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SnowCon 2011 Webcast

The SnowCon 2011 Webcast is now available for purchase! The whole package of SnowCon 2011 lectures and workshops costs $100 ($40 for full-time students). Or you can order lectures à la carte for $30 each ($10 each for full-time students).

The full package of lectures and workshops recorded for the SnowCon 2011 Webcast includes:

• Diana Hsieh: "Cultivating Moral Character" (re-webcast, with slides)
• Paul Hsieh: "Is It Right to Bear Arms?" (re-recorded audio only, with slides)
• "Activism Panel" with Paul Hsieh and Ari Armstrong
• "Atlas Shrugged Reading Group Workshop" with Diana Hsieh and Jeremy Sheetz
• Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore: "Effective Communication: How Objectivists Can Use Positive Discipline Tools in Their Adult Relationships" (audio only)
• Diana Hsieh: "Live Rationally Selfish Webcast" (video, with the audio freely available via NoodleCast)
• Santiago Valenzuela: "Conservative Follies on Immigration"
• Piano Recital and Lecture: Hannah Krening: Malevolence and Benevolence in Beethoven's Piano Music

Further information on these lectures and workshops can be found below. Unless otherwise noted, the recordings include streaming video and downloadable audio files. You're welcome to share any streaming videos and audio files you purchase with members of your own household, but not with anyone one else. You cannot download the video, only the audio.

Attendees of SnowCon 2011 have access to the whole SnowCon 2011 Webcast (including the upcoming webcast on character) as part of their package. Also, contributors to Diana Hsieh's Rationally Selfish Webcast have access to Diana Hsieh's lecture on character, free of charge.

Purchase This Webcast

By purchasing some or all of the SnowCon 2011 Webcast, you'll enjoy full access to the streaming video for at least two months. You can also listen to or download audio recordings from the webcast during that time. You're welcome to share that streaming video or audio file with members of your own household, but not with anyone one else. You cannot download the video, only the audio.

To purchase the webcast, please fill out the form below, then send the amount due to Diana Hsieh (llc@dianahsieh.com), preferably via PayPal.

If you would prefer to pay by check or money order, please mail your payment Diana Hsieh; P.O. Box 851; Sedalia, CO 80135. Please write "SnowCon 2011 Webcast" in the memo field.

As always, if you're not satisfied with the quality of these lectures, Diana Hsieh will grant a refund (or void your registration), provided that you e-mail her to explain your reasons.

To give the webcast as a gift to someone outside your household, you need only purchase a copy for that purpose, then send that person the instructions for viewing it. You are not entitled to view the webcast unless you have purchased a copy for yourself.

For in-person group events such as Objectivist club meetings, one person in the group must purchase the webcast for the full price, then every person not of that household must pay $10 to attend the viewing. The extra people are not entitled to access the webcast after that group viewing. The main payment for the webcast must be made in advance of the viewing, but the $10 payments for each additional viewer can be paid after the event.

About the Lectures and Workshops

At SnowCon 2011 -- Front Range Objectivism's weekend conference on March 12th and 13th -- the following lectures and workshops were webcast live and recorded.

Saturday, March 12th

• Lecture: Diana Hsieh: "Cultivating Moral Character"

  Length: 75 minutes

  Formats: This lecture was not recorded at SnowCon due to a glitch with the webcasting software. It was re-webcast on April 13th. That webcast is is available in audio and video.

  In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of cultivating virtues by repeatedly doing certain actions in certain ways. However, he never clearly explains the relationship between a person's thoughts, emotions, actions, and character. So, we must ask: What is character? How is a person's character formed? And what is the role of character in a person's life? This lecture draws on Diana Hsieh's dissertation to answer these criticial practical questions of ethics.

  Diana Hsieh received her Ph.D in philosophy from University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. Her dissertation was on the "problem of moral luck," and it included a substantial defense of moral responsibility for character. She gave a course on "Luck in the Pursuit of Life" at OCON in 2010. She answers questions on practical ethics every Sunday morning in her live Rationally Selfish Webcast.

• Lecture: Paul Hsieh: "Is It Right to Bear Arms?"

  Length: 40 minutes

  Formats: This lecture was not recorded at SnowCon due to a glitch with the webcasting software. However, Paul Hsieh kindly re-recorded the audio of his lecture for listening with his slide presentation.

  Most Americans correctly believe (and the US Supreme Court recently affirmed), that firearms ownership is an individual right. Hence, many people are now asking whether and how they should exercise that right of owning and/or routinely carrying a firearm.

  Is routinely carrying a firearm appropriate only for those in law enforcement? Or are there practical, psychological, and even spiritual benefits to being an armed civilian? Can carrying a gun help shape your moral character for the better, in addition to keeping you safer against physical threats?

  This talk will cover these and related issues to help you decide for yourself, "Is it right to bear arms?"

  Formats: During this talk, I quote some non-Objectivist gun-rights advocates. This should not be construed as an endorsement of their broader political or philosophical views (some of which I strongly disagree with).

  Paul Hsieh, MD, has long been interested in the ethical and practical aspects of firearms ownership. However, he acknowledges that his wife Diana is the more accurate shot.

• Lecture: Joseph Collins: "The Greatness and Limitations of Publius"

  Formats: This lecture was not recorded at SnowCon due to a glitch with the webcasting software. It is not available.

• "Activism Panel" with Paul Hsieh and Ari Armstrong

  Length: 34 minutes

  Formats: This panel is available in audio and video.

  America faces many problems today, ranging from ever-tightening state control of the economy, to the rise of mysticism and irrationality in culture, to a suicidal foreign policy. Many individuals want to "get involved" in some way to oppose these bad trends and instead fight for positive alternatives. However, this task can often seem overwhelming.

  In this panel, Paul Hsieh and Ari Armstrong will discuss how to fight for your values through principled activism, practical tips on how to get started, how to be effective, how to stay motivated, how to incorporate activism into you own busy lives, and how to enjoy yourself in the process.

  Paul Hsieh, MD, is co-founder of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM). He has published numerous articles and op-eds on free-market health care reform in the Christian Science Monitor, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Denver Post, PajamasMedia, and The Objective Standard.

  Ari Armstrong, the 2009 winner of the Modern Day Sam Adams Award, has written for numerous publications. He moderates Liberty In the Books, a monthly discussion group, as well as a regional activist email group. Ari has created independent media campaigns and worked with nonprofits for political reforms.

• "Atlas Shrugged Reading Group Workshop" with Diana Hsieh and Jeremy Sheetz

  Length: 1 hour 46 minutes

  Formats: This workshop is available in audio and video.

  In 2008, Diana Hsieh created a working and successful model of a new kind of Objectivism study group: Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups (ASRGs). ASRGs consist of twenty weekly discussions for fans of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged to discuss the characters, events, and ideas of the novel in depth. The schedule, questions, and podcasts for these meetings can be found on Explore Atlas Shrugged. These groups serve as an excellent introduction to Objectivism for fans of Ayn Rand's fiction, and they can serve as the basis for founding an Objectivist community group.

  Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups are currently ongoing in Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, and elsewhere.

  In this workshop, Diana Hsieh and Jeremy Sheetz will lead a sample session with the audience (or a subset thereof), then discuss how you can create a successful Atlas Shrugged Reading Group in your city.

  The chapters of Atlas Shrugged to be discussed in the workshop are Part 1, Chapter 1 ("The Theme") and Part 3: Chapter 6 ("The Concerto of Deliverance"). Participants should re-read those chapters before the workshop.

  Diana Hsieh (Ph.D, Philosophy) oversees Front Range Objectivism's Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups, and is currently leading her third such group through the novel.

  Jeremy Sheetz is an Aerospace Production/Liaison Engineer with a BSME from University of Wisconsin Madison. Since leaving Denver for St. Louis, he's created two Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups in St. Louis, and he plans to start another as well as a monthly Objectivist discussion group soon.

• 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm: Keynote Lecture: Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore: "Effective Communication: How Objectivists Can Use Positive Discipline Tools in Their Adult Relationships"

  Length: 1 hour 35 minutes

  Formats: This lecture is available in audio, but not video.

  In our talk, we will present a set of parenting principles called "Positive Discipline" that is compatible with teaching our children to use the Objectivist virtues while behaving virtuously ourselves. Positive Discipline techniques include respectful communication, problem-solving skills, and limit-setting that is both kind and firm. Positive Discipline techniques do not include reward systems, praise, punishments, behavior modification techniques, emotional manipulation, shaming, or logical consequences.

  The focus of the talk will be on the communication and problem-solving tools used in Positive Discipline, tools that are essential not only to parenting but to all healthy relationships, at work, at home, with friends, with romantic partners, and on the phone with the customer service representative at your credit card company. The talk will be dynamic and interactive, and you will walk out with at least one new skill to try the next time you are in a difficult situation with your spouse, your coworker, or your child.

  Kelly Elmore and Jenn Casey have been talking and writing about Positive Discipline for years, and they practice it on their kids, their significant others, and each other. Last year, they launched Cultivating the Virtues, a business offering a podcast, a blog, and classes primarily for Objectivist parents. They also run the Atlanta Objectivist Society (ATLOS), are CrossFit buddies, and boss each other's children in their spare time.

  Kelly teaches gymnastics pedagogy to future P.E. teachers, studies rhetoric and composition in graduate school, homeschools seven-year-old Livy, and blogs at Reepicheep's Coracle. For fun, she reads Jane Austen, watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and diagrams sentences.

  Jenn homeschools eight-year-old Ryan, five-year-old Morgan, and two-year-old Sean, manages a rental property in North Georgia, and blogs at Rational Jenn. She is the administrator of the Objectivist Round Up blog carnival and moderates the OGrownups@OList.com discussion list. She has recently become obsessed with knitting, dreams of performing stand-up comedy, and has given up all hope that her house will ever be clean.

  Listen to Kelly Elmore and Jenn Casey's 11-minute podcast preview of this lecture:

  
  11:33 minutes

Sunday, March 13th

• Diana Hsieh: Live Rationally Selfish Webcast

  Length: 56 minutes

  Formats: The audio recording of this webcast is available for free via NoodleCast, but video is also available to any purchaser of the SnowCon 2011 Webcast.

  Every Sunday morning at 9 am, I answer questions on practical ethics and the principles of living well in a live Rationally Selfish Webcast with Ari Armstrong filling in for Greg Perkins. This episode will be broadcast over the web with its usual text-based chat, but we'll also have a live SnowCon audience! As usual, I've choosen six of the most popular and interesting questions to answer from my queue of questions on Idea Informer.

  Diana Hsieh received her Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. She began her Rationally Selfish Webcast in late October.

• Lecture: Santiago Valenzuela: "Conservative Follies on Immigration"

  Length: 50 minutes

  Formats: This lecture is available in audio and video.

  Conservatives routinely make arguments against the expansion of the immigration quota system. Many argue for the reduction of legal immigration combined with a strict crackdown on unauthorized immigrants in the USA. In this talk, I will expose the faulty philosophical roots of these notions. I will explain the facts about immigration's (legal and illegal) effect on the US economy. Lastly, I will present the proper direction for immigration reform.

  Santiago Valenzuela is an Objectivist immigration activist. He blogs regularly on the subject at Mother of Exiles. He is scheduled to appear in front of the Colorado State Legislature on immigration-related law soon.

• Piano Recital and Lecture: Hannah Krening: Malevolence and Benevolence in Beethoven's Piano Music

  Length: 1 hour 22 minutes

  Formats: Due to problems with the audio quality, Hannah Krening generously re-recorded this recital and lecture for audio and video. The audio quality on the new version is sufficient for appreciation and enjoyment, but not fabulous.

  Hannah Krening will give observations with musical illustrations on two contrasting piano works by Beethoven, looking at the musical content of each and showing how each expresses a sense of life. The first, Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, Op. 57, is known for its dark mood, and the second, his Waldstein Sonata, Op. 53, is known for its more sunny and positive nature. A closer looks reveals some surprises, particularly in the Appasionata. Focus will primarily be on the first movements of these two Sonatas, each of which will be looked at in some detail and then performed as a whole.

  Hannah Krening is a classical pianist and private piano teacher, with undergraduate and master's degrees in piano performance.

Contact Diana Hsieh

If you have any questions or comments about WebcastsOList Webcasts, please contact Diana Hsieh via e-mail to diana@dianahsieh.com.