Monthly Archives: January 2015

CNY CELEBRATION-Meeting – Thu, Jan 29, 5:30pm

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Please join us as we suit-up for our exciting Winter/Spring season!   We’ll finalize plans for our month-long festival of conversations about LOVE throughout the city during February,  begin plotting our second annual CONVERSATION DAY outing in Bryant Park (again in collaboration with our London partners), and share savvy tips and take-aways including the world’s best pocket-conversation-organizing tool.  

I look forward very keenly to working with you next Thursday!  Please RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/219657328/ 

RON

GrossAssoc@aol.com  

CNY joins Meetup in lauching #MeetupMonday: CONVERSATIONS TO BUILD COMMUNITY TOGETHER

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You are warmly invited to participate in the #MeetupMonday program to be launched on Monday, January 19th, by Meetup and partners like us.   For full information:  http://blog.meetup.com/meetupmondayguide/
For a full listing of meetups:  https://secure.meetup.com/monday/
For CNY’s #MeetupMonday meetup: http://www.meetup.com/NewYork-NY-MeetupMonday/events/219887516/
On Meetup.com’s #MeetupMonday cover photo, note our Conversations New York (CNY) regulars Bill C. Stephen S., and Tim C. at John L.’s “How do we know what we know?” conversation. http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/219414124/
Next CNY meeting: Thursday, January 29th, 5:30 pm, Columbia University. For details, please visit “Conversations New York” at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/219657328/
Ron Gross — For the CNY Team
ConversationsNewYork@gmail.com

Let’s Talk, New York! A Sampling of Outstanding Conversations this month

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Great Conversation is alive and well in NY.   Here’s a sampling from our  calendar of over 60 curated events offered by Conversations New York ( https://conversationsnewyork.com/calendar-of-conversations/ and http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/ ):

* Discuss outstanding books ranging from Lolita (1/15) to Dead Souls (1/14), to The Count of Monte Cristo (1/11).

* Celebrate MLK Day at BAM, and discuss the event afterwards with friends (1/19).

* Share your ideas and feelings about Love in a Socratic Conversation at Columbia University, as warm-up for Valentine’s Day (1/29).

* Meet interesting new people at brunch at the New York Ethical Society (1/18).

* Enjoy a Café Philo – the Parisian way of philosophical conversation (1/22).

* Experience the  Death Café, a popular approach to living more fully by confronting the reality of death (1/21).

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LOVE! What Does It Mean to YOU? – Jan 29

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LOVE! What Does It Mean to YOU?
Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

January 29th, 4:00 – 5:15 PM

Teachers College, Columbia University,

525 W. 120th St., bet. Bdwy and Amsterdam (#1 train to 116th St.). 


RSVP to grossassoc@aol.com, and CNY Meetup

 Please bring a photo ID. Required for entry to building.

 

Not so sure? (That’s what Socrates would say.) Then maybe it’s time to think more deeply – together!

You’re not alone. “What is Love?” was the most-asked question on Google in 2014.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, let’s take a critical and creative look at our ideas about romance, commitment, relationships, and GULP marriage. The Hallmark holiday hoopla may be bogus — but the issues it exploits are life-shaping for each of us.

Come share your experiences and insights:

  • What does Love mean, to you?
  • How do you relate Love, Sexuality, and Romance?
  • Is Love different for men and for women (and for those who identify their
  • gender/sexuality in other ways)?
  • Is Love “natural” – or “socially-constructed”?
  • song from Fiddler on the Roof, “Do You Love Me?”)
  • Does the meaning of Love change with our life-circumstances such as age, cultural
  • heritage, profession, or family situation?
  • What have you learned about Loving wisely and well?
  • What role does Love play in teaching and learning? (e.g., fostering “love of learning”)

 

This Conversation will be informed by the presentation and discussion at the University Seminar on Emotional Intelligence with Professor Marc Brackett of Yale University, at the Library on Monday, January 26th, at 7 pm.

Want to enrich your own thinking with some powerful ideas, data, and experiences? Here’s a sampling of the enlightening readings on LOVE, starting with the portrayal of an exhilarating drinking party of Socrates and his friends discussing this question.

  • The Symposium, Plato
  • On Love, Jose Ortega y Gasset
  • Love 2.0, Barbara Fredrickson
  • About Love, Robert Solomon
  • Philosophies of Love, David L. Norton and Mary F. Kille
  • Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Why We Love, Helen Fisher
  • The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm
  • The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir
  • I and Thou, Martin Buber