Conference today to explore application of humanism

Tonight the Tufts Experimental College (ExCollege), the Humanist Chaplaincy at Tufts, the Tufts Freethought Society and the Boston Area Coalition of Reason will host a conference on humanism in the Tufts Interfaith Center.

The organizations developed the idea to teach community members about humanism and the application of its values in everyday life, Humanist in Residence Walker Bristol said.

"We wanted to have us all available to speak to this idea of what does it mean to put your values in action, and how are different chaplains doing it?" Bristol said. "A lot of people on campus have a lot of questions about humanism.”

Hugh Taft-Morales, leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia and the Baltimore Ethical Society, will deliver the keynote lecture. Vanessa Zoltan, assistant humanist chaplain at the Humanist Community at Harvard University, and Jason Heap, national coordinator for the United Coalition of Reason, will participate in a panel discussion, according to Bristol.

In the fall, Marcy Regalado, office assistant and board member at the ExCollege, said she talked about bringing Taft-Morales to speak on campus, noting that she knows Taft-Morales personally.

"It really opens my eyes to collaboration and how people from two different theologies can still hold a conversation and still agree on issues that are occurring in the United States and around the world," Regalado, a senior, said. "That’s the kind of connection that I’ve had with [Taft-Morales].”

Bristol, Regalado and President of Tufts Freethought Society Kumar Ramanathan, a senior, worked together to develop the event. She added that the conference will provide a platform to address the greater Tufts community.

"The questions in general for the panel discussion will explore ... what does putting your values in action mean to you and what have your experiences in chaplaincy led you to understand about putting your values in action?” Bristol said.

Regalado said she hopes to continue the discussion on how to incorporate personal or community values into social action.

"I think Tufts should have a different avenue of how they talk about social injustices and just being a proactive individual," she said. "Tufts prides itself on active citizenship, right? And how are we doing that?"

Tufts Freethought Society had lobbied for a humanist chaplain on campus for several years, Ramanathan said.

"The idea was just that the sort of services and resources provided by the Chaplaincy could be expanded, could be inclusive of more students," he said.

Ramanathan explained that since the Humanist in Residence position is still fairly new, the group is still figuring out different ways to collaborate and events it can plan to build a community.

Bristol noted that he has been looking to reach out to the student community as well as develop the position of Humanist in Residence, given that the position was just introduced this fall. He underscored that much of his role has been dedicated to caregiving and one-on-one support, as well as facilitating small group discussions.

"I think we often underestimate how important having someone to just be present with you can be, especially when life moves really fast on a university campus," he said. "So I’ve been really fortunate to see how many people have ... taken advantage of that. It’s been kind of amazing, some of the things that people have told me and shared with me and felt comfortable sharing with me. I can’t believe that there wasn’t somebody available to do this for these students beforehand."

Ramanathan said he hopes all students interested in learning more about humanism will attend the event.

"I’d encourage anyone whose ... curiosity’s peaked, but doesn’t really know what this is about -- this is the event for them," he said.

Regalado also said she hopes all students will take something out of the discussions.

"I’m really hoping that Tufts kids, again, regardless of whoever they are, can come and just take something out of it and just spark something inside them that pushes them to try something different, to make a positive change in whatever they do," she said.