Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Humanism and Its Aspirations
Upcoming Events
Humanist Explorations - Letter From an Unknown Woman
Saturday, October 4, 2025, 2:30PM
In the nineteen twenties and thirties, Stefan Zweig, a Viennese Jew, was a highly regarded and extremely popular author, with numerous works of both fiction and non-fiction. One of the world’s most widely translated writers, he completed his memoir The World of Yesterday in exile, having fled his beloved Europe in 1934 with the rise of Nazism. In 1942, heartbroken over the state of culture and civilization, he committed suicide with his wife in Brazil. Decades later, in 2014, the filmmaker Wes Anderson based his film The Grand Budapest Hotel on Zweig’s work. One of Zweig’s best-known works, Letter From an Unknown Woman, was dramatized in a film directed by Max Ophüls in 1948, starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan. This touching and heartrending tale is our presentation this month.
Join us for snacks and conversation, followed by the the film and then discussion.
Social Dinner
Monday, October 6, 2025, 7:00PM
Join us at Thai Stories for our monthly Social Dinner, and discuss a wide range of topics with like-minded people. (We’re…
Board Meeting
Sunday, October 19, 2025, 7:00PM
All members of the Humanist Association of Connecticut are welcome to attend. If you have something to bring to the board or wish …
Online event
Monthly Meeting
Monday, October 20, 2025, 6:30PM
This is our monthly meeting, held on the third Monday of the month at 700 Hartford Turnpike in Hamden.
We usually meet for coffee …
Northern Social Dinner
Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 7:00PM
We’ll be meeting again in Wallingford at Pacific Buffet & Grill (https://pacificbuffetandgrill.com/). (Buffet Prices:…
Book Discussions
"The Undertow" by Jeff Sharlet
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 2:30PM
Our book for October is The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War by journalist and author Jeff Sharlet.
Note: Date is 4th, rather than 3rd, Saturday.
From Amazon: An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies – sometimes realities – of violence.
Across the country, men “of God” glorify materialism, a gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war – a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation…Framing this dangerous vision, Sharlet remembers and celebrates the courage of those who sing a different song of community, and of an America long dreamt of and yet to be fully born, dedicated to justice and freedom for all.
“Jeff Sharlet’s startling, Didion-esque The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, with its CinemaScope landscapes and slightest of hopes, visits the dirt lanes and country rallies where Christian nationalism threatens.” – Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune
"Under Tiberius" by Nick Tosches
Saturday, November 15, 2025, 2:30PM
Our book for November is Under Tiberius by the late journalist and biographer Nick Tosches.
From Amazon:
[A] thrilling story of…
"A Libertarian Walks into a Bear" by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
Saturday, December 20, 2025, 2:30PM
Our book for December is A Libertarian Walks into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) by…
You can download the New Haven Free Public Library’s flyer for the 2024 book discussions at the Wilson Branch.
Our Calendar
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You can RSVP for most HAC events via meetup.com.
Newsletter
Titles selected for our book discussions can be found in most local libraries or ordered from bookstores such as Barnes and Noble.
HAC is a chapter of the American Humanist Association, a member of the Connecticut Coalition of Reason, and a UU Humanists local group.