Dale McGowan: Launching Ethical Education Programs

Dale McGowan, National Director of Ethical Education for the American Ethical Union, will speak on the core elements of an effective, relevant, and fun ethical education program at The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County. In addition to his current work at the AEU, McGowan is founding Executive Director of Foundation Beyond Belief, an organization that facilitates charitable giving and volunteering in the humanist and atheist community. He edited and co-authored Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, the first comprehensive resources for nonreligious parents, as well as Voices of Unbelief (2012), Atheism For Dummies (2013), and the forthcoming In Faith and in Doubt: How Religious Believers and Nonbelievers Can Create Strong Marriages and Loving Families (2014). His fiction includes the satirical novels Calling Bernadette’s Bluff and its sequel, Good Thunder. McGowan teaches nonreligious parenting seminars across the United States and serves as executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief, a humanist charitable foundation based in Atlanta. In 2008, McGowan was named Harvard Humanist of the Year for his work in nonreligious parenting education. He holds degrees in physical anthropology and music theory from UC Berkeley as well as a Ph.D. in music composition and theory from the University of Minnesota. He and his wife Becca, a second grade teacher, live near Atlanta with their three children. The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County is a progressive non-theist religion dedicated to living ethically in a complex world. Founded in l876 and established in Maplewood in l945, over the years the ethical culture movement (known as The American Ethical Union) has been instrumental in launching Planned Parenthood, the NAACP, Visiting Nurses, New York Settlement House, Fieldston School, and National Ethical Service at the UN. The Society began a long-running Ethics for Children program and most recently, Essex Time Exchange (a time bank facilitating the exchange of services) among other initiatives. The Maplewood Society was the first peace site in the country. Its motto is: to act so as to bring out the best in ourselves by bringing out the best in others.