Guest Speaker: Professor Christopher French

Drinking Skeptically

Guest Speaker: Professor Christopher French

Wednesday, August 3rd, 7:00 p.m

Jackie’s Restaurant

8081 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD (map)

We are having our Silver Spring Drinking Skeptically one week early in August. Why? Because we're going to have a special guest speaker! Professor Christopher French will be presenting "Weird Science: An Introduction to Anomalistic Psychology". This promises to be an enjoyable evening of learning and socializing. We hope that some of our DC and Virginia skeptics will make the trek to Silver Spring for this event!

Here is a summary of the talk, as well as a bio for Professor French:

The Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit (APRU) was set up by Professor Chris French in 2000 in the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Anomalistic psychology may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, including (but not restricted to) those that are often labeled "paranormal". Over the last decade, members of the APRU have investigated a wide range of weird and wonderful topics, including alien contact experiences, sleep paralysis, haunted houses, dowsing, and telepathy. Many paranormal claims have been scientifically tested under properly controlled conditions along the way. This overview will present some of the results of such investigations.

Professor Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, as well as being a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and a member of the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims, as well as writing for the Guardian's online science pages. For more than a decade, he edited The Skeptic and his latest book, co-edited with Wendy Grossman, is Why Statues Weep: The Best of The Skeptic (London: The Philosophy Press).