Programs


Founded in 2006 by Richard Dawkins, the foundation’s mission is to realize Richard’s vision to remove the influence of religion in science education and public policy, and eliminate the stigma that surrounds atheism and non-belief.

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Secular Rescue is a program of the Center for Inquiry designed to provide emergency assistance to writers, bloggers, publishers, and activists who face threats due to their beliefs or expressions regarding religion.

Generous public support has allowed the Center for Inquiry to assist more than two dozen individuals and their families in escaping to safety, either temporarily or permanently.

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The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) gives middle school teachers the tools they need to effectively teach evolution and answer its critics based on new Next Generation Science Standards.

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There are many parts of the world in which it is all too difficult to obtain books that explain and celebrate science written in the local language — particularly within more restrictive Islamic regimes.

With the Translations Project, the Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science have produced professionally translated versions of landmark books on science and nature, beginning with the works of Richard Dawkins himself. All made available free of charge.

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The Generation Skeptics Program aims to develop and foster an understanding of the world through inquiry-based learning. The program provides material to complement and enhance existing science and educational programs.

Quackwatch, which is operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D., is a network of web sites and mailing lists that focus on health frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. The main goal is to provide quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. To help visitors with special areas of interest, there are sites that cover autism, chiropractic, dentistry, multilevel marketing, and many other problematic areas.

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ScienceSaves seeks to reinforce the importance of science in our lives. The campaign tells the stories of how science has benefited human outcomes, unleashed human potential, transformed our lives, and how it offers humanity the tools to overcome the pressing issues of today, from the global pandemic to climate change. 

Originally called the Independent Investigations Group (IIG), the CFIIG was founded in 2000 to investigate wild claims and test those who made them.

The CFIIG is the largest paranormal investigation group in the world, with allied groups and field investigators in the United States, Canada, the UK, Italy, Australia, South Africa, and Germany. They’ve conducted many dozens of investigations and tested numerous paranormal claimants for the CFIIG Challenge.

While some people of the secular worldview do not see a need for rituals and ceremonies of any kind, many feel that having a way of marking life passages is important.  CFI feels that this is a personal choice and that secular ceremonies – and persons to conduct these ceremonies – should be available to those who want them.

The Center for Inquiry has created a Secular Celebrant Program to train and certify secular celebrants to perform weddings, memorials, and other “milestones of life” ceremonies.

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Center for Inquiry On Campus promotes and defends reason, science, and freedom of inquiry in education. We are committed to the enhancement of freethought, skepticism, secularism, humanism, philosophical naturalism, rationalism, and atheism on college and high school campuses throughout North America and around the world.

CFI On Campus provides leadership training, volunteer opportunities, internships, and educational resources for students through its network of international affiliates. We also coordinate national and global activism and service campaigns, and help students create welcoming spaces for those who exercise curiosity and a passion for evidence-based thinking.

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The Freethought Trail is a collection of locations in West-Central New York important to the history of freethought. Sites can be browsed by location, by name, by cause, and by type of site. Each site is described in words and in photographs, and directions are provided from one Freethought Trail location to another, so anyone who wants to can make their own path along the multitude of sites on the Trail!

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CFI Libraries

The Center for Inquiry Libraries (CFI Libraries) are located across from the North Campus of the University of Buffalo  in Amherst, NY. The Libraries are a program of the Center for Inquiry and have been around as long as both The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism. The Libraries consisted of small collections of books and materials housed in different areas of the building. In 1995, construction of a formal library was completed. After several years, more space was added, taking warehouse space and converting it into both a periodical room and a rare book room.

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