Publications And Lectures

Short Biography:

An award-winning Philosophy teacher with over ten years experience in education, Kylie Sturgess has lectured on teaching critical thinking, feminism, new media and anomalistic beliefs worldwide. She is a member of the JREF Education Advisory Panel and regularly writes editorial for numerous publications and CSI’s ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’ online column. In 2011, she was the winner of the Best Individual Activist Award from the Secular Students Alliance. Kylie presented at and was a co-MC at the Global Atheist Convention, has conducted over a hundred podcast interviews and is the host of the Token Skeptic podcast.

Lengthy Biography (>200 words):

Kylie Sturgess is an award-winning educator, writer and researcher, specialising in the study of paranormal beliefs. She is the founder of Token Skeptic, the first solo-female skeptical podcast, which is dedicated to promoting critical thinking and science communication. Kylie was a Master of Ceremonies for the Global Atheist Convention in 2010 and writes the ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’ column for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry website.

She has contributed to a number of publications, including The Guardian, The UK Skeptic, Skeptical Inquirer, and features in the ‘Australian Book of Atheism’. In addition, she is a member of the JREF Education Advisory Panel and writes about science on her site PodBlack Cat. In 2011, she was the winner of the Best Individual Activist Award from the Secular Students Alliance.

When not teaching high-school Philosophy, studying Psychology or volunteering at a science centre in Western Australia, Kylie travels world-wide delivering entertaining presentations on education, feminism, atheism and science.

 

Speaking Engagements

Upcoming:

Global Atheist Convention – 2012

World Skeptics Convention – Berlin

Past:

  • 2011 – New Zealand Skeptics Convention – Christchurch, New Zealand. ‘Token Skepticism – Adventures in Skeptical Podcasting‘ and ‘Current developments and the future of scepticism?‘ with Prof. Martin Bridgstock.
  • Dragon*Con – Atlanta, USA. Presenter/panelist on at least six panels – ‘Educating/Debunking What’s the Difference?’; ‘The Truth About Conspiracy Theories’; ‘Skeptical Activism 201 – The Skeptics Strike Back’; ‘Very Superstitious…’; ‘Great Superhero Skeptics! The History (and Herstory)’; ‘Token Skeptic: LIVE!’
  • Melbourne – Monash University, RMIT and Melbourne University, on ‘Fleeced – The Rise And Fall of a Aries’ Belief In Astrology‘ , ‘Very Superstitious – From Crossing Fingers To Friday The Thirteenth‘ and ‘Feminine Intuition, Pseudoscience And How To Be More ‘Skep-chic’‘.
  • QED Convention – Manchester, UK. Reaching Out Reasonably’ – a panel with Eugenie Scott, Sile Lane, David Kirby, Kylie Sturgess and Janis Bennion.
  • TAMOz – Skeptic Zone podcast.
  • 2010 – Dragon*Con – Atlanta, USA.
    Presenter/interviewee on seven panels: Skeptically Speaking (Canadian Radio Show); Naturally Skeptical? The Psychology Behind Being a Skeptic (Skeptic Track); Podcasting Beyond Belief (Podcast Track); Skepticism and Education (Skeptic Track); Skeptic Zone (live podcast); Skepticism 2.0: Blogging (Skeptic Track); Women: Myths, Feminism And Skepticism (Skeptic Track).
  • 2010 - Atheist Convention Australia – ‘The Rise of Atheism’ – Melbourne, Victoria. Master of Ceremonies. Presented on Sex and Skepticism: a Study of Belief in Australian Women.
  • 2010 – GlydeIn Talk, Fremantle, Western Australia. Perceptions and Deceptions – Visual Illusions and Superstitions.
  • 2009 – Dragon*Con – Atlanta, USA.
    Presenter on six panels: Luck, Amazing Coincidences and Other Charm(ing) Delusions (Science Track); Skeptic Zone Podcast – LIVE! (Skeptic Track); Darwin’s Bulldogs – Teachers on the Front Line (Science Track);  Skeptic Psychology and in the Classroom (Skeptic Track); The Gender-Gap in Science – Myths and Realities (Science Track); Australian Skeptics Study Of Paranormal And Pseudoscience Beliefs (Science Track).
  • 2009 - Belief and Unbelief Conference - Murdoch University – Perth, Western Australia. Tuesday, July 14th. Brian Hill Lecture Theatre. Presentation on gender differences and the paranormal belief scales research.

Publications

Books

Sturgess, Kylie (2010). Atheism 2.0: Reflections On Teaching In Faith Schools. In Warren Bonett (Ed.), The Australian book of Atheism (pp. 169-176) Carlton North, Vic., Australia: Scribe Publications.
Sources: http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/6149 and href=”http://embiggenbooks.com/australian-book-of-atheism-the.html (book itself)

Journals and Magazines

  • Bridgstock, M. & Sturgess, K. (2011). Northern Exposure. The Australian Skeptic, 30(1), 26-30.
  • Bridgstock, M., Marais, & I, Sturgess, K. (2011). The structure of superstitious action – A further analysis of fresh evidence. Personality and Individual Differences.
  • Sturgess, K. (2010). Interview with Bruce M. Hood. UK Skeptic, 22(3), 27-31 and book review p.36.
  • Sturgess, K. (2010). Skeptics and Atheism – Review of the Global Atheist Convention. The Australian Skeptic, 30(2), 8-12.
  • Sturgess, K. (2010). Interview with Chris French. The Australian Skeptic, 30(2), 26-30.
  • Bridgstock, M., & Sturgess, K. (2010). BrainFood – Innovators in Skepticism, Reed Esau and Daniel Loxton. The Australian Skeptic, 30(2), 18-22.
  • Sturgess, K. (2010). Stephen Fry – Last Chance to Think. Skeptical Inquirer, 34(1), 46-48.
  • Sturgess, K. (2009). Scaremongering and the Streisand Effect – Dr Ben Goldacre and Skeptical Bloggers Respond to Jeni Barnett. The Australian Skeptic, 29(1), 52-53.
  • Sturgess, K. (2009). An Interview With Dr Caroline Watt. The Australian Skeptic, 29(1), 42-43.
  • Sturgess, K. (2009). An Introduction to Parapsychology – A Skeptic Gets Schooled. The Australian Skeptic, 29(1), 40-41.
  • Cavanagh, R., Kennish, P., & Sturgess, K. (2008). Development of a theoretical framework to inform measurement of secondary school student engagement with learning. AARE 2008 International Education Research Conference. Changing Climates: Education for Sustainable Futures, 30/11/2008. Brisbane: AARE Inc.
  • What Do I Do Next?: Leading Skeptics Discuss 105 Practical Ways to Promote Science and Advance Skepticism. Ed. Daniel Loxton, www.skeptic.com.
  • Sturgess, K. ‘Smart Bitches, Not Meerly Sex‘. in Jennifer Rohn (Ed.). (2008). The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2008.
  • Sturgess, K. (2007). Kicking ass and doing science: Skepticism in the English classroom. Lab Talk – Science Teachers Association of Victoria, (51)4.
  • Sturgess, K. (2007). MythBusting with the Skeptics. Journal of the Science Teachers Association of Western Australia, 43(1), 2.
  • Sturgess, K. (2007). Forums for Skepticism. The Australian Skeptic, 27(3), 18-22.
  • Sturgess, K. (2006). Critical Thinking in the Classroom. The Australian Skeptic, 26(4), 12-13. Sturgess, K. ‘Skepticism In The Classroom‘ in Knight, S. & Collins, C. (Eds.). (2005). Critical and Creative Thinking: The Australasian Journal of Philosophy in Education, 13(1).

Interviews:

ABC Darwin
Skeptically Speaking
Skepticality Podcast
Fremantle Radio
Curtin University Radio

Awards and Memberships

In 2011, I was awarded the Best Individual Activist Award from the Secular Student Alliance, for my activism, writing and lectures, as a university student. More details about my qualifications can be found on this page, which features the Australian Skeptics Critical Thinking Award (runner-up in 2006 and winning in 2007).

If you’re interested in the secondary school Philosophy and Ethics course run in Western Australia, you can find out more about it here and visit the official Western Australian Association for Philosophy in Schools site – it is greatly influenced by the Philosophy for Children program from Montclair State University, USA.

* Sturgess, K. “Smart Bitches, Not Meerly Sex”. in Jennifer Rohn (Ed.). (2008). The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2008.
Source One – http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-open-laboratory-the-best-science-writing-on-blogs-2007/2234830 and http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-open-laboratory-2008/4492337?productTrackingContext=search_results%2Fsearch_shelf%2Fcenter%2F2 (book itself)
* Sturgess, Kylie (2010). Atheism 2.0: Reflections On Teaching In Faith Schools. In Warren Bonett (Ed.), The Australian book of atheism (pp. 169-176) Carlton North, Vic., Australia: Scribe Publications.
Source Two – http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/6149 and http://embiggenbooks.com/australian-book-of-atheism-the.html (book itself)
* Bridgstock, M., Marais, & I, Sturgess, K. (2011). The structure of superstitious action – A further analysis of fresh evidence. Personality and Individual Differences.
Source Three – http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691000632X and http://www.uwa.edu.au/people/ida.marais (co-author).
* M.Ed Thesis – Anomalistic beliefs in Australians : a Rasch analysis. Kylie Sturgess, University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Education, 2011.
Source Four – http://onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?ct=search&fctN=facet_library&fctV=SCHOLARS&dscnt=1&scp.scps=scope%3A%28UWA%29%2Cprimo_central_multiple_fe&frbg&tab=default_tab&dstmp=1325367558701&srt=rank&mode=Basic&dum=true&tb=t&indx=1&vl%28freeText0%29=sturgess&vl%2830484824UI1%29=all_items&fn=search&vid=UWA&vl%282461738UI0%29=any
* Radio Appearances and Mentions.
Sources – http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/07/22/2960948.htm and http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/australian-skeptics-awards-2007/3290632 and http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/inconversation/barry-williams/3229912

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