Dr. Michael Shermer

The Distinguished Speaker Series comes to an end with author Dr. Michael Shermer, who will present “Why People Believe Weird Things.”

Dr. Shermer’s lecture is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 15 at the college’s Spring Creek Campus Conference Center.

Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the executive director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at the California Institute of Technology.

He is the co-host and producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, “Exploring the Unknown.” Dr. Shermer is the author of Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design, Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown, The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Rule and others. He has appeared on such shows as 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, Tom Snyder, Oprah and others including documentaries aired on PBS, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, The Science Channel and The Learning Channel.

“Why People Believe Weird Things” delves into the reasoning behind the belief in UFO abductions, mind reading, reincarnation, urban legends and “scientific creationism.” Based on his bestselling book, the presentation focuses on “pseudoscience” and how it relates to the series’ theme, “knowledge.” 

A Conversation with Dr. Michael Shermer will be held from 10-10:50 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 16 in the conference center.

Both events are free and open to the public. The Conversation event has limited seating.

The Distinguished Speaker Series is sponsored by the Collin College Center for Scholarly and Civic Engagement.

For more information about the Distinguished Speaker Series, contact Regina Hughes, director, at rhughes@ccccd.edu or call 972.881.5900. Or visit the series webpage at www.ccccd.edu/speakerseries.