"Ecohumanism--beyond Exploitation or Romanticism" is an outgrowth of a faculty colloquium at the Humanist Institute regarding how humanism fits in with global responsibility and Ecology.  Humanism has been criticized by some as being Anthropocentric or only having its focus on human welfare while ignoring animals, plants and the ecosphere.  How does a Humanist Ethic incorporate the tension between human and other values?  How do we build an ethic that is not built on "speciesism?"  How do we not succumb to an arrogance of humanism where  we think ourselves as the one and only high value and yet not fall into a self defeating, dangerous Romanticism?  Unitarians will recognize their seventh Principle here. 

Robert B. Tapp is a Faculty Chair and Dean Emeritus at The Humanist Institute.  He is Professor emeritus of Humanities, Religious Studies, and South Asian Studies at the University of Minnesota.  Prior appointments were at the University of Chicago, the University of California, the Scripps College, and the St. Lawrence University; and to the Executive Board, Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, Religion among the Unitarian Universalists; converts in the stepfathers' house, 1973. and is the editor of Multiculturalism, Ecohumanism, The Fate of Democracy (2005 forthcoming)

Robert Tapp received the 2005  Horace Mann Humanist Educator Award from AHA at the AHA Conference in Albuquerque in May.

Bob is one of the guiding lights in Humanism.  He was one of the first scholars of Eastern Religions and remains a world authority.  Being a Humanist and having taught at many of the premiere religious studies programs he offers a unique perspective.  As Dean of the Humanist Institute he has been instrumental in developing educational programs and serious scholarship for a new generation of Humanist Leaders.

For details contact Jack Sechrest at 630 554 8058 or Jack@Skognet.com