John Figdor
Jonathan Figdor | |
|---|---|
| File:JohnFigdorJPEG.jpg | |
| Alma mater | Vassar College, Harvard Divinity School |
| Occupation | Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University |
| Website | www |
John Figdor is the current Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University[1][2] where he organizes events and programs for both students and community members of the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the first Humanist Chaplain on the West Coast serving a university community.[3] As a Humanist officiant he also oversees non-theistic weddings, funerals, and baby-naming ceremonies.[2][4]
Humanism at Stanford University
The Humanist Community at Stanford includes Humanists, Atheists, and Agnostics, who believe in values such as reason, science, pluralism, compassion, empathy, and altruism.[5][6] The organization holds a variety of different events, from dinners, to public lectures, to art gallery tours, to pub nights, to discussions and debates, and game nights.[5] Previous notable speakers have included Richard Dawkins.[7]
The Stanford Humanist Community played an essential role in the creation of Darwin Day. The first celebration of the event took place on April 22, 1995, and included a lecture given by famed anthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson to over 600 attendees.[8]
Biography
John Figdor received his B.A. with honors in Philosophy from Vassar College[2] and holds a master’s degree (MDiv) in Humanism and Interfaith Dialogue from Harvard Divinity School.[3][4] John was an Organizing Fellow of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University[4] and former Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard,[9] working with Greg Epstein.
In 2014, John coauthored, together with Lex Bayer, the book Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Rewriting the Ten Commandments for the Twenty-First Century (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)[10][11] and organized the Rethink Prize: a crowdsourcing competition to rethink the Ten Commandments. The contest drew more than 2,800 submissions from 18 countries and 27 U.S. states. Winners were selected by a panel of judges.[12][13]
John is a former Board Member of the Secular Student Alliance.[4] John and his work have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle,[9] the Huffington Post,[1][14] the Washington Post.,[10][15] Salon,[16] CNN,[12] and TIME.[17]
References
- ^ a b Jones, Alan (28 December 2012). "John Figdor Appointed as Atheist Chaplain at Stanford". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b c "Chaplain John Figdor develops humanist community on campus". Stanford Daily. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Stanford's New Humanist Chaplain: John Figdor". The Stanford Review. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Secular Student Alliance John Figdor". Secular Student Alliance. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Stanford Humanist Community Facebook Page". Stanford Humanist Community. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ "Stanford Humanist Community". Stanford Humanist Community. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ "Richard Dawkins @ Stanford Humanist Community 2012 10 11". YouTube. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ "About the International Darwin Day Foundation (IDDF)". International Darwin Day Foundation. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b Asimov, Nanette (22 December 2012). "Stanford gets a chaplain for atheists". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b Kimberly Winston (November 20, 2014). "10 Commandments for atheists: a guide for nonbelievers who want to explore their values". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart". Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ a b Daniel Burke (December 20, 2014). "Behold, atheists' new Ten Commandments". CNN. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "The Rethink Prize". Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "The Atheist Chaplain". Huffington Post Live. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ Shulman, Robin (21 December 2008). "Humanist Parents Seek Communion Outside Church". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ Michael Schulson (December 7, 2014). "Humanist chaplain John Figdor: "Religion introduces moral problems that wouldn't exist otherwise"". Salon. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "Here's a Secular Alternative to the Ten Commandments". TIME. December 21, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2015.