Socrates Cafe <http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/> is looking for speakers to talk at its Newtown meetings, which are held at Berkelouw Books Newtown, usually on the second Wednesday of each month (although dates are flexible to suit your schedule). The next opening is June 16.
We've had quite a lot of ethics recently, so I'm particularly looking for speakers specialising in other areas of philosophy for the next few sessions. Socrates Cafe is a non-academic philosophy discussion group open to the general public. We've been around nearly four years and have over 700 members. Gatherings at Berkelouw regularly see 40 to 50+ attendees. The audience is typically non-academic, but intelligent, inquisitive and thoroughly enthused about engaging with philosophy. Speakers this year to date include Mark Colyvan<http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/calendar/13338474/?from=list&offset=0>(on the mating 'game'), John Forge<http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/calendar/12921077/?from=list&offset=0>(on the morality of weapons research), Jim Franklin<http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/calendar/12689781/?from=list&offset=0>(on what science knows), Dominic Murphy<http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/calendar/12213923/?from=list&offset=0>(on personal identity and mental illness) and Kristie Miller<http://www.meetup.com/Sydney-Socrates-Cafe/calendar/12410710/?from=list&offset=0>(on the philosophy of time). I'm sure any of these speakers will let you know how they found Socrates Cafe. The objective of Socrates Cafe is twofold: first is to get some of the wonderful ideas from academia out to the general public; and secondly to foster critical philosophical discussion. I suppose you could call a third objective to have fun, socialise and drink coffee on a Wednesday night! The format is straightforward. We start with a 30-40 minute talk on a topic of your choice. Then, after a 5 min break to top up on coffee, everyone breaks up in to small groups to discuss the night's topic while the speaker circulates the room chatting to each group. It typically all starts at about 7pm and ends by 8.30pm. It's a relaxed and low stress environment, and the audience is always very engaged and thoughtful. There's also a mic and PA, so you don't have to shout to be heard. Attendees pay $5 to come along, which includes a coffee or tea, and pays for usage of the space and upkeep of the Socrates Cafe website (and a gift for the speaker!). If you're an academic or postgraduate student, and have some ideas you'd like to get out into the world, please email me on [email protected] I'd be pleased to give you more details. You can also check out the site using the links above to find out more. Cheers, Tim
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