Past speakers

Click here to see video

Next speakers

The U.S. & Transatlantic Relationships: They are A-Changin’

Sunday, May 4, 2025 - 10:00am

Steinar Bryn’, a lifelong leader in dialogue and reconciliation amidst conflict, joins us one last time at Friendly House, to address how recent radical changes in the U.S. government may affect his work, which is often informed and impacted by such actions. Since earning his BA, MA, and Ph.D. in American Studies, his work has created tangible change, such as the de-segregation of schools in Macedonia, and has earned him eight Nobel Peace Prize nominations, the Livia Award, and the Norwegian King’s Medal of Merit. Steinar, along with Vesna Bryn, M.D., Ph.D.—a researcher in genetics and autism —will stay after the program for informal conversation. Note: First Sunday programs are generally more musical and interactive, so perhaps more family-friendly, than our typical programs. (Music starts at 9:30)

Snake Venoms: From Deadly Toxins to Potential Therapeutics

Sunday, May 11, 2025 - 10:00am

Over Zoom, Dr. Steve Mackessy discusses the evolution and diversification of snake venoms and their effects, finishing with a discussion of how therapeutics can and will be developed from venom compounds. His lab at U. of Northern Colorado (UNC) investigates fundamental questions in biology using venomous snakes and their venoms as a basic platform. He has published over 200 scientific papers, book chapters and natural history notes, several books, and special editions of several journals, with research including many students, and colleagues from nine countries and other US universities. He has received UNC awards in research and teaching (biomedicine and vertebrate biology), and has a B.A. and M.A. in Biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University.

Legacy Lost: Passing Across the Color Line

Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 10:00am

Presented at Friendly House. Barbara Hilyer was raised as white on the west coast, learning in her 30s that her father came from an accomplished African American family. Finding his sister, she learned their story which inspired her research, while meeting a variety of people in Washington DC, Montgomery, Alabama and Tallahassee Florida who helped her recover what had been lost. Her book “Legacy Lost: Passing Across the Color Line” shares this testament to how individuals lived and thrived over centuries in America’s race conscious society, and how American history has never been good at truth telling. Race is deeply woven into the American fabric and yet we are currently witnessing the attempt to unravel who we are. Barbara Hilyer holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership, and taught social studies and US History in public schools in Ashland, Oregon, residing now in Portland.

The Neurobiology of Religious Experiences

Sunday, May 25, 2025 - 10:00am

Dr. Sarah Strand returns over Zoom to discuss the neurobiological basis of out-of-body experiences (OBEs), beginning with a description and testimony given by those who have had an OBE, then a brief tour of the brain and the neuroanatomy responsible for OBEs. While OBEs are not always interpreted as religious, there is a compelling neurobiological explanation for why they often are. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings on the role of religion in the lives of individuals as well as in our worldwide community. Dr. Strand is an associate lecturer in the Psychology Department at California State University, Sacramento. She received her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has been lecturing about religion and neuroscience since 2010. In 2019, she created a Psychology of Religion course for Sacramento State, and in 2022, extended her teaching to Finland and Sweden.