RELATIONSHIPS: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly – Feb 12

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RELATIONSHIPS:  The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Join us for food, drinks, and conversation.
Bring a question on relationships and your collective wisdom.
Short social before and in between rounds.
–Greet old friends and meet new ones.

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/155823962/

6:30   Social
7:00   Dinner and conversation
8:15   Social
8:45   Round 2 at a different table
9:45+ Closing statements.  Continue the conversation on your own.

Attire: Dress to impress.

Each conversationalist is encouraged to propose a question related to relationships.  Each table will determined the question for discussion by popular vote.  (Last year, “I found the questions just as interesting as the conversation.”)

The Statler Bar and Grill is reserving their very nice private dining room for us but they adding a 20% gratuity.   Separate checks available on request.  http://www.statlergrill.com/

Upcoming:
March – “Risk-taking”
April – “What makes your partner feel special?”
May – “Language of a Broken Heart”

About the Moderator:   Ron Gross is the founder of “Conversations New York.” He’s  been organizing exciting, important CONVERSATIONS for 20 years, and currently holds them regularly on the Columbia University campus and elsewhere through the city. He’s the author of 23 books on LIFELONG LEARNING.  He was recently honored for lifetime achievement in the field by the International Society for Self-Directed Learning. The late Buckminster Fuller said of Ron’s work: “If humanity is to pass safely through its present crisis on earth, it will be because a majority of individuals are now doing their own thinking. Ronald Gross’ work has pioneered in improving the climate for such thinking in the United States.”

CONVERSATIONS NEW YORK

Imagine…
Hundreds of New Yorkers coming together in small groups of neighbors and fellow citizens to discuss topics of intensive interest…
Hosted at no cost and at convenient locations and times…
Aided by simple guiding principles…
Inspired by the city’s grand tradition of robust conversation…
Our vision is to inspire, organize, publicize, facilitate and celebrate a renaissance of healthy dialogue in New York City.

How You Can Help Us Grow!

If you would like to easily add to our strength, we’d be grateful for your taking these easy steps:
1. Visit us at https://conversationsnewyork.com/about-cny/ to learn more about us, subscribe to our website, and spread the word.
2. Share with us your reactions, questions, and suggestions about this venture. conversationsnewyork@gmail.com
3. ”Like” our organization on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ConversationsNewYork
4. Consider convening a Conversation yourself – our site will soon provide resources, but in the meantime just ask us.
5. Tell us about Conversations you think should be listed on our on-line calendar.  https://conversationsnewyork.com/calendar-of-conversations/
We hope you’re as excited as we are about promoting and encouraging stimulating conversations in New York City!

“The Promise of a Pencil” – Mar 20

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Presenting a CNY “TalkAbout”…

Barnes and Noble at Union Square
33 E 17th, NYC
Thursday, Mar 20, 7pm

A Lecture by Adam Braun, “The Promise of a Pencil: How Ordinary People can Accomplish Extraordinary Things.”

Pencils of Promise Guatemala May 2011

Adam Braun is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning nonprofit organization that has built more than 150 schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America and delivered over 12 million educational hours in its first four years. PoP was founded with just $25 using Braun’s unique “For-Purpose” approach to blending nonprofit idealism with for-profit business principles. In 2012, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.

Braun began his career in finance, until he met a young boy begging on the streets and asked him what he wanted most in the world. The answer- “A pencil.” He then traveled through 50+ countries to focus on educational systems and eventually left a dream job at Bain & Company to launch Pencils of Promise.

Braun was selected as one of the first ten World Economic Forum Global Shapers and has been featured at the United Nations, Clinton Global Initiative, Google Zeitgeist, Mashable’s Innovation Index and Wired Magazine’s 2012 Smart List of 50 People Changing the World.

This is a free lecture. We will convene at a local café after the event to discuss Braun’s ideas.

http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/163169482/

About the Moderator:  Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.

Lecture & Talk-About: “Success in America” with Amy Chua “Tiger Mom” & Jed Rubenfeld – Feb 4

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Join “Conversations New York” (CNY) at this Lecture & Talk-About afterwards.  Amy Chua, “Tiger Mom” & Jed Rubenfeld “Success in America.”  To RSVP, learn more about the event, and find payment information, visit 92nd Street and Y:   (Attendance at the lecture is not required to participate in the conversation afterwards. )

Please RSVP at CNY meetup.  Thank you.  http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/161167482/

Lecture:  “Mormons have recently risen to astonishing business success. Cubans in Miami climbed from poverty to prosperity in a generation. Nigerians earn doctorates at stunningly high rates. Indian and Chinese Americans have much higher incomes than other Americans; Jews may have the highest of all. Husband-and-wife team Amy Chua (author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother) and Jed Rubenfeld—both Yale professors—discuss their new book, The Triple Package, and expose the three unlikely traits that explain the rise and fall of cultural groups in America, in a talk that could transform the way you think about success and achievement.”

Talk-About:  For those who wish to further discuss this topic after the event, CNY will host a Talk-About.  Talk-Abouts are a way to continue the conversation, find out what others thought about the event, and share perspectives.  Please find Yen (see member profile picture) after the event in the lobby if you wish to join us.  The Talk-About will be held in a coffee shop or restaurant nearby and will be free.  Yen will moderate the session, and it will be structured with questions to get the conversation going, but will lean towards free-flowing discussion.   Thank you.

Proposed Agenda 
7:30 pm  –  Meet in 92Y lobby and introductions.

9:45 pm   –  Meet again at the 92Y lobby and we will walk across the street to “Lex Restaurant” where I have reservations under the name “Yen.” 1370 Lexington Ave. (between 90th & 91st).

Introductions
Success in America – What are the common traits?

About the Moderator:  Yen is a naturalize American citizen.  He was born in Taiwan, Republic of China, but came to the US as an Argentinian citizen.  While growing up, he saw his parents build several small businesses with little to no formal education.  Yen is a parent of two sons and a graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a BS in Applied Physics but worked mainly in aviation and in national crisis response as a supervisor, trainer, and examiner in the public and private sectors.  Currently, he is a manager at Lyhun Realty

About the Founder:  Ron Gross is the founder of “Conversations New York.” He’s been organizing exciting, important CONVERSATIONS for 20 years, and currently holds them regularly on the Columbia University campus and elsewhere through the city. He’s the author of 23 books on LIFELONG LEARNING. He was recently honored for lifetime achievement in the field by the International Society for Self-Directed Learning. The late Buckminster Fuller said of Ron’s work: “If humanity is to pass safely through its present crisis on earth, it will be because a majority of individuals are now doing their own thinking. Ronald Gross’ work has pioneered in improving the climate for such thinking in the United States.”

Talk-About at the New Museum: “Spaceship Module” – Feb 27

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CNY Talk-About at the

New Museum: “Spaceship Module”

Thursday, Feb 27, 2014

7 pm

The New Museum

235 Bowery (near Prince St.)

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/163166372/

“Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module”

Spaceship

For this special exhibit, the fifth floor of the New Museum will be transformed to resemble the inside of a futuristic “spaceship” (based on a Czech sci-fi film from 1963!), and will feature a variety of art (video, print, sculpture, installation) from artists based in Eastern Europe.

“Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module” offers an allegory of “anthropological science fiction,” where the exhibition space becomes an estranged and exciting universe that dramatizes the cross-cultural translation involved in the presentation of art. The unique model evokes the challenges that contemporary artists experience in exhibiting works, or that curators come across in organizing exhibitions that stitch together diverse artworks, selected across generation, cultural context, personal narratives, and time.”

We will meet in the lobby at 7 pm. The New Museum is “suggested donation” on Thursdays. We will tour the exhibit, then reconvene at a nearby café to discuss and interpret what we have seen.

About the Moderator:  Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.

“The Power of Conversation” with Ronald Gross – Jan 27

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The University Seminar on Innovation in Education
&
The University Seminar on Ethics, Moral Education, and Society
present

                                     The Power ofConversation

with
Ronald Gross
Co-chair, University Seminar on Innovation in Education;
Founder, Conversations New York.
Author, Socrates’ Way, Peak Learning,  Radical School Reform, etc.

            Monday,  January 27, 2014, 7:00-9:00 pm

Faculty House, Columbia University, 117th St. & Morningside Heights

Kindly RSVP to reserve a place, or confirm your previous RSVP, to grossassoc@aol.com  and http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/157029602/

Please bring this invitation and a photo ID for admission to the building.
 
We experience the power of conversation at each session of our Seminars.  That power has propelled creative inquiry through the ages, from Socrates’ dialogues in the Athenian agora, to Occupy in Zuccoti Park.  
 
Now, it is being harnessed to enhance  well-being and happiness,  foster civic discourse,strengthen learning (formal and informal),  stimulate organizational development, spark creativity, and other important goals.
 
This Seminar will:
Ø     Review the  life-affirming  benefits of Conversation as established by theory, research, and practice.  

Ø     Note how the historical tradition of conversationgroups (Salons, Coffee Houses, Building 20 at MIT, etc.), expressed the basic  impulse that   has given rise to Social Media today.
          Ø     Examine the “Retreat from Conversation” identified by Prof. Sherry Turkle of MIT and other social scientists.
          Ø    Report briefly on  exciting current projects and programs such as  Socrates Salons and  Cafes, Dinners to Talk About Death, Cafe Philos, Circles in Women’s Spirituality,  and the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation.
Ø    Present the new program Conversations New York, and announce an invitational  mini-conference on Conversation at Columbia in July, which  our Seminars will sponsor.
Background Reading: Please visit the websites www.conversationsnewyork.com,www.socratesway.com
 and www.ncdd.com, and read Sherry Turkle’s article “The Flight fromConversation” from the New York Times Sunday Review, 4/21/12 (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?_r=0 — or (just Google it).

To augment the fellowship among members, you are warmly invited to join other members for dinner at Faculty House at 5:30 PM.  Dinner at Faculty House, a varied and ample buffet (including wine), is $25, which must be paid for by check made    at the beginning of the meal.  If you intend to join us for dinner you must let us know via email a week in advance.
Faculty House is located on Columbia University’s East Campus on Morningside Drive, north of 116th Street.  Enter Wien Courtyard through the gates on 116 Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. Walk toward the north end of the courtyard, then turn right toward Morningside Drive.  Faculty House will be the last building on the right.

Upcoming 2013-14 seminar dates: no Feb, Mar 3, Apr 7, May 5.

BACKGROUND: This seminar is jointly sponsored by the Columbia University Seminars on Innovation in Education, and on Ethics, Moral Education, and Society.
                    The Seminar on Innovation in Education is co-chaired by Ronald Gross, who also conducts the Socratic Conversations at the Gottesman Libraries, and Robert McClintock who is John L. and Sue Ann Weinberg Professor Emeritus in the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education at Teachers College. Founded in 1970, the Seminar explores the process of learning in individuals, organizations, and society throughout the lifespan and via major institutions.
                    The Seminar on Ethics, Moral Education and Society, chaired by Michael Schulman,  brings together scholars from psychology, philosophy, sociology, political theory, education, religion and other disciplines to explore issues in ethics, moral education, moral development, moral motivation, moral decision making and related topics.
                    Upcoming 2013-14 seminar dates: no Feb, Mar 3, Apr 7, May 5.
                    Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities.  University Seminar participants with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about physical access may contact the Office of Disability Services at 212-854-2388 or disability@columbia.edu.  Disability accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, are available on request.  Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance.  On campus, seminar participants with disabilities should alert a Public Safety Officer that they need assistance accessing campus.
                        _________________________________________________________________
                        Michael Schulman, chair, Ethics, Moral Education, and Society,mdschlmn41@yahoo.com
                        Ron Gross, co-chair, Innovation in Education, grossassoc@aol.com

Feeding Your Flame: A “Campfire Conversation” to Fuel Your 2014 Resolutions – Jan 23

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Feeding Your Flame:
A “Campfire Conversation” to Fuel Your 2014 Resolutions

Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Thursday, January 23rd, 4:00 sharp – 5:15

Gottesman Library, Teachers College, Columbia University

525 West 120th St. 2nd Floor Conversation Area (bet. Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. North side of 120th Street.) (#1 train to 116th St.)

Please bring a photo ID required for entry to the building.

Kindly RSVP to reserve a place, to grossassoc@aol.com .  Thank you.

There will be a display of relevant books. Light refreshments will be available. Coffee and other beverages available downstairs as you enter the building. Socrates traditionally gathered his friends around a blazing outdoor campfire at the beginning of the Athenian New Year, opened a couple of bottles of wine, and presented five of his famous Questions to stir their thinking and renew their energies.

Let’s gather to follow in the footsteps of the Gadfly, by discussing where we’ve been this past year, where we are now, and what we want to move towards in the year ahead.

Voicing your own answers will strengthen your resolve – and hearing the answers of others will widen your awareness of possibilities for yourself.

Come share your thoughts on these Five Questions of Socrates:

1. What accomplishments from 2013 do you want to celebrate? These could be breakthroughs, things you said or did, new behaviors or thoughts. By celebrating what was good about the year, we honor our efforts and those who helped us along the way.

2. What’s an important lesson you learned in 2013? This is a way to make sense of our struggles, frustrations, anguish. Let’s capture and share some of our life-learnings.

3. What are you grateful for? Gratitude increases our awareness of the resources available to us, at any moment.

4. What do you most want for the coming year? You’ll be invited to pick a theme for the year, if you like, as in “The Year of …..” Let’s set our intention for what we want to manifest, a major target for the arrows we will launch throughout the year.

5. What commitment are you ready to make? To get what we want often requires removing obstacles and moving into new territory. What is in the way that you are ready to give up? It might be being right or doing it alone. When you commit, the whole world opens up. Not always in the way you expect, your commitment opens doors.

If we meet here one year from today,
what would you most like to report
about what happened in your life from now til then?

Please join us to re-focus on what really matters for the New Year! Bring your own energy — and you’ll leave with more from others! Together, we’ll nurture the seeds for the best 2014 you could possibly have.

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CONVERSATIONS NEW YORK

What You Can Do Now:

Follow CNY at http://www.conversationsnewyork.com.

Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/conversationsnewyork.

Find us at Meetup at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/
Want to Join the CNY team?: We have opportunities for professionals with relevant skills to contribute pro bono to the development of CNY in several important areas:

Editorial

Calendar-development

Funding

Media Relations/Social Networking

Venue-finding and Evaluation

IT/Operations

Legal

We are also seeking organizational partners and funding, from public and private agencies who share our interest in fostering a richer cultural life in NYC.

TalkAbout: “Divorce Corp.” – Jan 10

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“For roughly 50% of American families divorce is an unpleasant fact of life. Dealing with divorce and its effects destroys lives and bankrupts individuals every day. Family law, which barely existed for most of our country’s history, has morphed into a gigantic industry over the past several decades. These facts peaked our interest, but when we began making our documentary film in 2011 we had no idea we were about to uncover the last vestige of lawlessness in America. Family courts are a dark corner of the judicial system where fiefdoms and tyrants still thrive, where the supreme law of the land is routinely ignored, where children are taken hostage for profit, and where lives are destroyed as a matter of course. We knew we had to shine a light on these injustices. We hope that our movie and book do just that and point the way to a better path.”  http://divorcecorp.com/ 

View the trailer:  

drew

Friday,  January 10, 2014, 6:30 PM, Union Square
Please RSVP Conversations New York meetup and purchase tickets in advance through fandango.com for the AMC Loews Village 7 Friday 7pm showing to ensure a seat.  Thank you.

 

Steven Mandis on “What Happened to Goldman Sachs: An Insiders’s Story” – Dec 13

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“Steven Mandis on What Happened to Goldman Sachs:  An Insiders’s Story of Organizational Drift and its Unintended Consequences.”

This lecture is offered by the Museum of American Finance.  An audience Q/A follows the lecture and after the Q/A, we will have a “TalkAbout” on what we heard in the atrium next door, 60 Wall St.

Kindly RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/154126402/

Agenda
12 pm       Meet at inside entrance of  Museum of American Finance
1:30 pm   Meet at 60 Wall St. Atrium for “TalkAbout”

We will meet at the museum entrance at noon.  The discounted admissions fee is $5 (normally $8).  The fee includes access to the museum.  http://www.moaf.org/index  (Attendees are welcome to tour the museum on their own before or after the TalkAbout. Bring your own lunch because we are permitted to eat lunch during the lecture as this is one of the museum’s “Lunch and Learn Series”.)

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60 Wall St. Atirium

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Re-Designing New York City What Are Your Ideas? – Dec 12

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Re-Designing  New York City
What Are Your Ideas?
Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross
Thursday,  Dec. 12,  4:00 sharp – 5:15 pm
Gottesman Library, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th St.
(bet. Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.  North side of 120th Street — Take  the #1 train to 116th St.) 
2nd floor Conversation Lounge
Please bring a photo ID required for entry to the building.
RSVP to reserve a place.  http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/152911082/
There will be a display of relevant books, and light refreshments
(Coffee etc.are  available  for purchase at the Cafe on your right as you enter the Library on the first floor)
 
Your life in New York City will be effected by the new Mayoral administration.   Here’s your chance to have your say.  What are your ideas for helping all of us to live together more enjoyably,  healthfully, safely, and productively?
 
The Talking Transition Project(http://talkingtransitionnyc.com/)* has invited us to discuss our future.  Such conversations have been taking place online, in the streets, at libraries throughout the city,  and in a big white tent thrown up Canal Street and Varick after the election (now closed).  
 
Mayor-Elect de Blasio has shown keen interest in the ideas coming out of these conversations, saying: “If you give people a chance to offer their ideas, you’ll find an extraordinary number of New Yorkers who have positive, productive ideas.”
 
To continue that discussion on the Teachers College campus, we invite YOUR thoughts, ideas, and suggestions:
 
What changes would you like to see in the area of city living of most interest to you?….e.g., our streets, parks, schools and colleges,  healthcare, local businesses, housing, immigrant integration, environment, law enforcement, rules, regulations, and priorities for spending public funds?

Output from our Conversation will be displayed afterwards at the Gottesman Library, to stimulate on-going discussion on campus, and will be transmitted to the transitions team.

 
Suggested Readings (optional):  If Mayors Ruled the World, by Benjamin Barber; Happy City by Charles Montgomery; Who’s Your City? and/or The Flight of the Creative Class,  by Richard Florida; and“Invisible Child” — series of articles appearing daily this week in theNew York Times — today’s installment, “A Future Resting on a Fragile Foundation,” on p. 1)
 
*The project is not a part of the de Blasio administration, but is an initiative of a group of foundations led by George Soros’ Open Society Program.

For more information about the Socratic Conversations: www.SocratesWay.com/join.html.
NEXT CONVERSATION: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014.