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Sincerely,
Russell Keppner
TJEdRefers generally to the concepts presented in the book A Thomas Jefferson Education, written by Dr. Oliver DeMille. We also have an Introduction to Thomas Jefferson Education available elsewhere on this site..org Administrator
My Experience
One of the things that changes the richness of the colloquiums that I have attended is how we handle different opinions in the group. The best colloquiums is when people TOTALLY disagree on stuff but feel free to discuss these different opinions (be careful that the two people with different opinions do not take over the discussion for too long leaving everyone else out). If you truly want to learn something new, look at a book through someone else's eyes. No two people will have learned the exact same things from one book. The next thing would be to call on people that do not volunteer their opinions but have great ones. There are many personality types that do not raise their hands. But when the come out of that shell, they have very rich perspectives on the topic. All of the above hinges on the ability of the group to make everyone comfortable with one another. Part of doing that has to do with time. Over time people get comfortable with each other. But time alone will not create this type of environment. Hopefully this was a little bit helpful.
reply to Starting a colloquium
Hi Karen,
We started a colloquium series last October in Provo. Our group is called Provo Area Leardership Mentoring Society. (PALMS).
My husband used Google to create a calender for the schedule. You can view it at: http://palms.gove.net for ideas.
Just recently we created a Code of Conduct. This has been very helpful as we are not all the same religion, nor do we use the same educational approaches. There is a link to the code below the calendar at the site above.
Here are a few things we have found helpful in getting people to attend. We provide babysitting to help encourage couples to attend together. My husband likes to bake, so the person who is the facilitator for the discussion goes home with a fresh loaf of bread. We provide snacks during the colloquium.
How often to meet is a critical question to address. In our group, several couples wanted a weekly experience; however, this is a level of commitment that many are unable to make. For our group, we rotate topics, so one week is a book (sometimes fiction, sometimes non-fiction) one week is a reading from the collection of articles on education from George Wythe College, one week is readings on good government (we are currently reading through the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers--about 12 papers per week), and one week of the month is flexible--no set topic. About once a quarter we invite guest speakers to address the group on a specific topic. We make it clear to colloquium participants that attendance is not expected each week. This allows individuals to skip a week without feeling guilty, helping us avoid that participation is an all-or-nothing choice. It also allows folks with narrower interests to treat the group like a once-a-month series; we have serveral who attend only for the Federalist Papers discussions.
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me from the palms website if you have further questions.
-Nickie
Re: Tips on organizing and running a colloquium
I don't have tips, necessarily. I wondered if you mind sharing where, generally, you are in WA? I have some friends and family scattered throughout the state who may be interested.
I personally love that book. Have fun!
**edited to add: I noticed in another post you mentioned where you are from. So never mind!