Reason Weeks
AHS Reason Weeks are held at member societies for numerous reasons and under different names. They can serve to raise awareness of social, political and moral issues, recruit and retain members to the society, and generate publicity for the society or for their campaigns. The week long events tend to involve a combination of lectures, debates, panel discussions, workshops, performances, and film showings. Events tend to be free of charge, open to the public, and include catered elements. For advice on how to run your own week, see our guide.
Success Stories
Leeds Atheist Society, 2010
Leeds Atheist Society has hosted four Reason Weeks in its four years of existence, reaching thousands of students. During the weeks a large marquee is erected in the centre of campus. For the past two years the marquee has been open 24/7 and much of the week was streamed live over the internet. During the day the marquee is set up café; style complete with daffodils and table service. This allows a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere for discussion. People can just pop in between lectures for a chat, enjoy the free refreshments and read our displays. At lunchtimes and in the evening the marquee is set up lecture style. Previous events have included karaoke, live bands and gambling! The most controversial of our events have been: a talk on how to have better sex, Stories for Stories where we offered to exchange religious texts for fairytales, and our Flying Spaghetti Monster church service. Other highlights have been our annual debate with Christian Union, debates with Islamic societies, Make Your Own God out of craft material, and speaker Paula Kirby (Richard Dawkins Foundation).
Southampton Atheist Society, 2009
Southampton University Atheist Society hosted our second Reason Week in November 2009. It was as promised a great week of films, talks and comedy. We held 9 events over 5 days. We kick-started the week with a lunchtime YouTube party showing our favourite atheist videos, followed by an evening of stand-up comedy. Tuesday began with the classic Dawkins documentary 'Nice Guys Finish First' followed by an evening talk by David Bothwell of South Hampshire Humanists entitled 'What is Humanism?' Wednesday was our science day with a showing of 'The Irrational Health Service' and a talk from Dr Phil Utley entitled 'Science - the Method, the Media and the Message'. Thursday saw the showing of Jonathan Miller's 'Brief History of Disbelief' and the final talk of the week by Prof Peter Atkins entitled 'The Conflict of Science and Religion' our best attended event of the week. To cap off the week's events we held a good old fashioned Pub Crawl ending at the Atheist Soc favourite, The Hobbit.
Oxford Atheists, Secularists and Humanists, 2010
Think Week 2010 was a joint venture between AHS members Oxford Atheist Society and Oxford Secular Society, and town societies Oxford Humanists, Oxford Sea of Faith and Oxford Skeptics in the Pub. There were 15 events across the 7 days in a variety of venues around Oxford, drawing an average attendance of over 40. Most events were speaker events, and speakers included Stephen Law, Peter Atkins, Paul Pettinger, Allan Hayes, Andrew Copson, Marayam Namazie, Julian Baggini, Samantha Stein, Ken Smith and Evan Harris. Cultural events included comedian Iszi Lawrence, a poetry workshop and a performance by the BHA Choir. The aim of this thought provoking week was to expose the type of discussion and debate that the 5 societies offer to the wider Oxford community of Oxford city, Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University.