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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 35 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, November 6

12:30-2:00PM PST

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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November 6 Reading:

Book Two - Chapter Two of Finnegans Wake by Joyce (page 297, Line 11)

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Schedule:

12:30 - 2:00PM PST

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Tutor:
Barry Rabe

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Location:

Online. Register to receive the link.

Online Seminar Series 
What is Life by Schrödinger

Saturday, November 9

12:00-2:00PM PST

What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell is a 1944 book written for the lay science reader by physicist Erwin Schrödinger - how can the events in space and time which take place within the spatial boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry? We invite you to join this monthly online series as we read this short but difficult book, one chapter at a time.

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November 9 Reading:

Chapter 4 - The Quantum-Mechanical Evidence

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Schedule:

12:00 - 2:00PM PST

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Tutor:

Andy Gilman

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Location:

Online. Register to receive the link.

Online Seminar Series

What About Democracy is Worth Saving? - Selections from de Tocqueville

Sunday, November 10

2:00-4:00PM PST

Alexis de Tocqueville's seminal work, Democracy in America, remains highly relevant for understanding ourselves and our institutions in the context of modern-day politics. We invite you to join this six-part online series, taking place about one-month apart. 

 

November 10 Reading:

Volume 2: Part 1 - Chapters 1, 2, 5, 10
Volume 2: Part 2 - Chapters 1, 2, 5, 8, 9

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Schedule:

2:00 - 4:00PM PST

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Tutor:

Karl Haigler

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Location:

Online. Register to receive the link.

Agora Foundation Interview with the Ojai Historic Preservation Commission - Part II
September 2024

 

WE SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FOR THE AMBIENT SOUND - Turning on captions is highly recommended. Hopefully you will find that the content is worth the distraction. At the end of May, 2024, Andy Gilman of the Agora Foundation interviewed Craig Walker, Gina McHatton, and Brian Aikens of the Ojai Historic Preservation Commission. The interview is split into two parts, this video being the second. The conversation ranges from Communications, State Codes, Ojai History, Striving for Balance, and Preservation as Adaptive Reuse. - Click 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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