6th World Skeptics Congress, Berlin, May 18-20th, 2012

Van 18 tm 20 mei 2012 vindt het 6e Wereld Skeptici Congres plaats in Berlijn.

The congress deals with claims ranging from the paranormal and supernatural to fringe science issues and conspiration theories. Major topics at this event will be science and pseudoscience in education, addressing in particular anti-evolution claims and origin myths, and the problems of risk and benefit assessment, addressing alternative medicine. As a major highlight, we are proud to announce James “The Amazing” Randi as one of our very special guests!

De volledige lijst met sprekers kan je hier vinden.

Tickets zijn verkrijgbaar vanaf 270 euro voor het hele congres (110 voor een afzonderlijke dag) en kunnen hier geboekt worden. Per 15 april 2012 zal die prijs omhoog naar 310 euro.

Het programma ziet er zeer interessant uit:

Main program (Hotel Crowne Plaza)
Talks 30 min + 15 min discussion. All presentations will be simultaneously translated into German.

Friday, May 18^th
08:30 – 10:30     Registration
Welcome Coffee and Snacks
Magic Shop, Bookstore (open during all breaks)
09:30 – 10:30     Meet Leaders of the Skeptical Movement from Around the World
10:30 – 11:00     Opening (CSI, ECSO, GWUP)

Session 1: Creationism – A Challenge to Science (Chair:  Martin Mahner)
11:00 – 11:45     Eugenie Scott: Creationism in and Outside the US
11:45 – 12:30     Dittmar Graf: Attitudes and Knowledge About Evolution – A Comparison Between Germany and Turkey
12:30 – 02:00     Lunch

Session 2: Creationism in Islam (Chair: Eugenie Scott)
02:00 – 02:45     Johan Braeckman:  Creationism in Europe: Facts, Figures and Questions
02:45 – 03:30     Anila Asghar: Islam and Evolutionary Science: Contemporary Responses in Muslim
Communities and Cultures
03:30 – 04:00     Coffee break

Session 3: Pseudoscience in Education (Chair: Gábor Hraskó)
04:00 – 04:45     Gita Sahgal: Myths of Origin in the Classroom
04:45 – 05:30     Kylie Sturgess: Why Can’t a Teacher Be More Like a Scientist? – Pseudoscience In Education
05:30 – 06:15     Samantha Stein: Engaging Children in Science
06:30 – 08:00     Pre-Award Buffet (optional)
Award Session (Chairs: Barry Karr and Amardeo Sarma)
08:15 – 10:00     Edzard Ernst, Simon Singh, Wim Betz, Luigi Garlaschelli

Saturday, May 19^th
08:30 – 09:00     Registration

Session 4: Alternative Medicine 1 (Chair: Julia Offe)
09:00 – 09:45     Jürgen Windeler:  No Difference in Methods – Evaluating the Benefits of
‘Conventional’ and ‘Complementary’ Medicine
09:45 – 10:30     Gerd Antes: Interventions in Science-based Medicine – Requirements on Transparency
and Standardized Methods
10:30 – 11:00     Coffee break

Session 5: Alternative Medicine 2 (Chair: Wim Betz)
11:00 – 11:45     Harriet Hall: CAM: Fairy Tale Science and Placebo Medicine
11:45 – 12:30     Benedikt Matenaer: Acupuncture: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
12:30 – 02:00     Lunch

Session 6: (Ir)rationality  and Risk Assessment (Chair: Amardeo Sarma)
02:00 – 02:45     Walter Krämer: Irrational Behaviour Towards Risk
02:45 – 03:30     Holm Hümmler: Risk Perception and Risk Management in Companies and in Management Science
03:30 – 04:00     Coffee break

Session 7: Psychology and Pseudoscience (Chair: James Alcock)
04:00 – 04:45      Ray Hyman: Why Smart People Support Outrageous Claims
04:45 – 05:30      Chris French: Meaning and Randomness – On Seeing Things That Are Not There
05:30 – 06:15     Tomasz Witkowski: Pseudoscience in the Teaching of Psychology
07:30 – 11:00     Sightseeing boat trip through the city of Berlin, with dinner buffet (optional)

Sunday, May 20^th
08:45 – 09.15     Registration

Session 8: Keynote (Moderation: Massimo Polidoro)
09:15 – 10:30     James Randi: Keynote
10:30 – 11:00     Coffee break

Session 9: (Pseudo)Science and Society 1 (Chair: Barry Karr)
11:00 – 11:45      Sven Ove Hansson: Risk, Skeptics, and the Paid Pseudoskeptics
11:45 – 12:30      Chris Mooney: Understanding Politically Motivated Denial of Reality – the Global Warming
Debate and Beyond.
12:30 – 02:00     Lunch

Session 10: (Pseudo)Science and Society 2 (Chair: Simon Singh)
02:00 – 02:45     Rebecca Watson: N.N.
02:45 – 03:30     Simon Perry: Fighting Nonsense with Technology: A Guide to Highly Productive Skeptical Activism.
03:30 – 04:00     Coffee break

Session 11: Magical Good-bye
04:00 – 05:30     Massimo Polidoro (with J. Randi, R. Hyman): Houdini-Séance
05:30 – 05:45       Closing
After Conference Social Event (optional, not confirmed!)