Public Appearances

Below is a list of public talks and appearances, past and future. If you get a chance, please join me for a discussion. I love meeting fellow skeptics and science-minded people!

If you would like to book me for a talk, please email me (sheldon@sheldonhelms.com), or use the form on the Contact page. During the regular school year, my availability is generally limited to local venues on the weekends, but summer and winter breaks allow for more distant travel and a more flexible schedule.

My Press Kit for Straight Talk About Gay Conversion can be downloaded here as a pdf.

DETAILS ON MOST POPULAR SCIENCE TALKS:

straight talk about Gay Conversion (1 hour OR 30 minutes)

In this one-hour talk, I provide a detailed examination of both religions and pseudoscientific efforts to alter sexual orientation. A brief history of cultural attitudes toward gender and sexuality is followed by a more in-depth analysis of Exodus International, the world's largest religiously motivated gay-to-straight organization, and The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a well funded pseudo-psychology group that utilizes aversion therapy, shame counseling, as well as a number of bizarre and ineffective behavior modification techniques.

Counseling quackery: Pseudoscience in clinical psychology (1 hour)

Like any scientific field, the science of psychology is rife with examples of pseudoscientific thinking and practices. This one-hour talk is organized into an examination of three areas of psychological pseudoscience: 1) fringe psychotherapies; 2) pseudoscience in mainstream psychology; and 3) the pseudoscience of bad teaching techniques. Using video clips and everyday examples, this talk is as accessible to the general public as it is to students of psychology.

Teaching Critical Thinking (10 -15 minutes)

The subject of critical thinking is a popular one among educators, skeptics, scientists, and the general public. In this 10-minute discussion starter, I present a brief explanation of why critical thinking is "unnatural" for humans, a working definition of the term "critical thinking," and invite audience participation in a discussion of what techniques work to teach it.

UPCOMING TALKS/APPEARANCES

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - LogiCal Conference 2018

October 9th - 11th, 2018 - Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Los Angeles, CA

PAST TALKS/APPEARANCES

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - CSI Conference 2017

October 26th - 29th, 2017 - Excalibur Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Counseling Quackery: Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology - Atheist Community of San Jose

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014 - 7:00 pm, Harry's Hoffbrau, San Jose, CA

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - Ohlone College Science Seminar

Friday, November 14th, 2014 - 12:00 noon, 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA

Teaching "Skepticism 101"  (at College) - Sunday Assembly: Silicon Valley

Sunday, October 12th, 2014 - 11:00 am, San Jose Women's Club 75 South 11th St, San Jose, CA

Counseling Quackery: Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology - Bay Area Atheists/Agnostics

Saturday, September 13th, 2014 - 3:00 pm, Women's Building: Audre Lorde Room, San Francisco, CA

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - Commonwealth Club of San Francisco

Monday, July 28th, 2014 - 5:15 pm, 595 Market St, San Francisco, CA

Teaching "Skepticism 101"  (at College) - The Amazing Meeting 2014

Thursday, July 10th, 2014 - 10:45 am, SouthPoint Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Panel: "Junk Science, Neuroscience, and Pseudoscience"  - The Amazing Meeting 2014 (video below)

Saturday, July 12th, 2014 - 3:00 pm, SouthPoint Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Counseling Quackery: Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology - SkeptiCal 2014 Conference on Science and Skepticism

Saturday, May 31st, 2014 - 9:00 am, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland, CA

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - Sacramento Area Skeptics

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014 - 6:00 pm,  Arthur F. Turner Community Library, Sacramento, CA

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - Bay Area Atheists/Agnostics

Sunday, September 7th, 2013 - 3:00 pm, Women's Building: Audre Lorde Room, San Francisco, CA

Straight Talk About Gay Conversion - Bay Area Skeptics

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012, 7:30 pm, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, CA

References

CLICK HERE to download references for my Psychological Pseudoscience talk.