Inquiring Minds: Notable Women Scientists Who Fled Nazi Germany and Overcame Further Obstacles 1 PM. When the Nazis forced Jewish people and women out of public service and university jobs, eminent physicists Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer and Hildegard Stücklen all lost their positions. They were forced to flee the country, but sexism meant finding a job abroad was virtually impossible. What would it take for them to make it out alive.

Author Olivia Campbell will recount the stories of four women scientists who were forced to flee Nazi Germany to stay alive, and then had to fight sexism in order to continue to thrive and make remarkable contributions to science. Campbell is the New York Times bestselling author of Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine and Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History. She is a regular contributor at National Geographic. Her work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Guardian, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, and History.com, among others.

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. All attendees must preregister.
Virtual Event!!

Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: Democracy and International Criminal Justice in the Fragile World of the Rule of Law 1 PM. Irish Mensa meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM Irish Time; a discussion then follows the lecture.

This lecture will examine the pros and cons of democracy in today's world, focusing on the importance of domestic and international rule of law to maintain democratic ideals, which are fragile in times of conflict. There will be examples given, highlighting the current War in Ukraine and the political situation in the United States, the influence of other players, and the legacy of the Cold War. Lastly, there will be an observation on the ways that the principal judicial organs operate, their challenges, and a prediction of their future. Suggestions will be provided as to how things might be contained by means of persuasive soft power.

Our speaker Sir Howard Andrew Clive Morrison was a Judge of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague, Netherlands from 2012 to 2021 and is currently the UK Independent Advisor to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, President of the Court of Appeal of the British Indian Ocean Territories and trains counter-terrorism judges and prosecutors in Iraq. He has lectured in international criminal and humanitarian law at some 25 universities worldwide.

For the full write-up and to join, visit the American Mensa event. One does not have to register early for the event—simply click on the Zoom link before the session starts (check back here for that link on Monday, September 14th).
Virtual Event!!

SEMM: Restoring Greatness of the Chinese People's Republic 6 PM. Since he became China's preeminent leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has pursued an agenda to make the country prosperous, strong, harmonious, and globally influential in advance of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic in 2049. This talk will explore specific policies that the CCP has implemented to achieve the “Chinese Dream”, including domestic efforts to eliminate poverty and construct a unified national identity, as well as global outreach initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative. It considers results to date and challenges that will impact China's drive to cement superpower status over the next quarter-century.

Wayne State historian Dr. Elizabeth Lublin will lead us in our examination of Xi Jinping and his goal of national rejuvenation with the aim of restoring China to its historical place as a great world power. A historian of modern Japan, Elizabeth Lublin taught courses on East Asia at Wayne State for over twenty years. Her early publications examined the reform activism of the Japan Women's Christian Temperance Union, and her current research explores Japan's tobacco and match industries. Altogether, she spent roughly seven years in Japan before joining the faculty at Wayne State in 2001. The highlight of those years was an audience with the Emperor and Empress. This privilege came with Lublin's receipt of a Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship. Dr. Lublin received a Ph.D. in Modern Japanese History from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. All attendees must preregister by visiting the SEMM Monthly Gathering page and choosing "September 20, 2025 5:30 pm" from the dropdown. Due to rising Zoom costs, SEMM asks for a $5 donation via PayPal , if you can afford it. Details on how to donate are on the American Mensa Events website.
Virtual Event!!

SFRM: Why the Scopes Trial (1925) is Still Relevant 4:30 PM. “Trial of the Century”: Tennessee vs. John T. Scopes. The first major sally against the teaching of evolution in the US, and, mostly because of the fictional play and movie Inherit the Wind, Scopes is wrongly perceived as a victory for evolution over the forces of obscurantism. The full story is much more complex and interesting, involving science, religion, law, education, politics, celebrities, modern communications, and the politicization of science.

Dr. Eugenie C. Scott is an expert on the creationism and evolution controversy and science denialism. The former director of the National Center for Science Education, she is the recipient of numerous awards from scientists and educators, and has been awarded ten honorary degrees. Asteroid 249540 Eugeniescott was named for her but she assures us it is not aimed at Earth.

For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs FB Group or the SFRM List of Presentations. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup for this event.
Virtual Event!!

Theodore Talk: No Way Out: Xi’s Determination to Re-take Taiwan and America’s Predicament 2:30 PM. Several years ago, a retiring US Indo-PACOM commander boldly stated that he believed China was increasingly inclined to invade Taiwan, notably in 2027 or earlier. Those kinds of statements, with that kind of specificity, are rare in Washington circles, so it gained a lot of attention. There has also been much talk about a couple of concepts that always seem to surround discussions about Taiwan and the larger Sino-America competition.

1. The two sides are destined for conflict, as captured in the term “Thucydides Trap,” advanced by Graham Allison. As the logic goes, this so-called “Thucydides Trap” will inevitably ensnare the two powers and global war will ensue, just as was the case with Athens and Sparta long ago. Of course, Allison himself insists that while the historical record is full of instances where similar situations arose and ended in conflict, there is nothing necessarily “inevitable” about war between Beijing and Washington.

2. “Peak China” which asserts China’s economic and military power is, or will soon be, at its apogee. That being the case, the argument is that China, seeing the writing on the wall, will be compelled to act before the correlation of forces begins to swing against it. But, as former Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA, Robert Gates, argues, neither theory is particularly convincing. First, there was nothing inevitable about WWI (the analogy most often invoked when referring to the current clash between the Chinese and Americans). Second, the Chinese military is, according to many in the know, far from ready for a major conflict. Thus, a direct Chinese attack on Taiwan, if it happens at all, is some years in the future, outside the 2027 timeframe. Unless Xi miscalculates—again.

Dr. John H. Modinger served in the U.S.A.F. for 25.5 years, flying the KC-135 Stratotanker (aerial refueler) and C-130 Hercules (intra-theater airlift) for the 1st half of his career. The 2nd half was largely spent in academia, more the result of a convenient and beneficial accident than by any design. His last active-duty assignment was as a Permanent Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is currently an Associate Professor at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College, where he has served for the past eight years.

See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. Even if you can’t attend the live Talk, provided you register, you will receive a link to a recording of the event. Closed captioning enabled.
Virtual Event!!