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Upcoming Online Events

The Agora Foundation is a nonsectarian 501(c)3 non-profit endeavor, providing great books seminars and other educational opportunities to those who are busy with careers, families, and daily responsibilities yet are seeking to further their education. The goal of these offerings is to provide an understanding of the ideas that shape civilizations and to promote civil discourse on complicated subjects. The Agora Foundation has facilitated over 1,000 great books seminars and teacher trainings, covering a wide variety of topics including literature, philosophy, political science, theology, history, art, psychology, and more, featuring ancient and modern texts from around the world. In addition to seminars, since 2014 Agora has produced 31 panels, gatherings, and video interviews, promoting civil discourse on controversial and complicated subjects. Hundreds of these events can be freely viewed and listened to on this website.

 

Generously funded by The Ahmanson Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Shanbrom Family Foundation, the Ventura County Community Foundation, the WRG Foundation, the Constance Eaton and William Hart Fund, the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Ojai, CIty of Ojai, and private donations, the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program provides training to high school teachers in this engaging approach to learning, and The Ojai Chautauqua provides panels promoting civil discourse on controversial and complicated subjects. 

Upcoming Regular Events

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Online Seminar Series

Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

Wednesday, April 17

12:30-2:00PM PDT

A story with no real beginning or end, the work has come to assume a preeminent place in English literature.Published in 1939, the book would take Joyce two decades to complete. Join us as we read this text a few pages at a time, every other Wednesday afternoon.

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April 17 Reading:

Book Two - Chapter One of Finnegans Wake by Joyce (page 231, Line 28)

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Schedule:

12:30-2:00PM PDT

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Tutor:

Barry rabe

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Online Format:

Register to receive the link

Online Seminar Series

The Romantic I/Eye

Saturday, April 20

12:00-2:00PM PDT

A pan-European and American phenomenon, Romanticism influenced Western notions about the individual as well as humans' relationship to nature.This series of online seminars addresses both themes through a variety of genres and nationalities, most of which texts are written in the first person. 

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April 20 Reading:

Foscolo — The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis

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Schedule:

12:00-2:00PM PDT

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Tutors:

Jordan Hoffman and Eric Stull

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Online Format:

Register to receive the link

Online Seminar Series

The Laws by Plato

Sunday, April 21

12:00-2:00PM PDT

The Laws is Plato's last and longest dialogue. The conversation depicted in the work's twelve books begins with the question of who is given the credit for establishing a civilization's laws. We invite you to join us as we read this often overlooked text, one section at a time, in monthly online events. 

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April 21 Reading:

Book 3 - Sections 4-5: The Lessons of History (pages 73-111, 676a-702e)

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Schedule:

12:00-2:00PM PDT

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Tutor:

David Appleby

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Online Format:

Register to receive the link

Agora Foundation Interview with City Manager Ben Harvey
March 6, 2024

 

On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Tom Krause and Andy Gilman of the Agora Foundation met with Ben Harvey, Ojai’s new City Manager. The conversation ranged from the role and best practices of a city manager to the characteristics of a well-functioning city council. Topics included:

- Priorities on capital improvement and land use,

- Ojai’ similarities with other tourist cities in California,

- How to think about visitors and new residents,

- How can a balance of priorities and pressures be achieved,

- How do we address a middle class under cost-of-living pressures,

- Legal expenses in Ojai,

- The health of our city budget,

- What Ben hopes to accomplish in 2024.

Andy Gilman - Motivation for the Agora Foundation - Interview with Andra Belknap
Fall 2023

 

In fall 2023, Andra Belknap, writer, thinker, and principal of This Little Valley met with Andy Gilman, director of the Agora Foundation. The conversation ranged from curriculum, careful reading, civil discourse, and much more. View more topics here.

An Introduction to The Agora Foundation. What is liberal education? 

An Introduction to The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua Panels.

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