what’s a symposium?
“Love is the name
for our pursuit
of wholeness,
for our desire to be complete”
Plato, Symposium
symposium | late 16th century (denoting a drinking party): via Latin from Greek sumposion, from sumpotēs ‘fellow drinker’, from sun- ‘together’ + potēs ‘drinker’.
A symposium brings a group of people together to explore various aspects of a topic, to cultivate each participant’s capacity for reflection, and to build a community, virtual or tangible, that is characterized by respectful inquiry and open-minded reflection.
Our objective isn’t expertise - it’s making meaning. Facilitated via Zoom, there’s no prerequisite to participate - the only things you need are a steady internet connection, the desire to engage, and an open mind.
Interested in creating an opportunity for meaningful conversation for your colleagues, friends, or family?
We can adapt any of these topics or explore a new one for a one-time or multi-session symposium for groups of 5 to 50. Let’s connect!
symposium topics
Good stuff
talking about listening, seeing, feeling, and other ings
It’s a noisy world, and the loudest voices and the strongest opinions take up a lot of space. Sometimes, it’s nice to just talk - not to accomplish anything, not to prove anyone wrong, not to make a grade. There’s plenty to talk about - music, art, poetry, podcasts, essays, TED talks, what we did last weekend - but when do we actually have the time to make some meaning out of it all? Each week, we’ll talk about good stuff - what we notice about it, how we respond to it, and reflect on what it tells us about ourselves.
Each week, we’ll explore good stuff that relates to a different idea - like good stuff that makes us feel hope, or gives us joy, or comforts us, or makes us laugh. Bill will provide good stuff to talk about during the first week, and participants will contribute to the list for weeks two, three, and four.
And it’s a classic because…?
exploring the relevance of old movies
Some movies continue to make a splash long after they’re released, even long after their stars have gone to the Silver Screen in the sky. For some reason, some people (like Bill) can’t get enough of them. Actors sound slightly British, costumes are unnecessarily lavish, and sometimes they just start dancing…but “classic” films shaped the American worldview (for better and for worse). We’ll explore a small sampling of “classics,” starting with All About Eve (which, according to Bill, is the best movie ever made), reflect on what they tell us about the world they emerged from, and answer the question, “And it’s a classic because…?”
Week one: We’re all about All About Eve (1950)
Week two: It’s time for The Women (1939)
Week three: We’ll make a Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
Week four: Take time to smell the Lilies of the Field (1963)
Religious literacy
how to talk about religion without pissing anyone off
The root of the word “religion” is the Latin verb ligare, “to join” or “to tie together.” Some interpret this to understand the connection of heaven and earth, but others look to the ways religious practices tie people and generations together. Ironic, no? These days it can feel like religion just tears us apart. We live in a diverse world, and the US is probably the most religiously diverse culture in human history. Most of us don’t know much about other people’s religious identities or even how to ask about it without feeling a) dumb or b) offensive. In this symposium, we’ll explore five of the world’s religious traditions through their primary practices, develop a vocabulary for talking about religion (others’ and our own), and reflect on the impact of religion in our lives and in the world today.
Week one: Catholicism through the Eucharist
Week two: Judaism through Shabbat
Week three: Hinduism through Darshan
Week four: Islam through Salat
Week five: Buddhism through Vipassana
Week six: Personal practices
Good habits
understanding nuns through film
Nuns. Sisters. Women-religious. In the Christian world, they’ve been around for centuries. While they’ve played crucial roles in the development of American culture, particularly through the broad expansion of Catholic schools in the 20th century, to some, their lives are mysterious and esoteric. To others, they are little more than comic types. Those impressions are reflected in - and sometimes rooted in - the depiction of nuns in movies. In this symposium, we’ll explore the evolution of how nuns have been depicted in film, develop a deeper understanding of the actual experiences of women religious, and think about what this tells us about the depiction of women more generally.
Week one: Father’s faithful helper in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
Week two: The real(ly dramatized) story behind the convent gate in The Nun’s Story (1959)
Week three: Happy, hapless, and hopeful in Sister Act (1992)
Week four: Power, gender, and Doubt (2008)
Madonna
a case study in religion & pop culture
Madonna’s impact on American culture and on global pop music is deep and enduring. In the words of the queens of RuPaul’s DragRace Season 12, “From Holiday to Medellin, when it comes to pop, I’m still your queen.” We might be fans, we might be scholars - we might even be haters - but we can look to Madge’s work to understand the relationship between religion and pop culture. Each week, we’ll explore Madonna’s music and videos, talk about different roles that Madonna (or any artist) plays in creating culture, and think about how our experiences shape our understanding.
Week one: Intro to Madonna Studies (it’s a thing!)
Week two: Madonna as Social Commentator
Week three: Madonna as Cultural Parasite
Week four: Madonna as Reinventor
Week five: Madonna as Catalyst of Postmodernism
Religion in film
a case study in religion & pop culture
Movies provide a great way to explore a culture, but, like any piece of art, each is limited by its creators’ imagination, knowledge, and biases. Each week, we’ll talk about a sampling of films that depict a particular religious tradition to discern how (and how well) the medium conveys religious practices and identities, think about how encountering those depictions shapes our real-life experiences, and reflect on what this tells us about the relationships between religion and pop culture.
Week one: Hinduism in film: The more things change...
Week two: Islam in film: Reconciling then/now, here/here, us/them.
Week three: Judaism in film: Ethics & identity.
Week four: Catholic Christianity in film: It’s all about nuns.
Rituals, ceremonies, traditions
starting points for understanding, engaging, and constructing ritual life
What is a ritual? Why do we do them? Why do they trigger so many feelings? What do we do when a ritual feels irrelevant? Long before 2020 upended the ritual life of religious and cultural communities, anthropologists, theologians, and practitioners have explored the function and meaning of rituals and strived (unsuccessfully, or at least incompletely) to define this universal aspect of human behavior. Through this symposium, we’ll learn about one particular method (the “performance approach”) for understanding rituals, apply it to understanding the rituals we know, and consider how we can adapt and innovate our ritual lives.
Week one: Ritual as event: how rituals are different
Week two: Ritual as interpretive framework: how rituals shape our experience
Week three: Ritual efficacy: some things change, some things stay the same
Week four: Ritual reflexivity: seeing our reflection in the ritual
Miss Jean Brodie is past her prime
teachers in film
Sages. Mentors. Innovators. Boundary breakers. Meth addicts. What does the depiction of teachers in movies tell us about the real life of professional teachers? Not much. But it does tell us a lot about perceptions of teachers in American culture. Over the course of this symposium, we’ll reminisce about our own most memorable teachers, consider how (and how well) teachers are depicted in film, and reflect on the role of teachers in American culture.
Week one: The sages on screen: Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) & The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
Week two: Risk-takers and boundary-breakers: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) & To Sir With Love (1967)
Week three: Rebels with causes: Stand and Deliver (1988) & Dead Poets Society (1989)
Week four: Saviors and sinners: Half Nelson (2006) & Freedom Writers (2007)