The Humanist Community at Harvard is proud to announce a brand new monthly speaker series called An Ethic of Love. This series will take place over the course of the 2012-13 academic year, at a bigger hall in the Science Center; these events will include childcare and videos will be posted on our website.

Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and author of New York Times best selling Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe invites you to participate in this unfolding research project for a book he has begun to work on about love, humanism, and community. The series will feature conversations with some of the leading minds on the topic of love: scientists, authors, activists, –and you, whether you live in Boston or far beyond.

Together, we will explore different facets of love and Humanism, such as:

• What are the origins of love? How can we understand the history of love and sexuality in the world’s major religious traditions, in light of modern neuroscience and evolutionary biology?
• What is love now? What does it mean to love one another in our 21st-century society, given unprecedented reproductive and romantic possibilities, constantly-evolving technologies that both connect and isolate us, and growing research that calls into question even our capacity for free will and rational choice?
• Is love political? How can embracing a progressive “ethic of love” transform key political struggles of our time, including gay rights, women’s equality, environmentalism and movements for peace and justice?

So tell your friends about this year-long exploration of humanism as a secular ethic of love and compassion, grounded in scientific thinking and an awareness of humanity as a creative force within the greater natural world.

The fall series dates are Sunday, September 9, Sunday, October 14, Sunday November 4, and Sunday, December 2.