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  2. How We Work
  3. Chapters

Chapters

Chapters are pretty nifty: they can get formal recognition and funding from educational institutions, they spread the load of the volunteer effort needed to hold programs, and they provide a built-in audience for low-key events when everyone is too busy to do anything elaborate—otherwise known as the "Netflix documentary and ordering of pizza" evening, or a happy hour debate at a local pub. And they make clear to everyone else where there are foci of Pugwash activity already in place.

But chapters require steady recruitment of new members, so let's face it: sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. We take them where we can get them, and we'll help you to organize one if you wish—but it shouldn't be seen as a requirement. We want chapters where their organizers see such work as a privilege and a pleasure, not a responsibility. 

So we recognize several different kinds of chapters:

  • Established: where there's the time and willingness to organize an old-school chapter and get recognition from an educational institution, excellent. (You have to let us know before you proceed with that, but we're very unlikely to tell you no.) 
  • Informal: where such recognition is difficult to get, beyond the time commitment of those involved, or simply not relevant (i.e., the Rotblat chapter of Northwest Springfield, or a monthly talk at your workplace), we'll recognize a chapter wherever we have members meeting semi-regularly and taking notes about what they're doing.
  • Startups: the core minimum to say "we have a chapter starting" at a given location or institution is one person willing to be the coordinator. Ideally, two or three. But it doesn't take much.
  • Virtual chapters: finally, in places where we don't have a chapter, we partner with other student organizations and nonprofits to co-sponsor their events that overlap with our mission. Find out more here. 

In short, where there are interested (and interesting) people meeting to talk or do Pugwash, we're happy to call you a chapter.

Advantages of being a chapter, as opposed to an ad hoc collection of individual members: by and large, you're free to hold your own events without supervision from other parts of Pugwash. We'll ask you to put your events into our online calendar for the record (and if you want to upload materials from the event, even better), and we might tap you on the shoulder if your events don't fit the Pugwash approach the way they should. But the main advantage is that Pugwash chapters are where Pugwash ideas spring forth, and our chapters are first in line for the resources that might make such ideas a reality—because chapters make both the work and the audience gathering easier.

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News and Updates

  • November 2020 newslettter
    3 months 2 weeks ago
  • Rotblat lecture excerpts for the Think We Must exhibit at Central Michigan University
    3 months 2 weeks ago
  • British Student Pugwash Ethical Science Festival
    4 months 2 weeks ago
  • Members-only blog posts and updates on our discussion site
    5 months 2 weeks ago
  • Where to find older posts
    6 months 19 hours ago

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Contact Us

700 12th Street Northwest, Suite 700-93149
Washington, DC 20005 USA

+1 (202) 794-6928

contact@studentpugwash.org

Student Pugwash USA is a 501(c)3 organization registered in Washington, DC, USA.

© 2020 Student Pugwash USA. Explicitly named authors of contributed portions of the site retain copyright to their work. All rights reserved.

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The Student Pugwash and Rotblat Society membership programs, and this website, were launched in Summer 2020, and both are still in beta while we figure out what works best for our membership, and how to leverage this site for those programs.

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