The Street Epistemology website received a fresh new look, we’ve started the process to test Module 7 from the SE Course, and people are starting to seek out SE experts.

9 May 2021

Street Epistemology Website

As more and more people begin to hear about SE, visits to the Street Epistemology Website will increase, so we updated the site to be more attractive, informative, and functional. It seems to look and work great on all kinds of platforms, but if you happen to notice any issues, let us know. Special thanks to Ben for migrating the SE website to this much nicer and professional-looking version.

SE Course Pilot Module Testing

Team members completed a draft of one of roughly 20 modules that make up the self-directed Street Epistemology Course. Volunteers can now sign up to take Module 7: Building and Maintaining Rapport and provide feedback to the team via post-completion survey and focus group session. This one module alone is over 30 pages, so you may begin to imagine how comprehensive the course will eventually become. As people begin to test this pilot module, sub-teams have formed to begin the process of writing the first three modules. You can review the entire list of Modules (and their respective topics within) here.

The SECD Project Team could still benefit from more Module Writers to add to this first wave of module teams. We are also looking for Module Leads to head up new teams. Folks familiar with teaching and instruction and some knowledge of SE would be helpful, but not essential.

The entire process of creating this course has been an incredible learning experience for me, and we’re still early in the process. I’ve worked on many projects before, but this one is unique. I found that my understanding and application of SE has improved greatly as a result of the intense discussions that can arise with fellow practitioners when trying to figure out how to teach these concepts to others.

The SE Website will have more details and instructions on how to become a tester, but I’ve included that text here below in the interest of time. Please read that and sign up now.

SE Workshop Success

Non-profit organization American Atheists and SEI worked with members from the SE community to put together seven simultaneous online workshops to teach people how to have more productive conversations as part of their Atheist April event series. The workshops ran for two consecutive Mondays during the month and was incredibly well-attended (nearly 300 registered) for the amount of notice and promotion provided. Workshops ran from beginner to advanced, and the feedback from attendees was positive. I’m incredibly grateful to all the volunteers from around the world who helped make this ambitious event a success.

Our team is now reviewing the videos from both nights to create a 1.5-hour long compilation video that will be uploaded to the AA YouTube channel and website. Individual workshop facilitators will also be taking clips of their own events and either uploading to their own media platforms or we’ll place them on the Street Epistemology YouTube channel. There were even some moments that could make for entertaining episodes on the SE Podcast, so keep a watch out for those in the coming weeks. All the facilitators knocked their workshops out of the park, and it was an incredible moment for me to witness personally. SE is going to be alright.

We’ve learned a lot from this event and developed several useful materials, which we’ll eventually make available as a resource on the SE Website so others can conduct SE workshops on their own. Street Epistemology International wants to get SE tools and understanding into the hands of everyone, regardless of where you stand on any particular issue, so if your organization is preparing an event and might want a workshop, please keep us in mind.

SE Research

In addition to our earlier initiative (a neuroscientist from an American university is looking for ways to begin a simple study on the SE approach and talks on that continue), others from the private and public sector have reached out, asking for ways we might be able to help with their projects. Being able to study SE in a rigorous way is a major goal of mine as Executive Director of this organization, and it’s encouraging to see people notice what we’re doing and are perhaps just as curious as we are to learn what might truly be happening in these interactions.

It could be prudent to consider adding someone to our board who has expertise with grant writing, proposals, research studies, etc. to help us with these things. There’s a high probability that Street Epistemology will be specifically mentioned in an upcoming book from a noted author in the “belief revision” space, and when that happens, we’ll need to be ready for heightened interest. If you know of anyone with a good understanding of SE and relevant skills in this area, please let me know.

SE Consulting?!

While the thought has crossed my mind many times before, two recent events started me wondering again about people who might one day turn SE into their profession. In the aforementioned workshops, activists from an anti-male-circumcision group joined, looking for ideas on how to have more effective conversations on the street. Another person emailed us directly, seemingly desperate to find someone willing to engage with their spouse on their alternative medicine side business.

This raises interesting scenarios and ethical considerations, since SE has almost exclusively been conducted by people without any financial motives involved, and a for-hire SE-er definitely changes things! Rather than ignore it or pretend it’s not a realistic option, I’d like to encourage people to begin talking about this. Maybe some good ideas or standards will come from it.

That’s my update. I’m getting back to more fun SE things.

P.S. Please donate if you haven’t already—it’s the main way we obtain funding to achieve these tasks and others.

Best regards,

Anthony Magnabosco
Executive Director, Street Epistemology International

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