How Does it Work?
Convenient and Accessible: The sessions are entirely online, allowing you to participate from the comfort of your home.
Thought-Provoking Preparation: Participants receive a short reading, film, or other resource to review ahead of time (no more than 1-2 hours of preparation).
Expertly Facilitated Discussions: Each session is led by a skilled facilitator trained to guide meaningful and inclusive conversations that respect and value all voices.
Bring a Guest: Forum residents can invite one person at no cost—whether a family member, friend, or community member—to join them, creating a meaningful intergenerational experience.
Individual Philosophical Coaching: Each participant also receives a one-on-one philosophical coaching session to dive deeper into their reflections. These sessions are designed to offer clarity, fresh perspectives, and personalized insights based on the enduring questions explored in the workshop or the participant’s own life experiences.
Session Dates & Times?
Feb 22, Mar 23, Apr 12, Apr 27, May 04
4:00-5:30PM PST
Group size? Max. 10
Start Date? February 22, 2025
Format? This program is online. It will also be offered in-person in Portland and cities across the U.S. in Summer 2025.
Workshop FAQ's
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Workshop FAQ's

Start Date? February 22, 2025
Session Dates & Times?
Feb 22, Mar 23, Apr 12, Apr 27, May 04
4:00-5:30PM PST
Group size? Max. 10
Format? This program is online. It will also be offered in-person in Portland and cities across the U.S. in Summer 2025.
Three Group Sessions
This workshop includes three group sessions. Before we begin, the group will rank and select the enduring questions that matter most to them.
Each session is a guided conversation built around a question and sparked by a story, essay, poem, or film. Sessions are designed to spark deep thinking, meaningful dialogue, and new perspectives.
Ongoing Learning & Connection
Stay connected between sessions through a private discussion group and curated resources—essays, articles, and more—to deepen exploration and keep the conversation going.
Ongoing Learning & Connection
Stay connected between sessions through a private discussion group and curated resources—essays, articles, and more—to deepen exploration and keep the conversation going.
One Philosophical Coaching Sessions
Participants receive a one-on-one philosophical coaching sessions for deeper reflection, clarity, and fresh perspectives—exploring questions from the workshop or their life experiences.
The Ones Who Stay and Fight by N.K. Jemisin & The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 2 hoursHer (2013) directed by Spike Jonze Short story: The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster (1909) ⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 3 hours
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy & The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf ⏱️ Time Commitment: Approx. 2 hours
All About Love by bell hooks (selected chapters) ⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 2 hours
Erich Fromm's book To Have or To Be? (selected chapters) The Lottery Ticket by Anton Chekhov (short story), ⏱️ Preparation Approx. 2-3 hours
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville, ⏱️ Preparation time: 2 hours
What is Freedom? Hannah Arendt (essay) & Poems by Langston Hughes: Freedom's Plow, Democracy, Harlem [Dream Deferred]
⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 2 hours
The Other by Jorge Luis Borges (short story) Speak, Memory by Oliver Sacks (essay) & On Aging poem by Maya Angelou, ⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 1.5 hours
Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self by Alice Walker The Nose by Nikolai Gogol, ⏱️ Total Time to Read Approx. 2 hours
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, selected chapters, ⏱️Preparation time: Approx. 2 hour
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates, ⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 3 hours
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film) The Evening and the Morning and the Night by Octavia Butler (short story) ⏱️ Preparation: Approx. 3 hours
Aristotle on Friendship (from Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII & IX) Atlantic Article: What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life? ⏱️ 1-2 hours of preparation (~25-30 pages of reading)
Four Group Sessions
This workshop includes four group sessions over four months. Before we begin, the group will rank and select the enduring questions that matter most to them.
Each session is a guided conversation built around a question and sparked by a story, essay, poem, or film. Sessions are designed to spark deep thinking, meaningful dialogue, and new perspectives.
Ongoing Learning & Connection
Stay connected between sessions through a private discussion group and curated resources—essays, articles, and more—to deepen exploration and keep the conversation going.
Two Individual Philosophical Coaching Sessions
Participants receive two one-on-one philosophical coaching sessions for deeper reflection, clarity, and fresh perspectives—exploring questions from the workshop or their life experiences.
Three Group Sessions
This workshop includes three group sessions. Before we begin, the group will rank and select the enduring questions that matter most to them.
Each session is a guided conversation built around a question and sparked by a story, essay, poem, or film. Sessions are designed to spark deep thinking, meaningful dialogue, and new perspectives.
Ongoing Learning & Connection
Stay connected between sessions through a private discussion group and curated resources—essays, articles, and more—to deepen exploration and keep the conversation going.
One Individual Philosophical Counseling Sessions
Participants receive a one-on-one philosophical coaching session for deeper reflection, clarity, and fresh perspectives—exploring questions from the workshop or their life experiences.
Premise @ The Forum
When? Monday, March 19th Information Session @ The Forum
Program starts Sundays, April 6, April 20, May 4 from 2:00-3:30PM PST
Where? Online, Zoom link provided with registration. We offer a "how to use Zoom" tutorial for anyone who may need support.
Cost? $200, includes sessions for Forum resident and one guest, curated learning resources, and one individual philosophical coaching session.