The Scotland Dimension

Humanism in Scotland 

A high proportion of Scotland’s population are secular (a round a third of Scots have officially declared no allegiance to any religion). And in Scotland, Humanism is becoming a popular choice for a life-stance. This growing market needs resources and services. The Academy intends to be a resource centre for Humanism and Humanists disseminating educational literature and services.

Scotland is also served with several other secular and Humanist bodies as well as many individuals who work independently of any organisation. Some specialise in political manoeuvring while others concentrate on providing Humanist ceremonies, and some undertake a mixture of all these. The educational focus of the Academy aims to complement these activities and hopes that we can serve the growing population of secular and Humanist activists throughout the country.

In its long-term plans, the Academy has formulated a comprehensive educational programme but to achieve the most effective and successful outcomes, it has decided to focus on several key areas at a time. Working incrementally in this way gives us the best chance of realizing our ambition of raising the profile of Humanism in Scotland.

This past year our courses in Humanism for schools have been our top priority, but this project is nearing completion with the courses available to school teachers from August 2008. Consequently, the Academy will shortly be moving on to its next project. In the meantime, this successful initiative means that for the first time in our educational history, pupils investigating morality can do so from an entirely secular perspective.

The name of the Humanist Academy reflects an amalgam of traditions. First, our classical banner pays homage to Plato’s original Greek establishment (H Akademia) formed on the outskirts of ancient Athens as a school of philosophy, a place of refuge for, and dissemination of, critical thought. The name also incorporates the tradition of an institution that bestows honorary membership on selected distinguished thinkers – hence our list of Honorary Associates. Finally, it encapsulates the long tradition in Scotland (but not in England) of naming schools of both state and private status (sometimes known elsewhere as High Schools) as ‘academies’ which often, but not always, specialise in a particular subject matter. In Scotland, there are at least 150 long-established schools that have the name ‘academy’ attached to them, as well as specialised institutions like the Royal Academy of Music and Drama and the Badminton Academy. So the Humanist Academy fits nicely into this array of Scottish educational establishments.