About the Alliance

The Lilienfeld Alliance is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the purpose of which is to connect instructors who teach critical thinking at the college and university level, to advocate for course content that promotes rational skepticism, and to encourage further study of best practices in the pedagogy of teaching such courses.

Membership is open to those who teach in a college or university, or people retired from such work or in preparation for it. Please contact us for more information or to join this alliance. info@lilienfeldalliance.org

Photo of Natalia Pasternak, a woman with brown hair tied back, wearing a burgundy long-sleeve top, standing against a plain light background with her arms crossed and smiling.

Executive Board Members

Photo of Ray Hall, a smiling man with glasses, a bald head, and a beard, wearing a plaid shirt and tie, in front of a bookshelf filled with books.

Raymond Hall, PhD

Physics

California State University, Fresno

rhall@csufresno.edu 

Photo of Katie Dyer, a woman with gray hair and glasses, smiling, wearing a red top, sitting in an office with framed photos on the wall behind her.

Kathleen Dyer, PhD

Child and Family Science

California State University, Fresno

kdyer@mail.fresnostate.edu 

Photo of Rodney Schmaltz, a man with glasses and a goatee, wearing a gray shirt, standing outdoors in front of a gray stone wall and metal railing.

Rodney Schmaltz, PhD

Psychology

MacEwan University

rodney.schmaltz@macewan.ca

Natalia Pasternak Taschner, PhD

Science and Society Center

Columbia University

np2804@columia.edu 

History

The Lilienfeld Alliance formed as a result of professors meeting at TAM! and CSICon annual meetings. While higher education is not the focus of those meetings of skeptics, professors at the conferences tended to meet up and discuss their pedagogies. We met up informally in 2022 and 2023 at CSICon, then we had a more formal half-day meeting in 2024 at CSICon. In 2025, we met separately for the first time at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada, and we met in 2026 at the California State University, Fresno. In 2027, we will meet at Columbia University in New York City.

Stuart Vyse in the University Library at Fresno State

Kevin Folta

David Dunning

MBA Classroom at Fresno State

Elizabeth Loftus

Chris Labos

Jevin West

Executive Committee:

Katie Dyer, Natalia Pasternak, Ray Hall, Rod Schmaltz

Tom Gilovich, meeting room at MacEwan University

L-R: Guilherme Guzzo, Tom Gilovich, Natalia Pasternak, Ray Hall

Jevin West

Schedule for Lilicon 2025 conference, featuring sessions on rational skepticism in higher education, with keynote speakers Joe Schwarcz and Tom Gilovich, and various academic discussions, held on July 10 at MacEwan University.

Katie Dyer, Natalia Pasternak, Jevin West, Ray Hall, Chris Labos

Schedule for Lilicon 2025 conference on July 11 at MacEwan University, including sessions on skepticism, teaching, and critical thinking, with keynote speakers Chris Labos and Jevin West.

LiliCon 2024 - October 2024

CSICon Meeting - Las Vegas, NV

L-R: Katie Dyer, Andrea Roach, Christy Macias, Jacque Rousseau, Ray Hall, John Phister, Dean McKay, Natalia Pasternak, Anthony Bishara, Bill London, Leonard Costa, Taner Edis, Stuart Firestein, Guilherme Guzzo, Chris French, Kevin Folta, Rodney Schmaltz

Executive Committee:

Natalia Pasternak, Ray Hall, Katie Dyer, Rodney Schmaltz

October 2023 - CSICon Meeting - Las Vegas, NV

October 2022 - CSICon Meeting - Las Vegas, NV