Adrienne Hill
The Zone Giggler from Skookum Studios
Skepticamp October 27, 2025
MacEwan University
Building 7
Room 7-267
Join Us For This Free Event
Join us for our second QE II Skepticamp, starting at 2:00 pm on Monday, October 27, 2025. This fast-paced, free event features talks from university students and guest presenters about the Halloween-themed science of strange beliefs.​
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Scroll down for more details.
Afternoon Sessions
Student Presentations on the Science of Strange Beliefs
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Join us for an engaging series of short talks where psychology students explore why people believe weird things and what science can teach us about critical thinking. Each presentation is 12 minutes long and takes on a popular pseudoscientific or paranormal claim.
These presentations come from students enrolled in PSYC 441: Separating Sense from Nonsense: Applying Social Psychology to Promote Scientific Skepticism at MacEwan University. In this class, students take on the role of investigators by examining ghost stories, miracle cures, and viral trends to uncover the real psychology behind them. Each talk combines curiosity, evidence, and critical thinking as students explore big questions: Why do smart people believe strange things? What makes some ideas so resistant to evidence?
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Evening Sessions
Guest Speakers from Buffalo, Calgary and Edmonton continue the spooky themes
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After a quick dinner (not included and your choice), we return for longer talks featuring a Zoom presentation by Kenny, Biddle, the chief investigator at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Adrienne Hill from Calgary, and locals Kat McLeod and Rodney Scmaltz. There will be time for Q&A, and we anticipate the talks will conclude at 8:00 pm, allowing time for socializing.
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To learn more about our featured speaker, check out his Wikipedia page!
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Students
Present from 2:00 to 5:00 pm
Topics include:
A range of topics
TikTok Pseudoscience
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Viral “life hacks” and the modern misinformation pipeline
The Psychology of Magic
What magicians can teach us about how easily we’re fooled
Conspiracy Theories
Why we see hidden plots where none exist
Snake Oil Sales
How old-fashioned miracle cures became modern marketing
The Enfield Horror
How folklore and media turn monsters into legends
Magnet Therapy
From 19th-century “animal magnetism” to modern health fads
The Business of Haunted Tourism
How ghost tours and haunted hotels turn belief into profit
The Myth of Left-Brain/Right-Brain People
Why “learning styles” just won’t die
UFOs and UAPs
How perception and memory shape our sightings of the unknown
Astrology’s Gen Z Comeback
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Why star signs thrive on TikTok despite the evidence
Ufos, ghosts, magic and more
Guest Speakers
Presenting from 6:00 to 8:30 pm
Kenny Biddle
CFI Investigator
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Talk: Houdini’s Connection to the Winchester House
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Dr. Rodney Schmaltz
Professor of Psychology
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Talk: Manufacturing Fear: The Psychology of a Good Scare
Kat McLeod
Science communicator and Skeptic Zone Reporter
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Talk: What happened in Room 202: a ghost investigation
Adrienne Hill
Science communicator and Skeptic Zone Reporter
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Talk: The Truth About Sallie and the Mystery House that Never Was