i Threshold
Seminar Schools The Agora
iThreshold
In development

The Agora.

An open seminar convened when participants gather. Read the text ahead of time. Show up. Sit. Speak when you have something to say.
WhereEarl Bales Park, or online over Google Meet
WhenAnnounced per session. Email to be notified.
CostFree. No registration.
FormatOne text. Everyone has read it. We talk.
Next session
To be announced.
Email me about the next session →or via RSS
Add the feed to your RSS reader. New sessions appear there when scheduled.
From Leizu Academy

Leizu does not offer paid trial classes. The Agora is the open seminar. Free. Open. Where prospective students see how the work happens.

About Leizu Academy →
From Seminar Schools

An open seminar within the practice. Each session has a text. The willingness to be wrong out loud is the ticket.

About Seminar Schools →
iiFormat
II. The format

A seminar held in person or online, open to anyone who reads ahead.

The Agora is a philosophy seminar modelled on the original sense of the word. A place where people come together to think out loud about what they have been reading.

The format is straightforward. A text is announced in advance. Anyone who wants to attend reads it before the gathering. We meet either in person at the Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre or online over Google Meet. We take turns reading passages aloud. We discuss.

iiiWhy
III. The philosophical commitment

A room of readers reaches an understanding that none of them could reach alone.

The philosophical commitment behind the Agora is that some kinds of understanding are collective. They are not private achievements reached through solitary effort. They are something a group can briefly arrive at together. The group has to have read the same text. The members have to be willing to speak honestly with each other.

The Greek word agora named the public space. Citizens gathered there to argue about what mattered. The seminar form inherits the same shape at smaller scale. A circle of readers. A common text. The willingness to be wrong out loud.

ivVenue
IV. Where

The Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre, Earl Bales Park, or online over Google Meet.

Each session is held either in person or online. The mode is announced with the date. When in person: Earl Bales Park sits in North York, Toronto, and the Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre is an open-air stage area within the park, with seating built into the landscape. Bring a cushion if the stone seats are unkind to you. When online: a Google Meet link is shared with everyone who has signed up.

Address
4169 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON
Nearest TTC
Sheppard West Station, then bus 7
Parking
Free park lot off Bathurst
vWhen
V. When

Each session is convened when participants gather. Dates announced ahead of time.

The Agora is convened as participants gather. There is no fixed cadence. Each session is announced ahead of time with the text, the date, and the mode. Email me to be added to the announcement list, or subscribe to the >rss_feed_ in any RSS reader.

viReading
VI. Reading

Each gathering has one text. Read it before you come.

Texts are chosen for portability rather than prestige. Something short enough to carry. Dense enough to talk about for two hours. Accessible enough that someone walking in for the first time can follow.

viiCost
VII. Cost

Free.

The Agora is hosted as part of the Seminar Schools practice. There is no admission. If the gatherings have been useful and you want to support upcoming ones, you can buy a coffee. Entirely optional. The seminar remains free either way.

viiiRules
VIII. The single rule

Read the text. Show up. Sit. Speak when you have something to say.

No registration is required. No introductions are needed. The seminar method does not depend on who is in the room. Only on whether the people in the room have read.

Writing

Pieces written from the Agora gatherings.

  • No pieces yet.
Read the florilegium →