m sure the Aussie Pharyngulites would enjoy a beer or two with him…

  37. says

    Maybe we can get heddle to come over – I’m sure the Aussie Pharyngulites would enjoy a beer or two with him…

    Or I can put my balls in a vice and squeeze them, sounds about as fun.

  38. cpsmith says

    LisaJ @#51

    I’m a Carleton student. That is why I was so shocked that my biology professors had not mentioned this. Come to think of it they haven’t said a thing about any of the upcomming talks. Luckily I have Pharyngula to keep me informed.

  39. Rasmus Holm says

    It is a strange world we live in, where we idolize singers and actors, whereas hardly any respect is given to science and scientists.

    Richard is a true hero, and I have a hard time thinking of anything more important than the work Richard and others do to push back superstition.

    It will be a sad day indeed, when he is no longer with us.

  40. Bride of Shrek OM says

    Great Jaybus Rasmus Holm

    The gentleman is only 67, I think we’ve got him for quite a while yet. You make it sound like he’s about to shift his mortal coil. I like to think I’ve got a few decades left to stalk my idol.

  41. says

    I’ll be at the University of Minnesota event tonight (I’m reading Barker’s Godless just now) and I ordered tickets overnight for the U of MN event in March with Professor Dawkins. Yes, Northrop Auditorium is large, but I expect a large audience for his talk.

  42. recovering catholic says

    Got my tickets! So glad to see that Northrop is just north of the Iowa state line, as I’ll be driving from Champaign Illinois. And now I have to find my copy of The God Delusion for the great man to sign…and hope for a lack of snowstorms and ice in early March.

    (I had no trouble getting tickets online, though this was my first time at this site.)

  43. Kevin Schreck says

    I can’t believe that of all the times I’m away from my home state, Dawkins comes to town!

  44. Kevin Schreck says

    I can’t believe that of all the times I’m away from my home state, Dawkins comes to town!

  45. Nerd of Redhead says

    Its just an excuse from Dawkins to visit PZ and go to the movies.

    Sounds like when several of us found this site.

  46. Janine, Leftist Bozo says

    Posted by: Kel | January 28, 2009

    Or I can put my balls in a vice and squeeze them, sounds about as fun.

    Why’d ya do it, she said.

  47. Sven DiMilo says

    I note that over at RD’s calendar site the title of his Minnesota talk is given as “The Puporse of Purpose.” This makes me very curious to learn what “puporse” could be.

  48. Materialist says

    Isn’t Dawkins the guy that said the genome is full of nonsense? Wasn’t that an argument from ignorance? Imagine anyone took him seriously? Science would have taken a serious blow. Fascinating studies like these would not have been conducted (what would be the point of studying nonsense right?):
    New Class Of Small RNAs Discovered: Function Defined

    Luckily science moves on and posers get left behind. No thank you, count me out of this lecture, I think we have heard enough arguments from ignorance from creationists, no need to listen to this poser’s arguments from ignorance ;).

  49. Sven DiMilo says

    Sorry, Materialist. The (human) genome is, in fact, full of nonsense, junk, or whatever you want to call it, sRNAs notwithstanding. You would seem to be the ignorant one in this instance.

  50. SplendidMonkey says

    Ya, and the word is “poseur”. Using it without spelling it right is kind of self-incriminating.

  51. faemorpheus says

    OTTO: Calling in to get the tickets will result in a live person….it’s not automated (yay!). But beware for some strange reason they do not take Mastercard. The online system was odd, what’s up with the password requirements??

    But, I got my tickets!! WOO!! I can’t wait until March!

  52. mikecbraun says

    Rochester contingent checking in here. Anyone else from Rochester interested in heading up? I’ll be going with at least one other person at this point.

  53. Otto says

    faemorpheus: Got the ticket by phone this morning,
    yes a real live person, nice and helpful.
    Did bitch about the online ordering.
    Wonder if it will change something.

  54. John Scanlon FCD says

    Totally OT, but thought it interesting to read in Nature today:

    “A gazillion experiments show that I can flash something at you so fast you don’t see it, yet the information does bias you towards one decision as opposed to another,” says cognitive psychologist Michael Gazzaniga…

    I wonder, is there a word for choosing words – consciously or unconsciously – on the basis of alliteration/assonance/rhyme with ones own name? Richard Dawkins probably would not refer to opponents as ‘dorks’, and not merely because he’s too polite and/or they didn’t use that word where he grew up. And PZ probably is less likely than the average person to respond to a preposterous claim by bellowing ‘My ass!’ Any suggestions?

  55. kamaka says

    Otto @ 45

    Will try to phone tomorrow, but I seem to remember that they use an automated service just as user hostile.

    I got a polite and articulate human when I called. Online did suck!

    What’s a Carleton? I’m reading Dennet right now.

    Can anyone recommend accommodations? Don’t know the Cities.

    Also, any recommendations for museums and the like?

  56. Rick Schauer says

    Got my tickets and really looking forward to this. Reception at The Campus Club following the lecture. See all of you attendees there!