Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Copenhagen Skeptics in the Pub



It is with some pride and happiness that I can announce that Copenhagen now has a 'Skeptics in the Pub' event. Skeptics in the Pub (or just SitP for short) is an informal event where skeptics can gather together and discuss subjects related to skepticism and science, while drinking beverages of their choice.

As the wikipedia article linked to above tells you, SitP has been around for quite a while, mostly in Anglo-Saxon countries. These events have strengthened the skeptic networks in the communities where they take place, and makes it easier for skeptics to connect to each other and share knowledge and views.

I have been aware of the event for a while, and have thought that Denmark would benefit from such an event, since pseudo-science and quackery is quite widespread here, while open skepticism is frowned upon as being impolite.

Then I visited Perth, Australia, a couple of years ago, and was lucky enough to be able to participate in two SitP events while being there (one of them was actually a 'Skeptics in the Park', with a nice BBQ in King´s Park), and this experience strengthened my resolve to start one up in Copenhagen.

During the 'Gods and Politics' conference in Copenhagen last year I overheard the head of the Danish atheistic society (Ateistisk Selskab), Stinus Lindgreen, talk with someone else about his next goal being to start up SitP in Copenhagen. Obviously I suggested we partner up in this venture, and we have now finally realized this goal. Along the way, we got TrineBM (who some of you will know from the comments at Pharyngula and Why Evolution is True) to help us.

The first instance of the Copenhagen SitP will be on June 8th at 7PM, where associate professor Mikael Rothstein, from the Univesity of Copenhagen, will talk about UFOs. Rothstein has written, among other things, a book on UFOs ('UFOer og rumvæsener').
The event will take place at Ørsted Ølbar.

The schedule so far (all are at 19:00 at Ørsted Ølbar):
June 8th: Mikael Rothstein
July 13th: No speaker, but socializing
August 10th: Lone Frank

Please note that all events will be in Danish

The facebook page for Copenhagen Skeptics in the Pub can be found here.

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