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Students - make a 1 min film and win £9K

Just receievd this as an author of a OUP Very Short Introduction book (Humanism).

Dear All

As a Very Short Introductions author, I am writing to let you know of a large UK VSI competition in partnership with the Guardian newspaper.

As part of a wider campaign to promote the series to students, this ‘Very Short Film’ competition carries an eye-catching £9,000 first prize, which will pay the winning student’s tuition fees for a year. Students will be asked to produce a one-minute film about a subject close to their hearts. From 1st October through to Christmas, the Guardian will be showcasing the competition and video entries on its recently launched Guardian Students site. The closing date is 31st December, with a live final in March 2013 to be held in London.

More information can be found here: www.guardian.co.uk/students/veryshortfilm

As many of you are lecturers, teachers, and professors in your fields, we felt it would be a good idea to inform as many of our VSI authors as possible so we can spread the word. This is a brilliant opportunity to promote the series, and the publicity surrounding the competition will be a great platform for the books. If you would like to support this exciting campaign, please do get in touch for further information. We can send you a link to add to your email signature and we also have some leaflets and posters available.

Kind regards



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Comments

This is a great project! When is the announcement of the winner?
Anonymous said…
THE MAYAN SKEPTIC APOCALPSE 12/21/2012

we really enjoy your atheist forum

do a search on youtube for skepticality

a little souvenir

it is the video about the PIGS
Anonymous said…
sorry for the typos... hard to type when in RAGE

THE MAYAN SKEPTIC APOCALYPSE 12/21/2012

we really enjoy your atheist forum

do a search on youtube for skepticality

a little souvenir

it is the video about the PIGS
Glenn Russell said…
Hello Stephen,
I thought you might enjoy my commentary on the Principal Doctrines of Epicurus. Here are the first two:

Preface

I have fallen in love with Epicurus and the philosophy of Epicureanism. I say this after studying philosophy and practicing meditation for over forty years. There are a number of key ideas and insights making Epicurus something of a sagacious elder brother for me, albeit an elder brother from the ancient Greek world. One such insight is that anxiety, worry, nervousness, and fear poison our experience of life. No matter how beautiful or pleasant our surroundings, if we are anxious, on edge, dissatisfied with who we are or what we have, brooding about the past or fretting about the future, we are trapped in a kind of self-torture chamber. What is needed to release us from our torment? A philosophy giving us an appreciation and understanding of our life as embodied beings. There is no better foundation for living a free, pleasurable, and fruitful life than the Principal Doctrines of Epicurus. With this in mind, I offer my concise commentary as a guide and a friend to anybody wishing to live at ease and with Epicurean wisdom in the 21st century.

1. A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness.
According to Epicurus, any God (a blessed and indestructible being) is too pure, too blissful to feel in a limited human or earthly way. If you had the misfortune of being raised in a religion where children are told to fear an angry, jealous God, than this is something you must outgrow if you want to live at ease as an Epicurean. Perhaps a good first step is to simply realize such a religion is one of thousands of religions throughout human prehistory and history, and many religions view God in ways other than fear. Another suggestion would be to seek out likeminded friends where you can talk through emotional issues caused by religious teachings. Since emotions and memory are so much part of our physical body, start to exercise in ways that you enjoy and find relaxing – yoga, dance, jogging or walking. Appreciate the fact that you are a sensitive, aesthetic embodied being. Live in joy, joy as an ongoing experience. There is nothing more pleasurable than a life lived in joy.
2. Death is nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to us.
Do you get the willies when something reminds you of death? When somebody talks about death, do you feel like jumping up and running out of the room in a panic? If so, then you don’t need a doctor, you need an Epicurean philosopher. Epicurus encourages us to realize death is a complete dissolution where you experience no sensation, not even the tiniest pressure on your skin. According to Epicurus, death is a complete blank – no forms, no awareness, no sensation. In a very real sense, we have this experience every night when we enter the deep sleep state. So, please see death as a close cousin to sleep. You don’t have anxiety or misgivings about entering a deep, dreamless sleep, so you shouldn’t be bothered by the idea of death. To put not only your mind, but also your body in harmony with this view of death, it would be wise to practice meditation and the practice of sleep done by the yogis of India, which is called yoga nidra -- very restful, very calming, giving you a deep acceptance of who you are and your own mortality. With even a small amount of practice, you will come to live in tranquility and death will be nothing to you.

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